Tilda Swinton
Encyclopedia
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress known for both arthouse
Art film
An art film is the result of filmmaking which is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience...

 and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...

, Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...

, The Beach
The Beach (film)
The Beach is a 2000 adventure drama film directed by Danny Boyle and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Alex Garland, which was adapted for the film by John Hodge. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and features Tilda Swinton, Robert Carlyle, Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet...

, We Need to Talk About Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin (film)
We Need to Talk about Kevin is a 2011 British-American drama thriller film adapted and directed by Lynne Ramsay from American author Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel of the same name. A long process of development and financing began in 2005 and filming eventually commenced in April 2010, with Tilda...

 and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in The Deep End
The Deep End (film)
The Deep End is a 2001 film that was written and directed by David Siegel and Scott McGehee. It stars Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Jonathan Tucker and Josh Lucas and was released by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The film was very loosely adapted from the novel The Blank Wall by Elizabeth Sanxay...

. She won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 for Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton (film)
Michael Clayton is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Tony Gilroy, starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack...

.

Early life

Swinton was born in London, England. Her father, Major-General
Major-General (United Kingdom)
Major general is a senior rank in the British Army. Since 1996 the highest position within the Royal Marines is the Commandant General Royal Marines who holds the rank of major general...

 Sir John Swinton
John Swinton (British Army officer)
Major-General Sir John Swinton, KCVO, OBE, DL was Major-General Commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District.-Family and military background:...

, KCVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...

, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, DL
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

, who was Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire
Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant for the area of Berwickshire.The official title of the office was as follows:*His Majesty's Lieutenant for the County of Berwick...

 (1989–2000), is Scottish, and her mother, Judith Balfour, Lady Swinton (née Killen), was Australian. Her paternal great-grandfather was Scottish politician and officer-of-arms George Swinton
George Swinton
Captain George Sitwell Campbell Swinton, DL was a long serving Scottish politician and officer of arms.Swinton was born in Edinburgh, the second son of Archibald Campbell Swinton of Kimmerghame, Berwickshire, and Georgiana Caroline Sitwell, daughter of Sir George Sitwell, 2nd Baronet of Renishaw....

, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 botanist John Hutton Balfour
John Hutton Balfour
John Hutton Balfour was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to Edinburgh University and also becoming Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Her Majesty's Botanist in Scotland in 1845...

. The Swinton family
Clan Swinton
Clan Swinton is a Lowland Scottish clan and founder of Clan Gordon, Clan Elphinstone, Clan Arbuthnott, Clan Nisbet and the Greystoke Family. Being a Border family, they were prominent Border Reivers.-Origins:...

 is an ancient Anglo-Scots family that can trace its lineage to the High Middle Ages
Scotland in the High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages of Scotland encompass Scotland in the era between the death of Domnall II in 900 AD and the death of king Alexander III in 1286...

.

Swinton attended three independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...

s, Queen's Gate School in London
Queen's Gate School
Queen's Gate School is an all girls' independent school in South Kensington, London.The Good Schools Guide described it as a "Charming popular school, with a mixed intake, which does jolly well by its girls."The school is located in Central London...

, the West Heath Girls' School
The New School at West Heath
The New School at West Heath is an independent school in Sevenoaks, in southeast England. It caters for children for whom mainstream schooling has become insufficient, for varying reasons...

 (the same class as Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...

), and also Fettes College
Fettes College
Fettes College is an independent school for boarding and day pupils in Edinburgh, Scotland with over two thirds of its pupils in residence on campus...

 for a brief period. In 1983, she graduated from New Hall (now known as Murray Edwards College) at Cambridge University with a degree in Social and Political Sciences. While at Cambridge, she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...

.

Arthouse work

Swinton worked with the Traverse Theatre
Traverse Theatre
The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963.The Traverse Theatre commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary playwrights. It also presents a large number of productions from visiting companies from across the UK. These include new plays,...

 in Edinburgh, starring in Mann ist Mann by Manfred Karge, and the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...

, before embarking on a career in film in the mid-1980s. She appeared as Julia in the 1986 television mini-series Zastrozzi: A Romance based on the Gothic novel by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her early film work included several film roles for director Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...

, notably War Requiem
War Requiem (film)
War Requiem is a film adaptation of Benjamin Britten's musical piece of the same name.It was shot in 1988 by the British film director Derek Jarman with the 1963 recording as the soundtrack, produced by Don Boyd and financed by the BBC. Decca Records required that the 1963 recording be heard on its...

 (1989) playing a nurse opposite Sir Laurence Olivier as an old soldier. In 1991, Swinton won the Volpi Cup
Volpi Cup
The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...

 Best Actress award for her role in the postmodern film Edward II
Edward II (film)
Edward II is a 1991 film directed by Derek Jarman, starring Steven Waddington, Tilda Swinton and Andrew Tiernan. It is based on the eponymous play by Christopher Marlowe...

.

Swinton also played the title role in Orlando, Sally Potter
Sally Potter
Charlotte Sally Potter is an English film director and screenwriter.-Career:Having left school at sixteen to become a filmmaker, Potter joined the London Film-Makers' Co-op and started making experimental short films, including Jerk and Play...

's film version of the novel by Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....

. The part allowed Swinton to explore matters of gender presentation onscreen which reflected her life-long interest in androgynous style. Swinton later reflected on the role in an interview accompanied by a striking photoshoot. “People talk about androgyny in all sorts of dull ways,” said Swinton, noting that the recent rerelease of Orlando had her thinking again about its pliancy. She referred to 1920s French artist and playful gender-bender Claude Cahun
Claude Cahun
Claude Cahun was a French artist, photographer and writer. Her work was both political and personal, and often played with the concepts of gender and sexuality.-Early life:...

: “Cahun looked at the limitlessness of an androgynous gesture, which I’ve always been interested in.”

In 1995, with producer and friend Joanna Scanlan
Joanna Scanlan
Joanna Scanlan is a Welsh actress and television writer, best known for her roles in various British comedy series, such as The Thick of It, Doctors and Nurses, Getting On and Little Britain.-Getting On:...

, Swinton developed a performance/installation live art piece in the Serpentine Gallery
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year...

, London, where she was on display to the public for a week, asleep or apparently so, in a glass case, as a piece of performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...

. The piece is sometimes credited to Cornelia Parker
Cornelia Parker
Cornelia Ann Parker OBE, RA is an English sculptor and installation artist. -Life and career:Parker studied at Gloucestershire College of Art and Design and Wolverhampton Polytechnic...

, whom Swinton invited to collaborate for the installation in London. The following year, the performance, entitled The Maybe, was repeated at the Museo Barracco
Museo Barracco di Scultura Antica
Museo Barracco di Scultura Antica is a museum in Rome, Italy, featuring a collection of works acquired by the collector Giovanni Barracco, who donated his collection to the City of Rome in 1902....

 in Rome. She also appeared in the music video for Orbital
Orbital (band)
Orbital are a British electronic dance music duo from Sevenoaks, England consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Their career initially ran from 1989 until 2004, but in 2009 they announced that they would be reforming and headlining The Big Chill, in addition to a number of other live shows...

's "The Box
The Box (Orbital song)
"The Box" is a single by the British electronica duo Orbital. Taken from their 1996 album In Sides, the single was released in 1996 and reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart.-The song:...

". She has collaborated with the fashion designers Viktor & Rolf
Viktor & Rolf
Viktor & Rolf is an Amsterdam-based fashion house. The company was founded in 1993 by designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren .- History :...

. She was the focus of their 'One Woman Show' 2003, in which they made all the models look like copies of Swinton, and she read a poem (of her own) that included the line, "There is only one you. Only one".

Mainstream films

Recent years have seen Swinton move towards more mainstream projects, including the leading role in the American film The Deep End
The Deep End (film)
The Deep End is a 2001 film that was written and directed by David Siegel and Scott McGehee. It stars Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Jonathan Tucker and Josh Lucas and was released by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The film was very loosely adapted from the novel The Blank Wall by Elizabeth Sanxay...

 (2001), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

. She appeared as a supporting character in films such as The Beach
The Beach (film)
The Beach is a 2000 adventure drama film directed by Danny Boyle and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Alex Garland, which was adapted for the film by John Hodge. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and features Tilda Swinton, Robert Carlyle, Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet...

 (2000), featuring Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...

, Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky is a 2001 American psychological thriller film directed, co-produced and co-written by Cameron Crowe. The film is an English-language remake of the 1997 Spanish movie Abre los ojos , the screenplay for which was written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil...

 (2001) with Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....

 and, as the archangel Gabriel
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...

 in Constantine
Constantine (film)
Constantine is a 2005 American action horror film directed by Francis Lawrence as his directorial debut, starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, with Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, and Djimon Hounsou...

 (2005) with Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...

. Swinton has also appeared in the British films The Statement (2003) and Young Adam
Young Adam (film)
Young Adam is a 2003 British drama film written and directed by David Mackenzie. The screenplay is based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Alexander Trocchi.-Plot:...

 (2003), and sat on the jury of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

.
In 2005, Swinton performed as the White Witch Jadis
White Witch
Jadis is the main antagonist of The Magician's Nephew and of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in C.S. Lewis' series, The Chronicles of Narnia...

, in the film version of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Andrew Adamson and based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published and second chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's children's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of...

, and as Audrey Cobb in the Mike Mills
Mike Mills (director)
Michael C. "Mike" Mills is an American film and music video director and graphic designer. He is perhaps best known for his independent films Thumbsucker and Beginners.-Early life:...

 film adaptation of the novel Thumbsucker
Thumbsucker (film)
Thumbsucker is a 2005 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Mills adapted from the Walter Kirn novel of the same name. The movie focuses on teenager Justin Cobb and how he copes with his thumb sucking problem, and his experiments with hypnosis, sex and drugs.-Plot:Justin Cobb is a shy...

. Swinton later had cameos in Narnias sequels,The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a 2008 epic fantasy film based on Prince Caspian, the second published, fourth chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the second in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media, following The...

 and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 3D fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia . It is the third installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media...

.

In 2007, Swinton's performance as Karen Crowder in Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton (film)
Michael Clayton is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Tony Gilroy, starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack...

 earned her both a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress as well as the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 at the 2008 80th Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...

, the film's sole win.

Swinton next appeared in the 2008 Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...

 film, Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...

. Swinton said of the film, in which she plays opposite George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...

 (with whom she also shared the screen in Clayton), "I don’t know if it will make anybody else laugh, but it really made us laugh while making it."

She was cast for the role of Elizabeth Abbott in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...

, alongside Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...

 co-star Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...

.

She had a starring role as the irresponsible eponymous character in Erick Zonca
Erick Zonca
Erick Zonca is a French film director, best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning 1998 feature film debut The Dreamlife of Angels. The film won the Best Actress award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival....

's Julia
Julia (2008 film)
Julia is a 2008 French crime drama film, directed by Erick Zonca, starring Tilda Swinton. It was shot in California and Mexico. The film was inspired by the John Cassavetes film Gloria.-Plot:...

, which premiered at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

 and later saw a limited U.S. release in May 2009. Several critics praised her performance and some claimed it should have won her an Academy Award.

She stars in the new film adaptation of We Need to Talk about Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin (film)
We Need to Talk about Kevin is a 2011 British-American drama thriller film adapted and directed by Lynne Ramsay from American author Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel of the same name. A long process of development and financing began in 2005 and filming eventually commenced in April 2010, with Tilda...

 released in October 2011.

She has joined the cast of Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...

's untitled vampire film which will shoot in early 2012.

Other projects

In 1988, she was a member of the jury at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival
38th Berlin International Film Festival
The 38th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 12 to 23, 1988.-Jury:* Guglielmo Biraghi * Ellen Burstyn* Heiner Carow* Eberhard Junkersdorf* Tom Luddy* Heinz Rathsack* Daniel Schmid* Andrei Smirnov...

.

In August 2006, she opened the new Screen Academy Scotland
Screen Academy Scotland
The Screen Academy Scotland is a collaboration between Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh College of Art. It was opened in August 2005 by the then First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell, and is based in Edinburgh, Scotland...

 production centre in Edinburgh.

In July 2008, she founded the film festival Ballerina Ballroom Cinema Of Dreams
Ballerina Ballroom Cinema Of Dreams
The Ballerina Ballroom Cinema Of Dreams is a Scottish film festival founded by actress Tilda Swinton. The inaugural event took place in a ballroom in Nairn in the Scottish Highlands between August 15 and 23 2008.- The Origins :...

. The event took place in a ballroom in Nairn
Nairn
Nairn is a town and former burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness...

 in the Scottish Highlands in August.

Swinton has collaborated with artist Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf is an English-Irish singer-songwriter from South London. Patrick utilises a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano and viola...

 on his 2009 album The Bachelor, contributing four spoken word pieces.

Swinton appeared at the 2009 81st Academy Awards
81st Academy Awards
The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST...

 helping to present the 2009 Best Supporting Actress Awards.

In 2009, Swinton and Mark Cousins embarked on a project where they would mount a 33.5-tonne portable cinema on a large truck, hauling it manually through the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

, creating a travelling independent film festival. The festival was repeated again in 2011.

Personal life

Swinton lives in Nairn
Nairn
Nairn is a town and former burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness...

, in the Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...

 region of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, near Scottish painter John Byrne and their twin children: a son, Xavier, and a daughter, Honor. She travels with her partner Sandro Kopp, a German/New Zealand painter. She has been with Kopp since 2004 and the relationship has Byrne's blessing. In an interview, Swinton commented on her domestic situation: "It’s the way we have been for nearly four years. I’m very fortunate. It takes some extraordinary men to make a situation like that work."

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Egomania – Insel ohne Hoffnung Sally
1986 Zastrozzi: A Romance Julia Mini TV series
1986 Caravaggio
Caravaggio (film)
Caravaggio is a British film directed by Derek Jarman. The film is a fictionalized re-telling of the life of Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.-Plot:...

Lena
1987 Aria Young Girl
1987 Friendship's Death Friendship
1988
1988 Das Andere Ende der Welt
1988 Degrees of Blindness
1988 L' Ispirazione
1989 Play Me Something Hairdresser TV
1989 War Requiem
War Requiem (film)
War Requiem is a film adaptation of Benjamin Britten's musical piece of the same name.It was shot in 1988 by the British film director Derek Jarman with the 1963 recording as the soundtrack, produced by Don Boyd and financed by the BBC. Decca Records required that the 1963 recording be heard on its...

Nurse
1990 Your Cheatin' Heart
Your Cheatin' Heart
"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by the American country music singer and songwriter Hank Williams in 1952, but released after his death in 1953.. It is often considered one of his greatest songs, and one of the great songs of country music...

Cissie Crouch TV series
1990 Madonna
1991 Edward II
Edward II (film)
Edward II is a 1991 film directed by Derek Jarman, starring Steven Waddington, Tilda Swinton and Andrew Tiernan. It is based on the eponymous play by Christopher Marlowe...

Isabella Volpi Cup
Volpi Cup
The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...

1991 Queenie
1992 Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
Shakespeare: the Animated Tales
thumb|right|[[Banquo]] and [[Fleance]] from the "Macbeth" episode. Shakespeare: The Animated Tales comprised two six-part television series, first broadcast in 1992 and 1994...

Ophelia Mini TV series; voice
1992 Orlando
Orlando (film)
Orlando is a 1992 film based on Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando: A Biography, starring Tilda Swinton as Orlando, Billy Zane as Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine, and Quentin Crisp as Queen Elizabeth. It was directed by Sally Potter....

Orlando Seattle International Film Festival Award for Best Actress
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...


Thessaloniki Film Festival Award for Best Actress
Nominated–European Film Award for Best Actress
1992 Man to Man Ella/Max Gericke
1993 Blue
Blue (1993 film)
Blue is the twelfth and final feature film by director Derek Jarman, released four months before his death from AIDS-related complications...

Voice
1993 Das Offene Universum Carla TV
1993 Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein (film)
Wittgenstein is a 1993 film by the English director Derek Jarman. It is loosely based on the life story as well as the philosophical thinking of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. The adult Wittgenstein is played by the Welsh actor Karl Johnson....

Lady Ottoline Morrell
Lady Ottoline Morrell
The Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers such as Aldous Huxley, Siegfried Sassoon, T. S. Eliot and D. H...

1994 Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies
1994 Visions of Heaven and Hell Narrator TV
1996 Female Perversions
Female Perversions
Female Perversions is a 1996 drama film, directed by Susan Streitfeld and starring Tilda Swinton, Amy Madigan, Karen Sillas, Frances Fisher, Paulina Porizkova and Clancy Brown. It draws its inspiration by Louise Kaplan's book of the same name....

Eve Stephens
1997 Conceiving Ada
Conceiving Ada
Conceiving Ada is a 1997 movie produced, written, and directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson. Produced by Lynn Hershman Leeson and Henry S. Rosenthal. Directors of Photography: Hiro Narita, Bill Zarchy-Synopsis:...

Ada Augusta Byron King
1998 Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon is a 1998 film made for television by the British Broadcasting Corporation . It was written and directed by John Maybury and stars Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, and Tilda Swinton....

Muriel Belcher
Muriel Belcher
Muriel Belcher was the founder and proprietress of a private drinking club known as the Colony Room at 41 Dean Street, Soho, London....

1998
1999 Mum
2000 Possible Worlds
Possible Worlds (film)
Possible Worlds is a 2000 Canadian film adaptation of the play of the same name. The film is directed by Robert Lepage, and stars Tom McCamus and Tilda Swinton...

Joyce Nominated–Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian actress.-1st Genie Awards:* Kate Lynch, Meatballs* Louise Portal, Cordélia...

2000 Sal
2001 Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky
Vanilla Sky is a 2001 American psychological thriller film directed, co-produced and co-written by Cameron Crowe. The film is an English-language remake of the 1997 Spanish movie Abre los ojos , the screenplay for which was written by Alejandro Amenábar and Mateo Gil...

Rebecca Dearborn
2001 Margaret Hall Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
The Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress is one of the annual film awards given by the Boston Society of Film Critics.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress is an award given by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society to honor the best actress of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


Nominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:...


Nominated–Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
Chlotrudis Awards 2002
The 8th Annual Chlotrudis Awards were presented April 6, 2002, by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. Honoring the best of the past year's independent, documentary and international film, the awards ceremony took place at the Berklee College of Music's David Friend Recital Hall...


Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...


Nominated–Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
Nominated–Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best lead actress of the year.Reese Witherspoon and Naomi Watts have each won this award twice.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


Nominated–Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is an award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-2000s:-2010s:...


Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
The Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama is one of the annual awards given by the International Press Academy.- Winners and nominees :The following listing is based on the web postings of the International Press Academy.- 1990s :...

2002 Adaptation Valerie Thomas Nominated–Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast is an annual award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society.-2000s:*2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring...


Nominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2002 Teknolust
Teknolust
Teknolust is a 2002 movie produced, written, and directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson who, at the time of production, was working in the art department at University of Spermheads, Massachusetttopia...

Rosetta/Ruby/Marinne/Olive
2003 Annemarie Livi
2003 Young Adam
Young Adam (film)
Young Adam is a 2003 British drama film written and directed by David Mackenzie. The screenplay is based on the 1954 novel of the same name by Alexander Trocchi.-Plot:...

Ella Gault BAFTA Scotland for Best Actress in a Scottish Film
BAFTA Scotland
BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1997, the branch holds an annual awards ceremony, the British Academy Scotland Awards , to recognise achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, television and video games...


Nominated–British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
British Independent Film Awards 2003
The 6th British Independent Film Awards, given on 4 November 2003 at the Hammersmith Palais, London, honoured the best British independent films of 2003.-Winners:*Best Actor:**Chiwetel Ejiofor - Dirty Pretty Things*Best Actress:...


Nominated–London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year
2005 Constantine
Constantine (film)
Constantine is a 2005 American action horror film directed by Francis Lawrence as his directorial debut, starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, with Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, and Djimon Hounsou...

Angel Gabriel
2005 Jadis, the White Witch Nominated–London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated-MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Villain.-References:...


Nominated–Saturn Award for Best Actress
2005 Broken Flowers
Broken Flowers
Broken Flowers is a 2005 French/American comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and produced by Jon Kilik and Stacey Smith. The film focuses on an aging "Don Juan" who embarks on a cross-country journey to track down four of his former lovers after receiving an anonymous letter...

Penny
2005 Thumbsucker
Thumbsucker (film)
Thumbsucker is a 2005 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Mills adapted from the Walter Kirn novel of the same name. The movie focuses on teenager Justin Cobb and how he copes with his thumb sucking problem, and his experiments with hypnosis, sex and drugs.-Plot:Justin Cobb is a shy...

Audrey Cobb Gijón International Film Festival Award for Best Actress
Gijón International Film Festival
Gijón International Film Festival was created in 1963. It was born as an initiative of the local authority and it was sponsored mainly by Gijón City Council and the then Caja de Ahorros de Asturias ; both institutions are still the main organisers of the festival, along with funding from the...

2006 Stephanie Daley
Stephanie Daley
Stephanie Daley — retitled What She Knew for US television — is an award-winning 2006 film starring Amber Tamblyn, Melissa Leo, Tilda Swinton and Timothy Hutton. The film, which received a limited release in North America on April 20, 2007, focuses on the issue of teenage pregnancy...

Lydie Crane Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
The Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama is one of the annual awards given by the International Press Academy.- Winners and nominees :The following listing is based on the web postings of the International Press Academy.- 1990s :...

2006 Galápagos
Galápagos (TV series)
Galápagos is a three-part BBC nature documentary series exploring the natural history of the Galápagos Islands and their important role in the formation of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. It was first transmitted in the UK on BBC Two in September 2006...

Narrator BBC Documentary
2007 Sleepwalkers Violinist
2007 Strange Culture
Strange Culture
Strange Culture is a 2007 documentary film directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson. It stars Tilda Swinton and Thomas Jay Ryan.It premiered January 19, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.-Synopsis:...

Hope Kurtz
2007 Camélia
2007 Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton (film)
Michael Clayton is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Tony Gilroy, starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack...

Karen Crowder Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...


BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...


Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given by the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association to honor the best achievements in filmmaking.-2000s:-2010s:-References:...


Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
The Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle to honor the best achievements in acting.-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:*...


Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
The winners of the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress are listed below.- 2000s :- 2010s :...


Nominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:...


Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....


Nominated–London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated–Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best supporting actress of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...


Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
The Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture is one of the Satellite Awards presented annually by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :Best Supporting Actress – Drama*1996: Courtney Love - The People vs...


Nominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
2008 Julia
Julia (2008 film)
Julia is a 2008 French crime drama film, directed by Erick Zonca, starring Tilda Swinton. It was shot in California and Mexico. The film was inspired by the John Cassavetes film Gloria.-Plot:...

Julia Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress
Evening Standard British Film Awards 2009
The 2009 Evening Standard British Film Awards, held on February 1, 2009 honoured the best British and Irish films of 2008.-Best film:Hunger*Frost/Nixon*-Best Director:Stephen Daldry - The Reader...


International Cinephile Society Award for Best Actress
Cinephile
Kenny Inglis and Susan Wallace are the duo behind Cinephile, a trip-hop band from Glasgow famous for the song "What Becomes of Us ?" which was played during an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....


Village Voice Film Poll - Best Actress
Village Voice Film Poll
The Village Voice Film Poll is an annual polling by The Village Voice film section of more than 100 major film critics for alternative media sources. Although the majority of the critics work for the alt-weeklies, a number are former Voice critics who now work for the mainstream media or have...


Nominated–César Award for Best Actress
César Award for Best Actress
List of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actress .-Winners and nominees:...


Nominated–London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year
Nominated–Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best lead actress of the year.Reese Witherspoon and Naomi Watts have each won this award twice.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...

2008 Jadis, the White Witch Cameo
2008 Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...

Katie Cox Nominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...

2008 Elizabeth Abbott London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
Nominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2009 Blonde
2009 I Am Love
I Am Love (film)
I Am Love is a 2009 Italian film directed by Luca Guadagnino set around 2000 in Milan. The film follows a haute bourgeoisie family through changing times and fortunes, and its disruption by the force of passion. The cast is led by Tilda Swinton as Emma Recchi...

Emma Recchi Dublin Film Critics Award for Best Female Performance
Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival is a film festival that is held annually in February over the course of ten days in Dublin, Republic of Ireland-History:The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival was established in 2003...


European Silver Ribbon
Nastro d'Argento
The Nastro d'Argento is a movie award assigned each year, since 1946, for cinematic performances and production by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics...


Nominated–London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year
London Film Critics Circle Awards 2010
The nominees for the 31st London Film Critics Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2010 were announced by the London Film Critics Circle on December 20, 2010.-Actor of the Year:*Jeff Bridges – True Grit*Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network...


Nominated–San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2010
-Best Actor:Colin Farrell – Ondine*Aaron Eckhart – Rabbit Hole*Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network*Colin Firth – The King's Speech*James Franco – 127 Hours-Best Actress:...


Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
2010 Jadis, the White Witch Cameo
2011 We Need to Talk about Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin (film)
We Need to Talk about Kevin is a 2011 British-American drama thriller film adapted and directed by Lynne Ramsay from American author Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel of the same name. A long process of development and financing began in 2005 and filming eventually commenced in April 2010, with Tilda...

Eva Khatchadourian National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Best Actress is one of the annual film awards given by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.-1940s:-1950s:- 1960s :- 1970s :- 1980s :- 1990s :- 2000s :-2010s:...


Nominated–BIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film
BIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film
The British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film is an annual award given to the Best Actress who starred in a British independent film...

2011 Die Blutgräfin (The Bloody Countess)
Die Blutgräfin (film)
Die Blutgräfin is a German-Austrian film about Elizabeth Báthory. The screenplay is by the director of the film Ulrike Ottinger with additional writing by Elfriede Jelinek.-Plot:...

Elizabeth Báthory
Elizabeth Báthory
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed was a countess from the renowned Báthory family of Hungarian nobility. Although in modern times she has been labelled the most prolific serial killer in history, the number of murders has been debated...

In Post-production
2012 Moonrise Kingdom
Moonrise Kingdom
Moonrise Kingdom is an upcoming 2012 film directed by Wes Anderson, written by Anderson and Roman Coppola and starring Bruce Willis alongside Bill Murray and an ensemble cast. Filming took place in Rhode Island from May until June 28, 2011...

TBA

External links

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