Tilda Swinton Biography
Tilda Swinton is a British actress best known for her performances in independent films and blockbusters. During her career, she has received awards such as an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. She stars in the thriller, The Killer in the role of an assassin living in New York named “The Expert.” The Killer premiered on November 10, 2023.
Tilda Swinton Education
Swinton studied at Queen’s Gate School in London, the West Heath Girls’ School, and Fettes College for a short period. While at the West Heath Girls’ School, she boarded and was classmates and friends with the future Princess of Wales, Lady Diana Spencer. As an adult, she spoke against boarding schools and said that West Heath was a somber and isolating environment. She also said that kids need to be with their parents and their love instead of boarding schools.
Before joining New Hall at the University of Cambridge, she volunteered in South Africa and Kenya for 2 years. In 1983, she graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Bachelor’s degree in Social and Political Sciences. During her time there, she joined the Communist Party before joining the Scottish Socialist Party. Also, she started performing on stage where she performed many stage productions and worked for a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company. While with the Royal Shakespeare Company, she appeared in productions like “Measure for Measure.”
Tilda Swinton Career
Swinton is best known for her performances in independent films and blockbusters. During her career, she has received awards such as an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. The New York Times ranked her among the greatest actors of the 21st century in 2020.
Swinton’s career started when she starred in Caravaggio in 1986, The Last of England in 1988, War Requiem in 1989, and The Garden in 1990. In 1991, she starred in Edward II in the role of Isabella of France. For her performance in the film, she received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. The following year, she starred in Orlando in the titular role, where she received a nomination for the European Film Award for Best Actress for her performance as Orlando.
2000 to present;
Swinton starred in the role of Margaret Hall in The Deep End in 2001. For her portrayal of Margaret, she received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award. Next, she starred in Vanilla Sky as Rebecca Dearborn, Adaptation as Valerie Thomas, and Young Adam as Ella Gault. For her portrayal of Ella in Young Adam, she won the British Academy Scotland Best Actress Award. She played Gabriel in the film, Constantine.
The Edinburgh Napier University granted Swinton an honorary degree in 2006 for her contributions to performing arts. In 2007, she played the role of Karen Crowder in Michael Clayton. For her portrayal of Karen Crowder, she earned the Academy for Best Supporting Actress Award and the BAFTA Best Actress in a Supporting Role Award. In the following years, she starred in Julia and I Am Love.
Swinton received praise for her portrayal of Eva Khatchadourian in We Need to Talk About Kevin in 2011. For her performance, she was nominated for a BAFTA Best Actress in a Leading Role Award. She gained more fame for portraying the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia series from 2005 to 2010 and the Ancient One in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Additionally, she is known for her roles in Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, and Asteroid City.
The British Independent Film Awards Swinton the Richard Harris Award for ehr contributions to the British film industry. The Museum of Modern Art granted her a special tribute in 2013. She received the British Film Institute Fellowship in 2020 for her performer and filmmaker talents as well as her contributions to film culture, independent film exhibition, and philanthropy.
In 2022, she made an appearance in Three Thousand Years of Longing as Dr. Alithea Binnie and voiced Wood Sprite and Death in Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. She also starred in dual roles of mother and daughter in The Eternal Daughter. She is set to star in Problemista and The Killer which will release in 2023.
Tilda Swinton Age
Swinton was born Katherine Matilda Swinton on November 5, 1960, in London, England. She is 63 years old as of 2023. Swinton celebrates her birthday every November 5th.
Tilda Swinton Height
Swinton stands at an approximate height of 5 feet and 10½ inches
Tilda Swinton Family
Swinton was born to Judith Balfour and Sir John Swinton, the Laird of Kimmerghame House. They had three other sons, James Christopher, Alexander Harold, and Lieutenant Colonel William Henry. Sir John was a former major-general in the British Army who worked as the Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire from 1989 to 2000. Both her parents passed away, her father in 2018 at the age of 93, and her mother in 2012 at the age of 83. Her mother hailed from Australia.
Her paternal great-grandfather, George Swinton, worked as a politician and herald hailing from Scotland. On the other hand, her maternal great-great-grandfather, John Hutton Balfour, worked as a botanist hailing from Scotland. The Swinton family’s lineage can be traced to the Middle Ages.
Tilda Swinton Husband
Swinton is in a relationship with Sandro Kopp. They began dating in 2004. Sandro works as a visual artist based in Scotland whose work examines the junction of classical painting and digital technology. He was born in 1978 and is 45 years old as of 2023. Also, he is of German–New Zealand descent. They live in Nairn in the Highland area of Scotland, where Sandro largely works on oil portraits of family and friends painted from Skype conversations.
Before Sandro, she was in a relationship with John Byrne from 1989 to 2003. Together, they had a set of twins, Honor and Xavier Swinton Byrne. They were born in 1997 and are 26 years old as of 2023. Byrne is a is a Scottish playwright and artist born on January 6, 1940. He is 83 years old as of 2023.
Tilda Swinton Sexuality
Swinton revealed during a 2021 Vogue interview that she identifies as queer and said that she always felt queer. “I’m very clear that queer is actually, for me anyway, to do with sensibility. I always felt I was queer…” Additionally, she said that working with multiple creative ambitions helped her to locate a sense of friendly belonging.
Tilda Swinton Net Worth
Swinton has an estimated net worth ranging between $15 Million – $40 Million which she has earned through being an actor.
Tilda Swinton Ethnicity
Swinton is of Scottish, Northern Irish, and English descent. She defines her nationality as Scottish citing her childhood, growing up in Scotland, and her Scottish aristocratic family environment.
Tilda Swinton School
In 2013, Swinton and Ian Sutherland McCook co-founded Drumduan Upper School in Findhorn, Scotland. Ian and Swinton’s children attended the Moray Steiner School, where students graduate when they are 14 years old. They founded the school so that their children could further their Steiner educations with neither grading nor tests. In April 2019, Swinton resigned as director of the school.
Tilda Swinton David Bowie
In February 2013, Swinton played the role of David Bowie’s wife in the teaser video for his song “The Stars (Are Out Tonight),” which was directed by Floria Sigismondi
Tilda Swinton Long Covid
Swinton revealed that she suffered from health issues continuing or developing after her first COVID-19 infection otherwise dubbed long COVID. She suffered symptoms like a bad cough, memory loss, vertigo, and trouble getting out of bed.
Tilda Swinton Constantine/Is She Gabriel?
Swinton starred in the role of Gabriel in the film, Constantine. Gabriel is a half-breed angel that meets with John Constantine when he requests a life extension in exchange for his work exiling Hell’s forces. Gabriel hates humans and schemes to free Mammon as a way to lose Hell on Earth. In 2006, she received a nomination for a Fangoria Chainsaw Best Supporting Actress Award for her performance in the film.
Tilda Swinton Narnia/The Chronicles of Narnia
Swinton starred in the role of Jadis the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia franchise from 2005 to 2010. A self-deemed final Queen of Char and the most infamous ruler of Narnia, she curses Narnian subjects with the Long Winter, which magically forces Narnia into a hundred-year state of frozen snow and ice. The cold conditions lasted all through her reign and earned her the title of the “White Witch.” Her dictatorship led to the Narnians’ triumphant uprising dubbed “the Winter Revolution.” Jadis was born into the royal family of the world of Charn, said to be part Jinn and part Giant. In 2005, she received a nomination for a London Film Critics Circle British Supporting Actress of the Year Award.
Tilda Swinton Orlando
In 1992, Swinton starred in the film, Orlando in the role of an androgynous young nobleman named Orlando. On her deathbed, Queen Elizabeth I promised Orlando land and a castle built on it and plentiful monetary gifts but with the condition that he does not fade, wither, or grow old. Orlando time travels to 4 centuries and changes gender along the way as he wars with love and his place in the world. In 1993, she won a nomination for a European Film Best Actress Award for her performance.
Tilda Swinton Vampire/Only Lovers Left Alive
In 2013, Swinton played the role of a vampire named Eve in the fantasy comedy-drama film, Only Lovers Left Alive. She is the partner of Adam(played by Tom Hiddleston), a vampire, and a famous musician. The film follows their relationships, struggles to procure blood for food, and as they contemplate peace in the now-modern world as they have existed for centuries. In 2014, she received a nomination for an Independent Spirit Best Female Lead Award for her performance as Eve.
Tilda Swinton Doctor Strange
In 2016, Swinton starred in the role of Ancient One in Doctor Strange. Ancient One worked as Doctor Strange’s mentor and predecessor as Sorcerer Supreme. In 2016, she received a nomination for a Critics’ Choice Movie Best Actress in an Action Movie Award for her performance. She also won a Saturn Best Supporting Actress Award in 2017.
Tilda Swinton New Movie
Swinton is set to star in Problemista and The Killer which will release in 2023.
Tilda Swinton The Killer
Swinton stars in the thriller, The Killer in the role of an assassin living in New York named “The Expert.” The Killer premiered on November 10, 2023. The Killer follows a professional assassin who gets entangled in an international hunt after a failed hit. In the film, she stars alongside actors and actresses such as
- Michael Fassbender
- Monique Ganderton
- Arliss Howard
- Sophie Charlotte
Tilda Swinton Movies and TV Shows
During her career, Swinton has starred in a number of films and TV shows, including more than sixty film roles and a dozen television appearances. For example, she has starred in films like;
- The Last of England
- Wittgenstein
- Female Perversions
- Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
- The Protagonists
- The Statement
- Suspiria
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Only Lovers Left Alive
- Snowpiercer
- Uncut Gems
- What We Do in the Shadows
- What If…?