Tilda Swinton
Katherine Matilda Swinton (born November 5, 1960) is an award-winning British actress of Scottish descent, known for her versatile roles in independent films and blockbusters. She is a recipient various accolades throughout her long career, including an Academy Award and two BAFTA Awards, in addition to being nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. Swinton began her career by appearing in experimental films starting with Caravaggio (1986), followed by The Last of England (1988), War Requiem (1989), and The Garden (1990). She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of Isabella of France in Edward II (1991). She next starred in Sally Potter's Orlando (1992), for which she received a nomination for the European Film Award for Best Actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in The Deep End (2001), and followed this with appearances in Vanilla Sky (2001), Adaptation (2002), Constantine (2005), Julia (2008), and I Am Love (2009). For the film Young Adam (2003), she won the British Academy Scotland Award for Best Actress. Her performance in Michael Clayton (2007) won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Additionally, she won the European Film Award for Best Actress and received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the psychological thriller We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011). Swinton has also played the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia series (2005–2010) and the Ancient One in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Swinton was awarded the Richard Harris Award by the British Independent Film Awards in recognition of her contributions to the British film industry. In 2013, she was given a special tribute by the Museum of Modern Art. In 2020, Swinton was awarded the British Film Institute Fellowship, the highest honour presented by the institution, for her "daringly eclectic and striking talents as a performer and film-maker and recognizes her great contribution to film culture, independent film exhibition and philanthropy." That same year, The New York Times ranked her thirteenth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century up to that point.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · Ballad of a Small Player as Cynthia Blithe
- 2025 · Broken English as The Overseer
- 2024 · The End as Mother
- 2024 · A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things as Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (voice)
- 2024 · The Room Next Door as Martha / Michelle
- 2024 · January Stories (version Harinezumi) as
- 2024 · Fantasmas as Water (voice)
- 2024 · Problemista as Elizabeth
- 2023 · The Killer as The Expert
- 2023 · Cannes Uncut as Self
- 2023 · Asteroid City as Dr. Hickenlooper
- 2022 · Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema as Self
- 2022 · The Eternal Daughter as Julie / Rosalind
- 2022 · Durmiente as
- 2022 · Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio as Wood Sprite / Death (voice)
- 2022 · Three Thousand Years of Longing as Alithea
- 2022 · Sleep Song as
- 2021 · The Storms of Jeremy Thomas as Self
- 2021 · The French Dispatch as J.K.L. Berensen
- 2021 · The Souvenir: Part II as Rosalind
- 2021 · Memoria as Jessica Holland
- 2021 · What If...? as The Ancient One (voice)
- 2021 · Marvel Studios Legends as The Ancient One (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2020 · The Human Voice as Woman
- 2020 · Last and First Men as Narrator (voice)
- 2019 · The Personal History of David Copperfield as Betsey Trotwood
- 2019 · Uncut Gems as Anne - Adley's Auction Manager (voice)
- 2019 · The Boys as Ambrosius (voice)
- 2019 · The Souvenir as Rosalind
- 2019 · The Dead Don't Die as Zelda Winston
- 2019 · Avengers: Endgame as The Ancient One
- 2019 · What We Do in the Shadows as Tilda
- 2018 · Suspiria as Madame Blanc / Dr. Klemperer / Helena Markos
- 2018 · Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema as Narrator (voice)
- 2018 · Isle of Dogs as Oracle (voice)
- 2017 · Okja as Lucy Mirando / Nancy Mirando
- 2017 · War Machine as German Politician
- 2017 · async - first light as
- 2016 · Doctor Strange as The Ancient One
- 2016 · Hail, Caesar! as Thora Thacker / Thessaly Thacker
- 2015 · A Bigger Splash as Marianne Lane
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
- 2015 · Trainwreck as Dianna
- 2014 · Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- 2014 · The Gospel According to St Derek as Self
- 2014 · Snowpiercer: Transperceneige, From the Blank Page to the Black Screen as Self
- 2014 · The Grand Budapest Hotel as Madame D.
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
- 2013 · Only Lovers Left Alive as Eve
- 2013 · The Zero Theorem as Dr. Shrink-Rom
- 2013 · Snowpiercer as Mason
- 2013 · David Bowie: Five Years as Self (archive footage)
- 2013 · One Water as
- 2013 · The Stars (Are Out Tonight) as
- 2012 · Radioman as Self
- 2012 · Ashes as Self
- 2012 · Moonrise Kingdom as Social Services
- 2012 · Song 1 as Self
- 2011 · Cinema Is Everywhere as Self
- 2011 · Women, War & Peace as Narrator (voice)
- 2011 · We Need to Talk About Kevin as Eva Khatchadourian
- 2010 · The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as White Witch
- 2010 · Behind Jim Jarmusch as Self
- 2010 · Climate of Change as Narrator (voice)
- 2010 · I Am Love as Emma Recchi
- 2009 · The Invisible Frame as The Cyclist
- 2009 · Getting On as Elke
- 2009 · The Limits of Control as Blonde
- 2008 · The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Elizabeth Abbott
- 2008 · Burn After Reading as Katie Cox
- 2008 · The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian as White Witch
- 2008 · Julia as Julia
- 2008 · Derek as Narrator (voice)
- 2008 · The New Ten Commandments as Self
- 2007 · Cannes: All Access as Self
- 2007 · Michael Clayton as Karen Crowder
- 2007 · The Man from London as Camélia
- 2007 · Stephanie Daley as Lydie Crane
- 2007 · Here’s Looking at You, Boy as Self
- 2007 · Strange Culture as Hope Kurtz
- 2006 · Deep Water as Narrator (voice)
- 2006 · Galapagos as Self - Presenter
- 2005 · The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as White Witch
- 2005 · The Somme as Narrator (voice)
- 2005 · Made in Hollywood as Self
- 2005 · Thumbsucker as Audrey Cobb
- 2005 · Broken Flowers as Penny
- 2005 · Constantine as Gabriel
- 2003 · The Statement as Annemarie Livi
- 2003 · Young Adam as Ella Gault
- 2002 · Adaptation. as Valerie Thomas
- 2002 · Teknolust as Rosetta / Ruby / Marinne / Olive
- 2001 · Vanilla Sky as Rebecca Dearborn
- 2001 · The Deep End as Margaret Hall
- 2000 · The Dilapidated Dwelling as Narrator (voice)
- 2000 · Possible Worlds as Joyce
- 2000 · The Beach as Sal
- 1999 · The Protagonists as Actress
- 1999 · The War Zone as Mum
- 1999 · Conceiving Ada as Ada Augusta Byron King, Countess of Lovelace
- 1998 · Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon as Muriel Belcher
- 1997 · Female Perversions as Evelyn Stephens
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1994 · Death of a World Star as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1994 · Glitterbug as Self
- 1994 · Visions of Heaven and Hell as Narrator (voice)
- 1993 · The Open Universe as Carla
- 1993 · Blue as (voice)
- 1993 · Wittgenstein as Lady Ottoline Morrell
- 1992 · Orlando as Orlando
- 1992 · Hamlet as Ophelia
- 1992 · Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Ophelia (voice)
- 1991 · Edward II as Isabella
- 1991 · Derek Jarman: A Portrait as Self
- 1990 · Your Cheatin' Heart as Cissie Crouch
- 1990 · Your Cheatin' Heart as
- 1990 · The Garden as Madonna/Voice Overs
- 1989 · War Requiem as The Nurse
- 1989 · Volcano Saga as Gudrun
- 1987 · The Last of England as The Maid
- 1987 · Friendship's Death as Friendship
- 1987 · Aria as Young Girl
- 1987 · Egomania: Island Without Hope as Sally
- 1986 · Caravaggio as Lena
- Future · Untitled Apichatpong Weerasethakul Dreams Project as
- 1987 · Depuis le Jour as
- 1986 · Zastrozzi: A Romance as Julia
- Future · Hamlet as Ophelia
- 2025 · Karl as Self
- 2025 · Instant Coffee as Self
- 2024 · Impulse: Playing with Reality as Narrator
- 2024 · Chroma as
- 2024 · The Hexagonal Hive and a Mouse in a Maze as Self
- 2024 · Transparent as
- 2023 · All Kinds of Love as Self
- 2023 · Some Thoughts On The Common Toad as Narrator (voice)
- 2021 · Goliath: Playing with Reality as Narrator (voice)
- 2020 · The Human Voice Q&A With Pedro Almodovar And Tilda Swinton, Hosted By Mark Kermode as Self
- 2020 · Schlingensief – A Voice That Shook the Silence as Self (archive footage)
- 2017 · Letters from Generation Rx as Narrator (voice)
- 2017 · The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger as Self
- 2017 · Letters from Baghdad as Gertrude Bell (voice)
- 2017 · Tania Libre as Narrator (voice)
- 2016 · Phantom of the Universe as Narrator
- 2015 · Exploring the Set of 'Moonrise Kingdom' as Self / Social Services
- 2015 · B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989 as Self
- 2015 · Dreams Rewired as Narrator (voice)
- 2014 · Antarctica: On the Edge as Narrator (voice)
- 2014 · Travelling at Night with Jim Jarmusch as Self
- 2013 · Death for a Unicorn as Narrator (voice)
- 2013 · When Björk Met Attenborough as Narrator (voice)
- 2013 · Love Flesh as Self
- 2013 · Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes as Narrator (voice)
- 2009 · Moments on the Set of I Am Love as Self
- 2007 · Faceless as Narrator (voice)
- 2007 · Sleepwalkers as Violinist Working As a Copy Clerk
- 2007 · Hitler's Favourite Royal as Narrator
- 2006 · Thumbsucker - Behind the Scenes as Self
- 2002 · Tilda Swinton: The Love Factory as Self
- 1996 · Orbital: The Box as Traveller
- 1989 · A Call to Arms as
- 1988 · Degrees of Blindness as
- 1986 · Caprice as Lucky
- Future · Death in Her Hands as Vesta Gul
- 1994 · Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies as
- 1992 · Man to Man as Ella / Max Gerike
- 1991 · The Party: Nature Morte as Queenie
- 1989 · Play Me Something as Hairdresser
- Future · WOLF as
- 1988 · Cycling the Frame as The Cyclist
- 1986 · The Sluggard as The Sluggard
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee