
Tilda Swinton
Biography
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.
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Known For
Acting History
2025
Die Coen-Brüder - Eine amerikanische Geschichte as Self
2025The Tree
2025Ballad of a Small Player as Cynthia Blithe
2025Phantoms
2025Camaraderie
2025Timeslip
2025Karl as Self
2025Broken English as The Overseer
2025Instant Coffee as Self
2024The End as Mother
2024Impulse: Playing with Reality as Narrator
2024A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things as Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (voice)
2024The Room Next Door as Martha / Michelle
2024January Stories (version Harinezumi)
2024Chroma
2024The Hexagonal Hive and a Mouse in a Maze as Self
2024Transparent
2024Fantasmas as Water (voice)
2024Problemista as Elizabeth
2023The Killer as The Expert
2023All Kinds of Love as Self
2023Some Thoughts On The Common Toad as Narrator (voice)
2023Cannes Uncut as Self
2023Asteroid City as Dr. Hickenlooper
2022Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema as Self
2022The Eternal Daughter as Julie / Rosalind
2022Durmiente
2022Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio as Wood Sprite / Death (voice)
2022Three Thousand Years of Longing as Alithea
2022Sleep Song
2021The Storms of Jeremy Thomas as Self
2021Goliath: Playing with Reality as Narrator (voice)
2021The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun as J.K.L. Berensen
2021The Souvenir: Part II as Rosalind
2021Memoria as Jessica Holland
2021What If...? as The Ancient One (voice)
2021Marvel Studios Legends as The Ancient One (archive footage) (uncredited)
2020The Human Voice Q&A With Pedro Almodovar And Tilda Swinton, Hosted By Mark Kermode as Self
2020The Human Voice as Woman
2020Schlingensief – A Voice That Shook the Silence as Self (archive footage)
2020Last and First Men as Narrator (voice)
2019The Personal History of David Copperfield as Betsey Trotwood
2019Uncut Gems as Anne - Adley's Auction Manager (voice)
2019The Boys as Ambrosius (voice)
2019The Souvenir as Rosalind
2019The Dead Don't Die as Zelda Winston
2019Avengers: Endgame as The Ancient One
2019What We Do in the Shadows as Tilda
2018Suspiria as Madame Blanc / Dr. Klemperer / Helena Markos
2018Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema as Narrator (voice)
2018Isle of Dogs as Oracle (voice)
2017Letters from Generation Rx as Narrator (voice)
2017Okja as Lucy Mirando / Nancy Mirando
2017The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger as Self
2017War Machine as German Politician
2017Letters from Baghdad as Gertrude Bell (voice)
2017async - first light
2017Tania Libre as Narrator (voice)
2016Doctor Strange as The Ancient One
2016Phantom of the Universe as Narrator
2016Hail, Caesar! as Thora Thacker / Thessaly Thacker
2015A Bigger Splash as Marianne Lane
2015Exploring the Set of 'Moonrise Kingdom' as Self / Social Services
2015The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as Self
2015Trainwreck as Dianna
2015B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989 as Self
2015Dreams Rewired as Narrator (voice)
2014Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
2014The Gospel According to St Derek as Self
2014Antarctica: On the Edge as Narrator (voice)
2014Travelling at Night with Jim Jarmusch as Self
2014Snowpiercer: Transperceneige, From the Blank Page to the Black Screen as Self
2014The Grand Budapest Hotel as Madame D.
2014Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self
2013Only Lovers Left Alive as Eve
2013The Zero Theorem as Dr. Shrink-Rom
2013Snowpiercer as Mason
2013Death for a Unicorn as Narrator (voice)
2013When Björk Met Attenborough as Narrator (voice)
2013David Bowie: Five Years as Self (archive footage)
2013One Water
2013The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
2013Love Flesh as Self
2013Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes as Narrator (voice)
2012Radioman as Self
2012Ashes as Self
2012Moonrise Kingdom as Social Services
2012Song 1 as Self
2011Cinema Is Everywhere as Self
2011Women, War & Peace as Narrator (voice)
2011We Need to Talk About Kevin as Eva Khatchadourian
2010The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as White Witch
2010Behind Jim Jarmusch as Self
2010Climate of Change as Narrator (voice)
2010I Am Love as Emma Recchi
2009The Invisible Frame as The Cyclist
2009Getting On as Elke
2009The Limits of Control as Blonde
2009Moments on the Set of I Am Love as Self
2008The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Elizabeth Abbott
2008Finding the Burn as Self / Katie Cox (archive footage)
2008DC Insiders Run Amuck as Self
2008The Man from London as Camélia
2008Burn After Reading as Katie Cox
2008The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian as White Witch
2008Julia as Julia
2008Derek as Narrator (voice)
2008The New Ten Commandments as Self
2007Cannes: All Access as Self
2007Michael Clayton as Karen Crowder
2007Stephanie Daley as Lydie Crane
2007Faceless as Narrator (voice)
2007Here’s Looking at You, Boy as Self
2007Strange Culture as Hope Kurtz
2007Sleepwalkers as Violinist Working As a Copy Clerk
2007Hitler's Favourite Royal as Narrator
2006Deep Water as Narrator (voice)
2006Galapagos as Self - Presenter
2006Thumbsucker - Behind the Scenes as Self
2005The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as White Witch
2005The Somme as Narrator (voice)
2005Made in Hollywood as Self
2005Thumbsucker as Audrey Cobb
2005Broken Flowers as Penny
2005Absent Presence
2005Constantine as Gabriel
2003The Statement as Annemarie Livi
2003Young Adam as Ella Gault
2002Adaptation. as Valerie Thomas
2002Tilda Swinton: The Love Factory as Self
2002Teknolust as Rosetta / Ruby / Marinne / Olive
2001Vanilla Sky as Rebecca Dearborn
2001The Deep End as Margaret Hall
2000The Dilapidated Dwelling as Narrator (voice)
2000Possible Worlds as Joyce
2000The Beach as Sal
1999The Protagonists as Actress
1999The War Zone as Mum
1999Conceiving Ada as Ada Augusta Byron King, Countess of Lovelace
1998Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon as Muriel Belcher
1997Female Perversions as Evelyn Stephens
1996The Daily Show as Self
1994Death of a World Star as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1994Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies
1994Glitterbug as Self
1994Visions of Heaven and Hell as Narrator (voice)
1993The Open Universe as Carla
1993Blue as (voice)
1993Wittgenstein as Lady Ottoline Morrell
1992Orlando as Orlando
1992Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Ophelia (voice)
1992Man to Man as Ella / Max Gerike
1991Edward II as Isabella
1991The Party: Nature Morte as Queenie
1991Derek Jarman: A Portrait as Self
1990Your Cheatin' Heart as Cissie Crouch
1990Your Cheatin' Heart
1990The Garden as Madonna/Voice Overs
1989Play Me Something as Hairdresser
1989War Requiem as The Nurse
1989Volcano Saga as Gudrun
1989A Call to Arms
1988Cycling the Frame as The Cyclist
1988Degrees of Blindness
1987The Last of England as The Maid
1987Friendship's Death as Friendship
1987Aria as Young Girl
1987Depuis le Jour
1987Egomania: Island Without Hope as Sally
1986Caravaggio as Lena
1986Caprice as Lucky
1986Zastrozzi: A Romance as Julia
1986The Sluggard as The Sluggard
1944Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee
—Untitled Apichatpong Weerasethakul Dreams Project
—Death in Her Hands as Vesta Gul
—Jenjira’s Magnificent Dream
—Hamlet as Ophelia
—WOLF









