A recipient of three BAFTA Awards, an Academy Award, and one BIFA Award, Katherine Matilda Swinton is a renowned British actress, model, a fashion muse and performance artist who is known for her roles in the mainstream and independent films. Swinton is known for featuring in several critically acclaimed and commercially successful films like Michael Clayton (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and Trainwreck (2015). In 2005, for her outstanding contribution to the British film industry, Swinton was honored with the Richard Harris Award at the British Independent Film Awards. In 2014, the actress was given a special tribute by the Museum of Modern Art.

Apart from acting in films and TV series’, Swinton has also worked as a performance artist. In 1995, along with producer Joanna Scanlan developed a live art piece at the Serpentine Gallery, London where she was on display to the public for a well inside a glass case as a performance art. The same art, which was titled The Maybe was repeated in 1996 at the Museo Barranco, Rome and again in 2013 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Early Life
Born and brought up in London, Swinton is the daughter of Sir John Swinton, a retired major general in the British Army and Judith Balfour who was of an Australian descent. The actress has three brothers, James Christopher Swinton, William Henry Swinton, and Alexander Harold Swinton. The actress, attended three independent schools, Queen’s Gate School, London, West Health Girls’ School and Fettes College. Before Swinton completed his schooling, she took a break to work as a volunteer with an educational charity named Project Trust.

In 1983, Swinton attended New Hall College (now known as Murray Edwards College) affiliated to the University of Cambridge to pursue her graduation in Social and Political Science. While studying at the University, the actress joined the Communist Party and also started performing on stage.

Personal Life
Tilda Swinton lived together with her partner, John Byrne for 14 years between 1989 and 2003 and they had two children, twin boys named Xavier Swinton Byrne and Honor Swinton Byrne. After separating with Byrne, the actress been living with her partner Sandro Kopp, a German-New Zealand painter and her children in Highland region of Scotland.

Movie Career
Tilda Swinton’s glorious career as an actress began in 1986 as she starred in the German film Egomania – Insel ohne Hoffnung (1986) directed by Christoph Schlingensief. The same year, the actress starred in the Derek Jarman directed British drama film, Caravaggio, which is a fictionalized tale of the erstwhile Baroque painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The film, which marked the debut of Sean Bean performed decently at the box office. Over the next few years the actress appeared in films like Aria (1987), The Last of England (1988), War Requiem (1989), and The Garden (1990) before eventually rising to fame with a brilliant performance in Edward II (1991), which won her maiden Volpi Cup Best Actress Award.

Following her success with Edward II, the actress gave yet another stellar performance in the 1992 British drama film Orlando directed by Sally Potter. The film, which was based on a novel named Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf also featured Billy Zane, Lothaire Bluteau, John Wood and Charlotte Valandrey. The film premiered at the 49th Venice International Film Festival and Swinton for her brilliant role as Orlando won the Best Actress Award at the 1992 Seattle International Film Festival and Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

Over the next few years, the actress appeared in several films like Wittgenstein (1993), Female Perversions (1996), The Beach (2000) and Vanilla Sky (2001) most of which performed well at the box office. Swinton became a global star as she starred in The Deep End (2001) directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel. The film which was loosely based on the novel, The Blank Wall by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding received wide positive critical reviews and Swinton for her brilliant performance won several awards including Boston Society of Film Critics Best Actress Award and a nomination at the 2001 Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama. In 2005, the actress starred in the British-American fantasy film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was directed by Andrew Adamson. The film co-starring Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell was a massive commercial hit and Swinton who played the role of the White Witch eventually became one of her most noted characters.

Swinton’s next major hit came in 2007 as she starred in the American drama film, Michael Clayton directed by Tony Gilroy. The film co-starring George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson received wide positive reviews and it got seven nominations at the Academy Awards including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. Swinton for her outstanding role won several laurels including the Best Supporting Actress at the 2007 Academy Awards and BAFTA Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The following year, the actress, reprised her role as the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the second installment in the Chronicles of Narnia film series. Later in the year, Swinton starred in the David Fincher directed critically acclaimed film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The multiple award-winning film featured Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson and Julia Ormond in pivotal roles. After her huge success with Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the actress starred in a small role in the 2009 film The Invisible Frame where the played the role of a cyclist. She also appeared in a cameo in the last installment of the Chronicles of Narnia titled The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010).

In 2012, the actress starred in American coming-of- age film Moonrise Kingdom directed by Wes Anderson. The film featuring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman received critical acclaim. Two years later, the actress collaborated with director Wes Anderson for his critically acclaimed comedy film The Grand Budapest Hotel. The film featured an ensemble cast including Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Jude Law, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody and Jeff Goldblum. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and also won several Academy Awards including Best Makeup, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score.

Swinton played the role of ‘The ancient one’, a Buddhist monk in the 2016 film Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams and Benedict Wong. The American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name was directed by Scott Derrickson. Her 2017 releases include Okja, a South-Korean adventure film directed by Bong Joon-ho and War Machine, an American comedy film directed by David Michod.

TV Career
Tilda Swinton started her acting career in TV series’ around the same time as she made her debut on the silver screen. In her first TV appearance, the actress starred in the 1986 TV miniseries, Zastrozzi: A Romance, which was an adaptation of a Gothic novel by Shelley and it was presented as a contemporary romance. Her first major role in a TV series was in Your Cheatin’ Heart (1990) where she played the role of Cissie Crouch for six episodes. The comedy drama series was directed by Michael Whyte and written by John Byrne. The actress’ other popular TV appearance includes Screenplay (1992), Visions of Heaven and Hell (1994), The Somme (2005) and Galapagos (2006).