Random Things about Tilda Swinton Is Hollywood's Most Intoxicating Weirdo (17 items)

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  (#1) She Comes From One Of The Oldest Families In Scotland

  Tilda Swinton can trace her lineage back to the Middle Ages. The Swinton Clan, in fact, is one of the oldest families in Scotland. Her great-grandfather is the former Lord Lyon Captain George Swinton, Secretary to the Order of the Thistle from 1926 to 1929, and her father is the former head of the Queen's Household Division. 

  The Swintons go all the way back to the ancient Kingdom of Northumberland, and are also one of the first known families to have landed in Britain. 
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  (#2) She Pioneered A Portable Movie Theater That She Pulled Through Scotland

  Tilda Swinton wanted to put on a special film festival for the people living in the Scottish Highlands. Along with the Northern Irish director, Mark Cousins, and 40 other volunteers, she pulled a mobile cinema on the main roads of Scotland.

  Each night, the 35-ton vehicle would be unfolded to create a portable movie theater in a village so that the residents could watch films that they might otherwise never get the chance to experience on the big screen.
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  (#3) She Contemplated Killing Her Younger Brother

  Perhaps the strangest thing that Swinton has admitted in an interview is that she had wanted to kill her younger brother when she was a child. In a case of extreme sibling rivalry, she had actually gone into his room with the purpose of murdering him. It turned out, though, that she actually ended up saving his life and no one knew about her killing intent.

  "I remembered when I was four or five, I tried to kill my own brother," she said in the interview. "I went into his room to kill him, saw some ribbons from a bonnet going into his mouth, and began to pull them out. And I was discovered saving his life. So I had this strange reputation - my brother's savior - and no one knew I wanted to kill him."
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  (#4) The Actress Would Only Respond To An Interviewer Via Unusual Methods

  When Tilda was set to be interviewed for GQ magazine as part of a feature that was naming her Woman of the Year, she ended up forcing her interviewer to contact her in a rather strange way. Rather than use emails, she asked to only be contacted with very specific methods. In her message, the actress said, “Please send me a message in a bottle or tied to a pigeon or even to the neck of my white hen, speckled jim, who disappears every night.”

  When GQ writer Zach Baron then tried to get in touch using her usual email address, he received an automated message that explained how she would not be available to read it until the year 2070.
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  (#5) She Didn’t Speak For Five Years After Spending Time In Boarding Schoool

  At a young age, Tilda Swinton was sent to an all-girls boarding school. She hated this experience completely, feeling as if it was just preparing the children there for marriage rather than to be independent or strong women.

  The boarding school was so harrowing to her that she believes that she may not have even spoken for around five years from the age of 10 thanks to bullying and a feeling of intense loneliness that came with being away from her family.
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  (#6) She Plays Lutz Ebersdorf, The Actor Who Plays Dr. Klemperer In 'Suspiria'

  During the 2018 festival circuit, critics lauded Supsiria for the phenomenal acting - namely that of Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, and an unknown German actor named Lutz Ebersdorf. Ebersdorf plays Dr. Klemperer, the film's third lead. 

  Eagle-eyed viewers believed that Swinton actually played Dr. Klemperer, but any time someone asked Swinton or director Luca Guadaginino if this was true, they denied the claims. In fact, during the 2018 Venice Film Festival, Swinton went as far as to suggest an Oscar campaign for the "private" actor, who was not in attendance.

  In October 2018, Swinton came clean in The New York Times, saying that people weren't asking the right question. People often asked Swinton if she was playing Dr. Klemperer, to which she would say no. When Kyle Buchanan at the Times asked if she played Lutz Ebersdorf, however, Swinton said the answer was "an unequivocal yes."
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  (#7) An Art Exhibition Had Her Sleep In A Glass Box For A Week

  As well as being an actor, Tilda Swinton has performed in a number of other roles. Most notable among these are her work as a model and performance artist. This artistic side drove her to create a special exhibition that she first introduced in 1995 at the Serpentine Gallery in London. It involved Tilda essentially just sleeping on a white mattress inside of a glass case.

  The display was later repeated in both Rome and New York where it attracted a large number of visitors.
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  (#8) At One Point She Earned All Her Money Gambling

  One unusual occupation that many people may not realize Tilda has held is professional gambler. At the time, she was working with Derek Jarman on artistic films that didn’t pay particularly well. She opted to boost her income by betting on horse racing while living in London.

  “I was a professional gambler,” explained Swinton in the GQ interview. “When I lived in London, there were a couple of years when I didn't really earn money doing anything else.”
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  (#9) Tilda Is Perfectly Aware Of How Weird She Is

  What is most endearing about Tilda Swinton is that she is perfectly aware that she is a bit weird. Rather than try to hide that fact, she has chosen to embrace it, using her distinctive looks and bizarre personality to her advantage.

  Speaking at a David Bowie exhibition in 2013 she said: "Yet, I think the thing I'm loving the most about the last few weeks is how clear it now is - how undeniable - that the freak becomes the great unifier. The alien is the best company after all for so many more than the few."
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  (#10) Her Resemblance To David Bowie Led To A Bizarre Appearance In A Music Video

  Throughout most of her adult life where she has been in the limelight, people have pointed out a clear resemblance between Tilda Swinton and David Bowie. The similar appearance between the two has led some fans to believe they are actually the same person.

  This culminated in the actress actually having a role in a David Bowie music video in 2013. She acted as Bowie’s wife in the video as the couple wander through a supermarket.
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  (#11) She Protested For Gay Rights In Russia

  Protesting for gay rights in Russia has proved dangerous for many people in Russia, where police are often heavy handed when dealing with them. That didn’t stop Swinton from speaking out during a visit to Moscow in 2013.

  While standing in front of the Kremlin, the actress and model took out a large rainbow flag to snap some photos. Her agent then shared them with news agencies to help spread a message of support with those being oppressed in Russia. She also sent out a statement with the pictures that said: “In solidarity. From Russia with love.”
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  (#12) She Was Always Interested In The Idea Of Androgyny

  The androgynous look that Tilda Swinton has not only makes her have a distinctive appearance, but it is something that she has been interested in since a young age. While she admits that she probably identifies as a woman, the actress has maintained that when she was a child growing up with her brothers and father, she often tried to mimic them.

  "From childhood, I remember more about his black patent, gold livery, scarlet-striped legs and medal ribbons than I do of my mother’s evening dresses. I would rather be handsome, as he is, for an hour than pretty for a week.”
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  (#13) She Has An Interesting Love Life

  The multi-hyphen artist has had an interesting love life. Despite still living with her long-time partner in 2008, she was also dating painter Sandro Kopp. She had met him while working on a film, and the two had seemingly entered into a relationship when he was just 29.

  While everyone involved was fairly secretive about what exactly was going on, it seemed as if Kopp was traveling around the world with Swinton and accompanying her to events while John Byrne, the father of her twins, stayed at home.
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  (#14) She Disapproves Of Harry Potter Because Of Her Boarding School Experience

  Although Tilda Swinton is probably best known for her role in independent or artistic films, she has never been afraid to take roles in big franchises. One series that she would seemingly never appear in is Harry Potter. Swinton explained how she felt the films and books paint a kind picture of boarding schools that simply doesn’t exist in reality.

  “That’s why I dislike films like Harry Potter, which tend to romanticize such places,” said Swinton in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I think they are a very cruel setting in which to grow up and I don’t feel children benefit from that type of education. Children need their parents and the love parents can provide.”
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  (#15) Her Fashion Show Had The Models Look Like Copies Of Her

  Tilda has also worked extensively as a model and in the world of fashion as a designer. In 2003, she collaborated with Viktor & Rolf to create a special show. This involved the models all being made up to look like carbon copies of the actress and designer.

  Each model had their hair and makeup styled in such a way that it was difficult to differentiate between the real Tilda Swinton and the rest of the models. The fashion show was then concluded with a poem reading by Swinton.
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  (#16) She Rented A Bingo Hall For An Impromptu Film Festival

  Swinton loves organizing film festivals. After noticing that an old bingo hall in her hometown of Nairn in Scotland was available to rent, she quickly got in touch with directors Mark Cousins and Joel Coen to set up an impromptu film festival. Open to any member of the public who put their name forward, it showed movies that the three organizers liked.

  Even though it was only intended to be a small affair, the Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams ended up attracting people from across Europe and even Australia.
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  (#17) She Directed An Opera Video Starring Her Dogs

  On October 25, 2018, Swinton released a music video she co-directed with partner Sandro Kopp. The scenic piece features her Springer Spaniels frolicking on the beaches and through the lush green hills of Scotland. Set to an aria by Anthony Roth Costanzo, the six-minute clip shows Swinton's pups playfully meandering through nature in slow motion. The piece gets a little trippy with mirrored visuals of jumping dogs juxtaposed to the operatic song. 

  Swinton created the piece for Visionaire's Glass Handel project, an "hour-long live interdisciplinary installation" that went on display at New York City's Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in 2018. 

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