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 · Karl as Self
- 2024 · The End as Mother
- 2024 · The Room Next Door as Martha / Michelle
- 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 · 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 French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun as J.K.L. Berensen
- 2021 · The Souvenir: Part II as Rosalind
- 2021 · What If...? as The Ancient One (voice)
- 2021 · Marvel Studios Legends as The Ancient One (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 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 · Tania Libre as Narrator (voice)
- 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 Grand Budapest Hotel as Madame D.
- 2014 · Late Night with Seth Meyers as Self - Guest
- 2013 · Only Lovers Left Alive as Eve
- 2013 · The Zero Theorem as Dr. Shrink-Rom
- 2013 · Snowpiercer as Mason
- 2013 · One Water as
- 2013 · Love Flesh as Self
- 2012 · Radioman as Self
- 2012 · Ashes as Self
- 2012 · Moonrise Kingdom as Social Services
- 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 · I Am Love as Emma Recchi
- 2009 · Getting On as Elke
- 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)
- 2007 · Michael Clayton as Karen Crowder
- 2007 · Stephanie Daley as Lydie Crane
- 2007 · Sleepwalkers as Violinist Working As a Copy Clerk
- 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
- 2000 · The Beach as Sal
- 1999 · The War Zone as Mum
- 1999 · Conceiving Ada as Ada Augusta Byron King, Countess of Lovelace
- 1997 · Female Perversions as Evelyn Stephens
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1994 · Glitterbug as Self
- 1993 · Blue as (voice)
- 1993 · Wittgenstein as Lady Ottoline Morrell
- 1992 · Orlando as Orlando
- 1992 · Shakespeare: The Animated Tales as Ophelia (voice)
- 1991 · Edward II as Isabella
- 1990 · The Garden as Madonna/Voice Overs
- 1989 · Play Me Something as Hairdresser
- 1989 · War Requiem as The Nurse
- 1989 · Volcano Saga as Gudrun
- 1987 · Aria as Young Girl
- 1986 · Caravaggio as Lena
- 1986 · Caprice as Lucky
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee
- Future · Hamlet as Ophelia
- 2025 · Die Coen-Brüder - Eine amerikanische Geschichte as Self
- 2025 · The Tree as
- 2025 · Phantoms as
- 2025 · Camaraderie as
- 2025 · Instant Coffee as Self
- 2024 · A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things as Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (voice)
- 2024 · January Stories as
- 2024 · Transparent as
- 2022 · Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema as Self
- 2021 · The Storms of Jeremy Thomas as Self
- 2021 · Memoria as Jessica Holland
- 2020 · The Human Voice as Woman
- 2020 · Last and First Men as Narrator (voice)
- 2017 · The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger as Self
- 2017 · Letters from Baghdad as Gertrude Bell (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
- 2014 · Snowpiercer: Transperceneige, From the Blank Page to the Black Screen as Self
- 2013 · David Bowie: Five Years as Self (archive footage)
- 2012 · Song 1 as Self
- 2011 · Women, War & Peace as Narrator (voice)
- 2009 · The Limits of Control as Blonde
- 2008 · Finding the Burn as Self / Katie Cox (archive footage)
- 2008 · The Man from London as Camélia
- 2008 · The New Ten Commandments as Self
- 2007 · Cannes: All Access as Self
- 2007 · Faceless as Narrator (voice)
- 2006 · Thumbsucker - Behind the Scenes as Self
- 2002 · Tilda Swinton: The Love Factory as Self
- 2001 · The Deep End as Margaret Hall
- 2000 · Possible Worlds as Joyce
- 1999 · The Protagonists as Actress
- 1998 · Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon as Muriel Belcher
- 1994 · Death of a World Star as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1992 · Man to Man as Ella / Max Gerike
- 1990 · Your Cheatin' Heart as Cissie Crouch
- 1987 · The Last of England as The Maid
- 1987 · Friendship's Death as Friendship
- 1987 · Egomania: Island Without Hope as Sally
- 1986 · Zastrozzi: A Romance as Julia
- Future · Jenjira’s Magnificent Dream as
- Future · Death in Her Hands as Vesta Gul
- 1986 · The Sluggard as The Sluggard
- Future · Heart of Light – eleven songs for Fiji as
- 2025 · Timeslip as
- 2025 · Broken English as The Overseer
- 2024 · Impulse: Playing with Reality as Narrator
- 2024 · Chroma as
- 2024 · The Hexagonal Hive and a Mouse in a Maze as Self
- 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 · async - first light as
- 2014 · The Gospel According to St Derek as Self
- 2014 · Hot Dollar as
- 2013 · Death for a Unicorn as Narrator (voice)
- 2013 · When Björk Met Attenborough as Narrator (voice)
- 2013 · The Stars (Are Out Tonight) as
- 2013 · Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes as Narrator (voice)
- 2011 · Cinema Is Everywhere as Self
- 2010 · Behind Jim Jarmusch as Self
- 2010 · Climate of Change as Narrator (voice)
- 2009 · The Invisible Frame as The Cyclist
- 2009 · Moments on the Set of I Am Love as Self
- 2008 · DC Insiders Run Amuck as Self
- 2007 · Here’s Looking at You, Boy as Self
- 2007 · Strange Culture as Hope Kurtz
- 2007 · Hitler's Favourite Royal as Narrator
- 2005 · Absent Presence as
- 1994 · Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies as
- 1994 · Visions of Heaven and Hell as Narrator (voice)
- 1993 · The Open Universe as Carla
- 1991 · Derek Jarman: A Portrait as Self
- Future · Untitled Apichatpong Weerasethakul Dreams Project as
- 2000 · The Dilapidated Dwelling as Narrator (voice)
- 1991 · The Party: Nature Morte as Queenie
- 1990 · Your Cheatin' Heart as
- 1988 · Cycling the Frame as The Cyclist
- 1988 · Degrees of Blindness as
- Future · WOLF as
- 1989 · A Call to Arms as
- 1987 · Depuis le Jour as




