Tilda Swinton biography, net worth, gender, husband, age, height 2025

Tilda Swinton’s biography

Tilda Swinton is a British actress who has an unusual appearance, which is called elfin and even alien. It breaks stereotypes and society’s prevailing point of view. Climbing to the top of the film industry at the beginning of the second millennium she became an icon of her style and the embodiment of the idea of Smart is the new sexy. The actress is the muse of independent director Jim Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive, The Limits of Control, Broken Flowers, The Dead Don't Die). Net worth: $12 million.

Early years

The daughter of the seventh Lord of Kimmerghame, Scotsman John Swinton and Australian Judith Killen was born on November 5, 1960. The first years of her life Katherine Matilda Swinton spent in Germany.

Matilda showed intransigence on mental stiffness, rituals, and the pathed way of living yet in early childhood. She looked at her father, who exactly repeated the fate of his eminent ancestors -military service career, passion for hunting, arranged marriage, leisure with a newspaper and a pipe by the fireplace; she looked at her brothers who were afraid to deviate from the family traditions even an inch and realized how far it was all from her.

Everything that interested me in childhood caused curses in my family. About art, my parents are phenomenal hypocrites.

In 1971 Matilda became a student of a private school for young representatives of aristocratic families. The girl studied brilliantly, went in for sports, sang in the choir, but never stopped blaming her parents for sending her to the private institution. The strict order of the school forbade students even to listen to music what was a real torture for Matilda. By the way, due to it, the actress dislikes Harry Potter - private school (albeit a magic one) is too idealized in the novels by Rowling.

Soon the student of the elite private school began to show freedom-loving nature, broke the daily routine, and opposed the strict rules. It was during this period of her life that Swinton cut her middle name to a sharp Tilda and even contributed a short wavy line, a tilde to her signature.

During this period Swinton realized - she is not a beauty. She was accustomed that others do not perceive her as a girl and ceased to consider herself as a girl. Turned off my sexuality, - how the actress later described.

After graduating from school Tilda became a college student in Edinburgh. A supporter of leftist ideas, at the age of 19 she joined the British Communist Party and worked for 2 years in South African schools.

Subsequently, Tilda Swinton has repeatedly challenged stereotypes, however, always remaining a true aristocratic, both in origin and in spirit.

Acting career

Returning to England from South Africa, Swinton went to college at the University of Cambridge. During her studies at the Faculty of Sociology, she participated in promotions against economic reforms conducted by Thatcher. Disappointed in the insufficiently rigid in her opinion leftist politics she became interested in theater, becoming an actress of an amateur troupe in Stratford.

After graduating in 1984 she returned to Scotland and entered the Edinburgh Theater.

In 1984 Tilda Swinton entered the Edinburgh Theater

1986 brought Tilda an acquaintance and friendship with director Derek Jarman. Fascinated by the dramatic talent and the appearance of the actress, Jarman shot Swinton in all his recent films: Caravaggio, Edward II, Wittgenstein. Not intended for the mass audience, these films have become cult among the copyright cinema.

The Garden allusion became the last scandalous work by Jarman who died of AIDS. Tilda appeared in the role of the Mother of God, who suffers from watching the torment of gay Jesus. The anti-homophobic picture was criticized by the society which was suffering the peak of the ontological crisis, but the image of the Mother of God she played in the drama, and the talent of the almost dead Jarman saved the actress from attacking churchmen.

The gaining momentum popularity, which Tilda wasn’t seeking, hiding her personal life and rarely agreeing even to interviews, still caught her up. The Jarman period statements of the actress contradict her creation.

In an interview, she says that she doesn’t consider herself attractive and hides behind the images of her characters and afterward she discusses her sexuality and its impact on both men and women. Vivid images created by her on the screen, her alien appearance, amazing frankness, devoid of any cheating and flirting with the audience - all this just fanned the flames of her glory.

The lead role in the Orlando magical parable picture brought Swinton numerous awards. The image of absolute perfection, combining in itself both masculine and feminine, beyond the control of time or any law, brilliantly embodied by Swinton on the screen, left after her the glory of the most extraordinary actress of modernity.

After Jarman’s death in 1994 Swinton began working on publishing the director's diaries, collecting information, digitizing notebooks and numerous diaries, making comments to them. She would continue the hard work for a long 12 years and the book - a dedication to her friend and great director would be published only in 2013.

In 1995 she stopped playing in the theater, she was completely fascinated by the cinema, which became the spiracle she needed to survive the loss of her dear friend.

Cinema became the spiracle for Tilda Swinton (In the photo: a shot from The Beach

In the period from 1994 to 2004, she took part in more than 20 projects, including pictures such as Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon, The Beach, where she played alongside young Leonardo DiCaprio, and the picture Young Adam by David Mackenzie, for the role in which the actress received the main British film award – the BAFTA. In the detective drama, Swinton played the role of faithless Ella, where her partners were Ewan McGregor and the incomparable Peter Mullan.

Interview with Tilda Swinton

Partly because of the love for independent art, partly because she didn’t have passion for money, the actress accepted only those offers that were interesting to her, paying attention to neither the multi-million dollar fee nor the loud names. The collaboration between Swinton and Hollywood directors was also based on her ideas of the pure non-commercial art and the love for experiments.

Tilda Swinton in the Constantine

Constantine with Keanu Reeves in the lead role, The Deep End, Thumbsucker, and Michael Clayton - made clear to the whole world that Tilda Swinton is not only an androgynous appearance She is a special phenomenon in the cinema.

For her role as Karen in Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton psychological detective film, where she worked alongside George Clooney and Sydney Pollack, the actress won an Oscar.

The works by director Jim Jarmusch stand out in the actress’ filmography. The heartbreaking picture Broken Flowers, the Only Lovers Left Alive fantastically beautiful love story - Tilda became Jarmusch’s muse, like Jarman’s before. The similarity of the two directors, shown in their non-standard approach to cinema, in the understatement which makes one think, had a mysterious effect on the development of the actress’ career.

The trailer of Only Lovers Left Alive starring Tilda Swinton

The period from 2005 to 2015 was again filled with the spirit of creative freedom, which she had lost with the death of Jarman. Each image she embodied on the screen, literally amazes the viewer and even shocks. Different directors and very different films, and such different, unique Tilda Swinton, the greatest of the actresses who gifted the world with her works in the Snow Piercer drama, The Zero Theorem, The Grand Budapest Hotel, A Bigger Splash pictures.

According to Zoomboola.com, in 2017 the premiere of the Okja adventure drama and the remake of the Suspiria horror film starring Swinton took place. The famous actress also took part in the new creation by Jarmusch, The Dead Don't Die, and in the set of The Personal History of David Copperfield directed by Armando Iannucci, based on the work of Charles Dickens.

The trailer of the Okja starring Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton’s personal life

The actress’s first husband was the famous John Byrne, married to whom in 1997 she gave birth to a son and daughter, twins Xavier and Honor.

Although Tilda and John are in relationships with other partners, the spouses continue to live together and raise children, which causes a lot of discussion on the personal life of the actress in the press. However, as the actress told the reporters, all the rumors about orgies in their house are nothing more than fabrications, and everything is much more boring.

Tilda Swinton, John Byrne and Sandro Kopp (in the photo from the right)

Since 2004 Tilda is in a relationship with Sandro Kopp. The artist is almost 20 years younger.

Tilda is known for her openness and kindness to people, she does charity work and supports several foundations. In everyday life, the actress prefers democratic clothes, loves sunglasses, as large as possible, hiding her pale skin from the sun's rays.

Tilda Swinton nowadays

2019 was a particularly busy year for the actress. She has hosted several major premieres, including the dramatic film The Souvenir, Avengers: Endgame, and The Personal History of David Copperfield. Another interesting project for Tilda was her participation in Wes Anderson's film "The French Dispatch".

Tilda Swinton: latest news and articles

Jayden Cody Lopez

She is so strange, cosmic :) but I like watching movies with her. By the way, I was surprised that she played a man in Suspiria, and not just the main character

2021-04-13 14:43:08
Teresa Schultz

Tilda Swinton is chic, her appearance is unique and gives her zest. She looks like many of her heroines - the same unearthly, out of this world as they say

2021-03-26 11:28:15
Rene Byrd

I remember her role in Constantine, she played a role of angel. Then I remembered it very much and liked it.

2021-03-04 19:35:44
Sarah Murphy

Tilda is a master of her craft, she may seem strange to some, but I like her. Favorite movie - «Only Lovers Left Alive» where she and Hiddleston

2021-02-26 10:38:27
Roy Hayes

She is a very strange actress, and therefore very unforgettable. All her roles are remembered, it is interesting to watch her.

2021-02-20 11:19:14