Tilda Swinton is an Oscar-winning actress who has been a favorite of both the art house crowd and the multiplexes, consistently taking on challenging roles in both indie fare and box office hits. Let’s take a look back at 18 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1960 in London, England, Swinton got her start working with experimental filmmaker Derek Jarman, making her movie debut in the director’s “Caravaggio” (1986). She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress in his film “Edward II” (1991), kicking off a decades-long romance between the actress and awards groups. She also showed her willingness to push herself in offbeat projects with daring auteurs, an edict that would lead to collaborations with Luca Guadanigno, Jim Jarmusch, Bong Joon Ho, Sally Potter, Wes Anderson and the Coen Brothers.
She took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Michael Clayton” (2007), for which she also won the BAFTA and reaped Golden Globe, SAG and Critics Choice nominations. She earned additional Globe, BAFTA, SAG and Critics Choice bids in Best Actress for “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (2011). Swinton competed at the Globes again in lead for “The Deep End” (2001), at BAFTA in supporting for “Burn After Reading” (2008), in SAG Ensemble for “Adaptation” (2002), “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008) and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014) and at the Critics Choice in supporting for “Snowpiercer” (2014). She’s also been a frequent presence at the Independent Spirits, reaping lead noms for “The Deep End” and “Only Lovers Left Alive” (2013), plus an Ensemble victory for “Suspiria” (2018).
Tour our photo gallery of Swinton’s 18 greatest films, including some of the titles listed above, as well as “Orlando” (1993), “I Am Love” (2009), “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” “Doctor Strange” (2015) and more.
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18. ADAPTATION (2002)
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures Directed by Spike Jonze. Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman, based on the book ‘The Orchid Thief’ by Susan Orlean. Starring Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, Ron Livingston, Maggie Gyllenhaal.
There are few films as wild, weird and labyrinthine as “Adaptation,” Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman’s self-referential satire about screenwriting and self-exploration. Kaufman centers the story on himself (played by Nicolas Cage) as he tries to adapt Susan Orlean’s (Meryl Streep) bestseller about her experiences with eccentric orchid thief John Laroche (Chris Cooper). Cage also portrays his fictional twin brother, Donald, who’s having much better luck writing his own script. Swinton costars as Charlie’s producer, Valerie Thomas, who pressures him to have some pages done quickly. The role brought her a SAG nomination in Best Ensemble.
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17. EDWARD II (1991)
Image Credit: Working Title/Bbc/Br Screen/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Derek Jarman. Screenplay by Ken Butler, Derek Jarman and Stephen McBride, based on the play by Christopher Marlowe. Starring Steven Waddington, Andrew Tiernan, Tilda Swinton, Nigel Terry, Kevin Collins, Jerome Flynn, John Lynch, Dudley Sutton.
Swinton got her start working with iconoclastic director Derek Jarman on seven experimental features, starting with her screen debut “Caravaggio” (1986) and ending with “Blue” (1993), the final movie Jarman made before dying of AIDS in 1994. The best of their collaborations, a postmodern adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s Elizabethan play, casts her as Isabella of France, whose husband, King Edward II (Steven Waddington), upsets the royal order by taking for his lover the ladder-climbing Piers Gaveston (Nigel Terry). A landmark of the New Queer Cinema, the film brought Swinton the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival.
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16. ASTEROID CITY (2023)
Image Credit: Focus Writer/Director: Wes Anderson. Starring Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Jake Ryan, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Liev Schriber, Steve Carell.
Swinton, a veteran member of the Wes Anderson acting troupe — “Asteroid City” marks her fifth collaboration with the filmmaker — has played her share of oddballs in his films, from “Social Services” in “Moonrise Kingdom” to the wealthy dowager Madame D in “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Here, however, she portrays a character that’s actually relatable — astronomer Dr. Hickenlooper whose love of the stars carries over to the Junior Stargazers who have gathered in her town for their annual convention. Though Hickenlooper can be a bit daffy at times, Swinton imbues her characters with a sweetness that’s unexpected and very welcome.
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15. OKJA (2017)
Image Credit: Netflix Directed by Bong Joon Ho. Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Jon Ronson, story by Joon Ho. Starring Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins, Yoon Je-moon, Shirley Henderson, Daniel Henshall, Devon Bostick, Choi Woo-shik, Giancarlo Esposito, Jake Gyllenhaal.
With “Okja,” Bong Joon Ho creates a heartwarming fantasy that’s also a prescient work of social commentary. It centers on a young South Korean girl named Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun) who becomes friends with the giant pig Okja. Bred in a lab by the Mirando Corporation as a solution for world hunger and climate change, Okja is soon kidnapped for human consumption, forcing Mija to team up with a group of animal rights activists to save him. Swinton takes on a dual role as Lucy Mirando, the corporation’s eccentric CEO, and as Lucy’s twin sister, Nancy, for whom she took over. One thing’s for sure: you’ll never look at bacon the same way again.
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14. BURN AFTER READING (2008)
Image Credit: Working Title/Studio Canal/Kobal/Shutterstock Written and directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, Brad Pitt, Elizabeth Marvel, David Rasche, J. K. Simmons, Olek Krupa.
The Coens followed up their Oscar-winning “No Country for Old Men” (2007) with a whimsical trip down the rabbit hole. The plot of “Burn After Reading” twists and turns itself into a pretzel, more or less revolving around a floppy disc with sensitive information that ends up in the hands of two clueless gym employees (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt), much to the ire of an ex-CIA agent (John Malkovich), his wife (Swinton in a BAFTA nominated supporting role) and her lover (George Clooney). While working as a straight-up farce (thanks in large part to Pitt’s goofy performance), the film is also a surprisingly poignant reflection on aging, love and mortality.
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13. DOCTOR STRANGE (2015)
Image Credit: DISNEY/MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Scott Derrickson. Screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, based on ‘Doctor Strange’ by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton.
Swinton joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in proper fashion, playing one the the most eccentric characters the series has ever seen. And Scott Derrickson’s “Doctor Strange” is one of the oddest of all superhero films, centering on a gifted neurosurgeon (Benedict Cumberbatch) who must learn ancient taboos and mysticisms after a tragic car accident damages his hands. Swinton stars as the Ancient One, a bald-headed monk who leads the good doctor on his journey into the alter realms in an effort to protect some sacred scrolls from the bad guys. She returned to the role in the all-star extravaganza “Avengers: Endgame.”
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12. JULIA (2009)
Image Credit: Jaibol/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Erick Zonca. Written by Erick Zonca and Aude Py, adaptation by Roger Bohbot and Michael Collins. Starring Tilda Swinton, Aidan Gould, Saul Rubinek, Kate del Castillo.
A loose remake of John Cassavetes’s “Gloria” (1980), Erick Zonca’s “Julia” provides Swinton with one of her best roles as a thoroughly unlikable woman. She plays a hard drinking partier who wakes up most mornings in a strange bed. Broke and desperate for money, she agrees to helps a fellow alcoholic (Kate del Castillo) kidnap her son (Aidan Gould) from his wealthy grandfather for $50,000. Things spiral out of control when the boy is taken at the Mexican border by a gang who hold him ransom, forcing Julia to pull herself together and save his life, despite her natural inclination to simply not care about someone else’s wellbeing.
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11. A BIGGER SPLASH (2016)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Directed by Luca Guadanigno. Screenplay by David Kajganich, story by Alain Page. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson.
Swinton has been a frequent muse for Italian maestro Luca Guadanigno, and this sensual travelogue is among their very best collaborations. “A Bigger Splash” casts her as a rock musician who takes a much-needed Italian vacation with her younger boyfriend (Matthias Schoenaerts). But their sunny romp is interrupted by the arrival of Swinton’s old flame (Ralph Fiennes), a record producer who brings his beautiful, newly-discovered daughter (Dakota Johnson) along with him. Old passions and new tensions threaten to destroy the fun, while the audience enjoys the exotic locale and movie star beauty of the four outstanding leads.
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10. THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING (2022)
Image Credit: Courtesy of MGM Directed by George Miller. Screenplay by George Miller, Augusta Gore, from the novel “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eyes” by A.S. Byatt. Starring Tilda Swinton, Idris Elba.
For “3,000 Years of Longing,” his follow-up to his spawling Oscar-winner “Mad Max: Fury Road,” writer/director George Miller dramatically scales down his vision to create a fantasy that’s largely with a two-person cast. Having so much relying of the quality of his cast is a big risk, but fortunately he found two great ones in Swinton and Idris Elba. Swinton’s Alithea is a British scholar traveling in Turkey where she purchases a small bottle from which she releases a djinn (Elba) who offers to grant her the traditional three wishes. Alithea is wise enough to know that never ends well until she gets to know the djinn and realizes what her heart really desires. It’s a joy watching Swinton thrust and parry with an acting partner who’s every bit her equal.
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9. PROBLEMISTA (2023)
Image Credit: A24 Writer/Director: Julio Torres. Starring Julio Torres, Tilda Swinton, RZA, Isabella Rossellini, Catalina Saavedra, James Scully.
Swinton adds another portrait to her renowned gallery of eccentric characters in Julio Torres’ debut feature in which she plays Elizabeth, a demanding art critic whose artist husband Bobby’s (RZA) cryogenically frozen body was accidentally unplugged by Alejandro (Torres). When he is fired from the job, Alejandro is brought on by Elizabeth to be her assistant, and he quickly learns to cope with and eventually stand up to Elizabeth’s ever-increasing demands. Swinton is an absolute whirlwind in the role, barking orders at one moment, and ready to fall apart in the next, and always doing it with style.
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8. ORLANDO (1993)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/Shutterstock Written and directed by Sally Potter, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf. Starring Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane, Lothaire Bluteau, John Wood, Charlotte Valandrey, Heathcote Williams, Quentin Crisp.
From the beginning of her career, Swinton showed a willingness to take on challenging roles, including the lead in Sally Potter’s gender-bending period fantasy. Based on the novel by Virginia Woolf, “Orlando” starts in the 1600s, where a dying Queen Elizabeth I (played by cross-dresser Quentin Crisp) grants an androgynous nobleman (Swinton) a vast estate — but only if he promises to remain forever young. He does just that, and midway through his 400 year journey he transforms into a woman, realizing that life is vastly different for the opposite sex when it comes to money and stature. An Oscar nominee for its costumes and art direction.
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7. THE DEEP END (2001)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, based on the novel ‘The Blank Wall’ by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding. Starring Tilda Swinton, Goran Visnjic, Jonathan Tucker, Josh Lucas.
In adapting Elizabeth Sanxay Holding’s 1947 pulp novel ‘The Blank Wall,’ writer-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel update the time period (changing a few other major details in the process) while embracing the atmosphere and style of noir thrillers. Swinton stars as Margaret Hall, a middle class housewife who takes desperate measures when she believes her teenage son (Jonathan Tucker) has murdered his lover (Josh Lucas). Things spiral out of control when a mysterious man (Goran Visnjic) arrives demanding money to destroy incriminating evidence. The role brought Swinton Best Actress nods at the Golden Globes and Independent Spirits.
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6. I AM LOVE (2009)
Image Credit: First Sun/Mikado Film/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Luca Guadagnino. Screenplay by Barbara Alberti, Ivan Cotroneo, Walter Fasano and Luca Guadagnino, story by Guadagnino. Starring Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Alba Rohrwacher, Pippo Delbono, Maria Paiato, Diane Fleri, Waris Ahluwalia, Marisa Berenson, Gabriele Ferzetti.
The title says it all in Luca Guadagnino’s “I Am Love,” a celebration of romantic desire that oozes passion out of every frame. Swinton stars as Emma, a Russian woman who moved to Italy with her husband (Pippo Delbono), the son of a wealthy industrialist (Gabriele Ferzetti). Unfulfilled by her role as a housewife and mother of three, Emma’s spirit is suddenly reignited by the arrival of a handsome chef (Edoardo Gabbriellini), who’s a close friend of her eldest son (Flavio Parenti). The film reaped Golden Globe, BAFTA and Critics Choice nominations in Best Foreign Language Film, competing at the Oscars for its vibrant, colorful costume design.
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5. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (2013)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. Starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi, John Hurt.
Leave it to Jim Jarmusch to make vampirism look both ultra cool and super drab at the same time. All of the trappings of the horror genre are here, but instead of thrills and chills, there’s mundanity, wry comedy and heartbreak, as if the idea of eternal life isn’t that great after all. “Only Lovers Left Alive” centers on two ancient bloodsuckers (Swinton and Tom Hiddleston) who reunite in modern day Detroit after centuries apart. Yet the arrival of Swinton’s emotionally volatile sister (Mia Wasikowska) and her human boyfriend (Anton Yelchin) threatens their union. Swinton competed at the Independent Spirit Awards, as did Jarmusch for his screenplay.
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4. SUSPIRIA (2018)
Image Credit: Amazon Studios Directed by Luca Guadagnino. Screenplay by David Kajganich, based on the script by Dario Argento and Daria Nicolodi. Starring Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Jessica Harper, Chloe Grace Moretz.
Love it or hate it, you’ve never seen anything quite like “Suspiria,” Luca Guadagnino’s art house reimagining of Dario Argento’s giallo horror classic. Set in 1977, it centers on an American ballerina (Dakota Johnson) who joins a Berlin dance company with sinister ties to the occult. Swinton takes on triple duty as the mysterious dance instructor Madam Blanc, the horrifying witch Mother Helena Markos and the aging psychiatrist Dr. Josef Klemperer (credited as Lutz Ebersdorf). It’s a feat of both makeup and acting that Swinton is able to convincingly disappear into each role, and that the Academy recognized neither is truly terrifying.
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3. SNOWPIERCER (2014)
Image Credit: Snowpiercer/Moho/Opus/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Bong Joon Ho. Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Kelly Masterson, story by Joon Ho, based on the graphic novel by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette. Starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ewen Bremner, Ko Asung, John Hurt, Ed Harris.
Bong Joon Ho’s mesmerizing sci-fi thriller imagines a future in which a failed global warming experiment has plunged Earth into a new ice age. All of humanity has been wiped out except for the few people lucky enough to board the “Snowpiercer,” a globe-traveling train where a harsh new class system has taken shape. Swinton gives one of her great transformative performances as Minister Mason, the train’s second-in-command, who tries to quell an uprising from the locomotive’s undesirable citizens. The scenery-chewing role brought her Supporting Actress nominations from various groups, including the Critics Choice Awards.
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2. MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock Written and directed by Tony Gilroy. Starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack.
Swinton took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her turn in Tony Gilroy’s tightly-wound legal thriller. “Michael Clayton” centers on a legal fixer (George Clooney) who’s called in by a big law firm (run by Sydney Pollack) when one of their top lawyers (Tom Wilkinson) suffers a nervous breakdown. Turns out he’s had a crisis of conscience while representing a large chemical company that’s clearly guilty of a multimillion dollar class action suit. That’s bad news for the company’s chief legal executive (Swinton), who will do whatever it takes to win the case. The performances by Swinton, Clooney, Wilkinson and Pollack make this an all-timer.
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1. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2011)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/Shutterstock Directed by Lynne Ramsay. Screenplay by Lynne Ramsay and Rory Stewart Kinnear, based on the novel by Lionel Shriver. Starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller.
If nothing else, Lynne Ramsay’s malicious, skin-crawling thriller will make you seriously rethink having children. Swinton gives the performance of her career as Eva, a successful travel writer whose world is upended with pregnancy. Try as she might, she just can’t bring herself to love her son Kevin (Ezra Miller), whose behavior becomes increasingly odd and disturbing, leading to a violent act that will destroy both of their lives. Ramsay takes us deep into this woman’s fractured psyche, with Swinton as our haunted guide. Despite earning Best Actress nominations at the Golden Globes, BAFTA, SAG and Critics Choice, she was shockingly snubbed at the Oscars, which is downright criminal.
