Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton was an Academy Award-winning British actress who achieved widespread praise for her daring roles in acclaimed films like "Adaptation" (2002), "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (2011), and "Michael Clayton" (2007). Born into a privileged family in London (her father's Scottish roots trace all the way back to the Middle Ages), Swinton attended various boarding schools as a young girl, which she found isolating and lonely. When it came time to attend college, Swinton chose the University of Cambridge, where she would go on to earn a degree in social and political sciences. It was at Cambridge that Swinton first became involved in acting. She began appearing in plays while studying at Cambridge, and after graduation joined the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company. Swinton made her debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company by appearing in "Measure for Measure." Swinton continued honing her acting craft on the London stage throughout the 1980s, but by the end of the decade she began transitioning into film acting. It was during this period that Swinton appeared in a number of experimental films by the English director Derek Jarman. These films included "Caravaggio" (1986), "The Last of England" (1988), and "The Garden" (1990). Swinton continued acting in independent films throughout the 90s, and although many of these films were not widely seen by the public, she consistently earned plaudits from critics. At the turn of the century, with over a decade of acting experience behind her, Swinton began making the transition into more mainstream films. She appeared in award-winning films like "Adaptation" and "Broken Flowers" (2005) during this period, as well as the big budget action film "Constantine" (2005). Then in 2007 she played an unscrupulous lawyer in the Tony Gilroy-directed legal thriller "Michael Clayton." Her supporting role in the film earned Swinton her first Oscar. In the years that followed her role in "Michael Clayton," Swinton continued wowing both critics and audiences with her wide-ranging roles in films like "We Need to Talk About Kevin," "Trainwreck" (2015), "A Bigger Splash" (2015), and the Wes Anderson animated film "Isle of Dogs" (2018). 2018 was also the year Swinton appeared alongside Dakota Johnson in the fantasy horror film "Suspiria" (2018), which was helmed by the Italian director Luca Guadagnino, who previously earned an Oscar nod for directing the 2017 romance drama "Call Me By Your Name" (2017).