Tilda Swinton was born in London in 1960 but has made Scotland her home and considers herself to be Scottish – her great-grandfather was Scottish politician George Swinton and her great-great-grandfather was Scottish botanist John Hutton Balfour.
As a child she attended Fettes College in Edinburgh for a short while and studied social and political sciences at Cambridge University before embarking on an acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984.
More theatre work followed, including at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, and she was cast by director Derek Jarman in her first film, Caravaggio, in 1986.
Since then she has starred in numerous independent films and Hollywood blockbusters, including Orlando, Vanilla Sky, Adaptation, Michael Clayton, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Chronicles of Narnia series, Doctor Strange, Avengers: Endgame, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Along the way Swinton has won numerous awards, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, and has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. She was also awarded the Richard Harris Award by the British Independent Film Awards in recognition of her contributions to the British film industry, given a special tribute by the Museum of Modern Art, and recieved the British Film Institute Fellowship for her "daringly eclectic and striking talents as a performer and filmmaker and recognises her great contribution to film culture, independent film exhibition and philanthropy”.
Here are 13 interesting quotes from her many interviews over the years.
5. Tilda Swinton on...meeting your heroes
"I was talking recently with a friend of mine who's determined to never meet her heroes, and I have another friend who's been horribly disillusioned a couple of times. But I've had a wonderful ride with meeting people who have been my North Stars, and Bowie's definitely one of them. He feels like my cousin; like the cousin I never had." Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS
6. Tilda Swinton on...gambling
"I was a professional gambler. When I lived in London, there were a couple of years when I didn't really earn money doing anything else. I mean, I did other things: like, I made work, and I was working with Derek Jarman at the time, but the way I made money was putting money on horses." Photo: Gareth Cattermole
7. Tilda Swinton on...her androgynous style
"I'm very often referred to as 'Sir' in elevators and such. I think it has to do with being this tall and not wearing much lipstick. I think people just can't imagine I'd be a woman if I look like this." Photo: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE
8. Tilda Swinton on...returning to London
"I'm amazed now whenever I go back to London. I'm like, 'Wow. I used to kind of swing up these streets when I knew how this machine worked.' And then when you don't, you lose that. You need to get your license back. I do know how to plant a garden and keep chickens, but I don't know how to do much else." Photo: TIZIANA FABI