Tilda Swintonis one of the most respected working character actors, with a handful of iconic leading roles to boot. An on-screen contortionist who enjoys slipping in and out of character, Swinton takes the idea of “range” to the next level.
She is a darling among independent directors, but she’s starred in everything from period pieces to romantic comedies to Marvel films. Sometimes, it’s hard to give the actress her due as she can disappear seamlessly into her characters, no matter their gender or age. To her, acting is performance art, often extending beyond the film at hand.
Her transformative portrayals have not always gone over well.Her turn inDoctor Strangeas the “Ancient One,” a choice designed to flout stereotypes in the source material,met critiques of whitewashing. Even so, she’s always game to take on a new role, enthusiastically immersing herself in the world of each film, often for long periods of time. She worked on Jim Jarmusch’s vampire romance,Only Lovers Left Alive,for seven years. “She is always filled with the desire to transform herself and create something new,”director Bong Joon-ho told Variety.
Needless to say, Swinton never shies away from difficult material. Instead, she sinks right into it. InWe Need to Talk About Kevin,she slipped into the confines of frigid suburbia, playing the emotionally distant mother to a killer. She plays a consistently great villain inMichael Clayton,theNarniatrilogy, and Bong Joon-ho’s films. Her most recent performance in the Thai filmMemoria, as a woman tormented by a loud noise, has received praise. Each of her films–and metamorphoses–shows a new facet of her endless talent. However, there are a few films wherein she transformed herself and her personality to such an immense degree that her performances in them will go down in history as legends of the chameleonic craft. These are those transformations.
Related:Memoria Trailer Has Tilda Swinton Tormented by a Loud, Mysterious Noise
Tilda Swinton is at her most memorable in Sally Potter’s adaptation of the Virginia Woolf’s landmark queer novel,Orlando.Sheplays with gender and transforms alongside her character, who lives across four hundred years as both man, woman, and the fluidity in between. First, Orlando is a man in 1600s England who accepts an inheritance from the dying Queen Elizabeth with a single stipulation: that he must not “fade, wither, or grow old.” Either by magic or sheer power of will, Orlando follows that advice and lives on, never quite conforming towhat is expected of him. As empires rise and fall, he crosses paths with historical figures and changing political tides, though his passion for art never changes. However, after a few hundred years, his sex does. As a woman, Orlando remains the same person, though her circumstances are far more difficult. As she struggles to hold onto her land and status in England, she falls in love and, in the 20th century, becomes a mother.
As interest inqueer cinemahas risen and gender identity enters the cultural debate,Orlando’slegacy grows even more. Aside from the gender swap, Swinton is believable as Orlando in each of their identities: artist, ambassador, aristocrat, mother. The actor moves through history seamlessly, camouflaging herself in the dress and customs of each period.
4Trainwreck
This one’s shockingly simple, but somehow among the most downright uncanny of Tilda’s transformations; it’s also just one of her most entertaining.Judd Apatowand Amy Schumer’s hit comedyTrainwreckgave us a Swintoncaked in heavy makeupwith long, conventionally coiffed hair. It’s especially jarring because the actress is so well known for her close-cropped doo and almost translucent skin, along with having a reputation for choosing more avant-garde projects, which only makes this performance all the more bizarre.
Here, she plays Dianna, the hard-ass editor of a New York men’s magazine who would be protagonist Amy’s strong, feminist mentor if she weren’t so mean. Amy is a mess inTrainwreck, navigating her adult womanhood through binge-drinking and casual hookups. Swinton plays the perfect, put-together counterpoint to this. She is a nightmare boss, though, always chewing out Amy and her coworkers and berating them to write about the raunchiest of lifestyle topics like “Does garlic make semen taste different?” At one point, she even threatens to fire Amy for not picking up her phone at her dad’s funeral. Swinton has a great time with her lines and steals every scene she’s in, becoming a highlight of the film.
3Snowpiercer
Swinton plays villains so, so well. Her turn as the authoritarian henchwoman Minister Mason inSnowpierceris one of her best and most transformative. Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho’s dystopian sci-fi drama is set entirely aboard a train that zips around a frozen solid Earth. The first class passengers live in luxury while those crammed in the dingy ‘tail section’ work for meager rations to keep the train moving. Like a lot of Bong’s work, it can be interpreted as an evisceratingtakedown of capitalism. Swinton’s character is the spokeswoman for the real man in charge, and wields her authority in a terrifying but darkly funny way.
It’s hard to recognize her behind the yellow-stained glasses, Yorkshire accent, and false teeth, but Swinton’s there alright, preaching to her captive audience about the importance of “knowing your place” and the “sacred engine” that keeps things running. Swinton’s characterwas originally supposed to be a man, but the part fits her like a glove and her talent at making this authority figure so dislikable enriches Bong’s film. Later, she would give an equally strong (and villainous) performance in the director’s Netflix hit,Okja.
Related:5 Best Bong Joon-ho Films, Ranked
2The Grand Budapest Hotel
It’s very, very easy to miss Swinton in this whimsical classic fromWes Anderson, though it’s not for lack of an impressive performance. She plays the wealthy Madame D, an 84-year-old widow who’s having an affair with protagonist Monsieur Gustave. When she dies under mysterious circumstances, a chain reaction of hijinks ensues as Gustave tries to prove his innocence inThe Grand Budapest Hotel.
It wasa labor-intensive, Oscar winning process to age Swintonfor the part, layering her under prosthetics and age spot makeup. The consequence was that few recognized her when she appeared on-screen with Ralph Fiennes. Swinton, as usual, didn’t really care. She has collaborated with Anderson in many projects, using her flexibility to match the tone of each project. Playing anart critic inThe French Dispatchwas just her latest collaboration with the visionary directory.
1Suspiria (2018)
Viewers certainly recognized Tilda Swinton as Madame Blanc, leader of the coven at a German dance academy in this adaptation of the classic Italian horror film. Director Luca Guadagnino had worked with the actress before in lighter films likeI Am LoveandA Bigger Splash, but here, Swinton gives a memorable, unsettling performance as the witch who bestows terrifying nightmares upon the troupe’s new lead dancer, Susie (Dakota Johnson). It’s all terrifying enough to make you forget that this was just one of several roles Swinton played inSuspiria.
Who, for example, might be playing the only man in the film—an old psychiatrist named Dr. Klemperer who investigates the coven’s activities after one of his clients disappears there? Wasn’t something about his face…familiar? As the credits and the initial IMDB page stated, he was played by Dr. Lutz Ebersdorf, a first-time elderly actor from Germany. Speculation swirled around whom this mysterious actor could be. Swinton and Guadagnino played coy—goingso far as to read a letter purportedly from himat the Venice Film Festival. Eventually,Swinton owned up to the joke, admitting she had taken a fake IMDB headshot in prosthetics and makeup. And the prosthetics weren’t just on her face. Why, you ask? Guadagninocited to the Timesa desire to center femininity and “not play by the book.” Also, Swinton seems to love a good prank.
But one surprise transformation wasn’t enough for her in this film. If you can see past the makeup, you’ll also recognize Swinton as the grotesque Madame Markos, a villainous witch with horrifying skin who meets a memorably gruesome fate. Breaking boundaries of gender fluidity in cinema is just one of Swinton’s many masterful skills, and she does it exceptionally well inSuspiria.
