Tilda Swinton is not like other actors. She is an Academy Award winning actress, (though, she doesn't really care about that), style icon and she has a sense of humor.
If you just take her looks, a cropped 'do and milk-white skin, she's evocative but not a Hollywood bombshell. And from her movie roles, to her public persona, you get the idea that this actress marches to the beat of a different drummer.
As W Magazine's latest cover story, wearing a nude skull cap and antiquated aviation goggles, the actress talks about her newest role, motherhood and success; and we come to realize just how wonderfully different she is.
In her latest, "We Need To Talk About Kevin," Swinton plays a mother tortured by a disturbing and violent son. "Kevin" exposes the darkness of motherhood--a difficult theme to swallow--which Swinton describes as a "gag reflex."
The actress is no stranger to the unsavory role, in fact, she likes them. "Kevin" will be her third film the where she plays the imperfect mother, "We're working toward a boxed set," she jokes. In 2009's "I Am Love," Swinton plays a prized matriarch whose passion leads to her family's undoing and in "Julia," an strapped-for-cash alcoholic who hatches a kidnapping scam.
As a mother of 13-year-old twins, these roles are chilling to say the least. So why does she do it? Her fear, the actress said, interested her. After having her own children, Swinton said she felt misunderstood and wanted her next movie roll to reflect this classic and internal conflict.
In the article, she makes the distinction between the parts she "grows," laboring to create and finance, and Hollywood movies. She described her role in 'Michael Clayton' as a "holiday."
Sure, she won an Oscar for it-- and gave one hell of a speech--but for the native Scot and her children (who have never seen The Oscars on television), it was only meaningful professionally.
"When I brought my Oscar home and showed the children, nobody knew what it was. The thing sat on the kitchen table for two weeks."
For more, click over to W