Out of the ordinary

Carolyn Bartholomew talks to Tilda Swinton, an actor who has made a career out of being unconventional

Tilda Swinton is undoubtedly one of the great artists of her generation, although it is only relatively recently that she has become more conspicuous with mainstream films such as The Chronicles of Narnia and Michael Clayton (for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress). But Swinton has been in the profession for an unbelievable 23 years, embracing all aspects of film-making. She is highly regarded for her arthouse films of the Eighties and Nineties, initially in collaboration with the great Derek Jarman. She is an exceptional human being who challenges convention on every level, whether it is in her androgynous roles in films such as Orlando (1992), or her art exhibit piece The Maybe in 1995 where she slept in a glass box for a week, or even in how a film star usually looks and behaves.