Tilda Swinton is known for her extensive work on both stage and screen, for which she has received various accolades — including an Academy Award and four Golden Globes — over the decades. The actor kickstarted her career with films like “Caravaggio” and “War Requiem,” and then went on to achieve acclaim for her nuanced performances in “Edward II” and “Orlando.”
Swinton’s body of work in film alone is impressive. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Michael Clayton,” and has appeared in notable films like “Adaptation,” “Constantine,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Only Lovers Left Alive,” and “Suspiria,” among others. In terms of roles with immense mainstream impact, Swinton played the White Witch in the “Chronicles of Narnia” film series, and the Ancient One in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The actor’s television credits include “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Galápagos,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” and “What If…?” Swinton also voiced Ambrosius the Octopus in Season 4 of “The Boys.”
Swinton’s ability to embody varied and complex characters is nothing short of inspirational, which is why she is today’s Quote of the Day.
Quote of the Day by Tilda Swinton
“People just forget to remember that they have agency, and that what we really need as a culture is people’s truth, is people’s real response. People need to realize how powerful they are. I think we need cinema now more than ever. We need to look at the world through someone else’s eyes and exercise our own sense of empathy and compassion.”
The above quote is from Swinton’s interview with The Talks. While talking about the dire importance of making art in an increasingly chaotic world, Swinton acknowledged the pressures that often prevent artists from doing that.
Even so, she emphasizes the need to exercise agency, as people have the power to collaborate and make meaningful art. “We have agency as artists, and it’s possible for artists to forget it,” Swinton added. “We have to keep going, despite the many obstacles in the race of filmmaking,” the actor said.
Deeper meaning of Tilda Swinton’s quote — exercise your agency as an artist
Swinton’s quote should be contextualized against her penchant for working on experimental films that don’t necessarily prioritize box office performance like most mainstream movies do. The actor cited the British arthouse film, “The Last of England,” which was shot on Super 8 and sports a non-traditional narrative. Although the film received some questionable reviews, it was still a part of the conversation and “taken very seriously” when it came out in 1987.
Swinton argues that it was easier to push “outsider” cinema out years back than it is now. “I mean, there are other ways of getting your work out, you can post onto YouTube, but if you want to be in the cinema, if you want your work on the big screen, it’s definitely trickier now,” she said.
Swinton urged young artists to keep fighting the good fight, as it is necessary for the world to experience fringe narratives, or any creative endeavor that challenges the norm.
More quotes from Tilda Swinton
- “Acting is – pretty much always in my experience – a made thing, something consciously constructed for studied effect. Performance is something innate and unlearned of which we are all of us capable, all the time.” — from a 2023 interview with The Guardian
- “[On cinema] What it is for me is this amazingly humane opportunity to put yourself in the shoes of somebody else. It’s no more complicated and no less powerful than that. You go in, it all goes dark, and you put yourself into somebody else’s shoes and see through their eyes… And that’s just mega! That’s so powerful!” — from a 2014 interview with Flavorwire
- “If you’ve got an enormous budget, and you’ve written a scene for bright sunlight, and it starts to rain, you’re going to wait three weeks for it to stop. But if you haven’t, you’re going to have to make friends with chaos. That’s the main difference. And that’s something I know in my marrow.” — from a 2011 interview with The Guardian