14 DAY TRIAL // Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton is literally the only star in Hollywood right now to perfectly embody the idea of androgyny. Known for her otherworldly fashion sense and even more alien look, Tilda is now making ample show of both in the latest issue of W Magazine.
Speaking of her fashion sense, which has sometimes drawn intense criticism (like, at the Oscars 2008), Tilda says she doesn’t have a code or a set of rules she sticks to.
“I just follow my nose. It’s as simple as that,” she says.
Throughout the years, this has allowed her plenty of opportunity to wow on the red carpet, either with the most feminine and sophisticated gowns, or with severely cut men’s suits.
Speaking of androgyny, Tilda hints she doesn’t really care for her name to be always associated with it, though she admits there’s a side of her that will always be more comfortable in gender-bending fashion.
“People talk about androgyny in all sorts of dull ways,” she says. Her biggest influences are David Bowie and her father, Maj. Gen. Sir John Swinton.
“My aesthetic North Stars. The individuals with whom I share the same planetary DNA,” she adds, hinting at how people would often refer to her as “Tilda the alien.”
“From childhood, I remember more about his black patent, gold livery, scarlet-striped legs, and medal ribbons than I do of my mother’s evening dresses,” she says.
“I would rather be handsome, as he is, for an hour than pretty for a week,” Tilda adds. The W Magazine spread does its best to show that, indeed, Tilda is stunningly (and eerily) handsome.
The actress is now promoting her latest film, “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (you can see two clips from it below), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2011 and which could become her Oscar vehicle for next year’s ceremony.
In it, Tilda plays the mother of a boy who goes on a Columbine-style rampage. She says she found many of her character’s feelings easy to relate to.
“It’s every pregnant woman’s nightmare to give birth to the devil. And every mother worries that she won’t connect to her children,” she says, recalling how she felt when she gave birth to her twins.
For the full interview, see here.
