Tilda Swinton Takes On a Dark Family Scenario

Tilda Swinton Takes On a Dark Family Scenario By Simi Horwitz December 20, 2011 Tilda Swinton had long admired the work of director Lynne Ramsay ("Ratcatcher"). When Swinton learned Ramsay was planning a film adaptation of Lionel Shriver's novel "We Need to Talk About Kevin," centering on a malevolent child's impact on a family, Swinton was determined to help get the film made. Initially, she was not committed to playing the starring role. But as the project evolved and it became clear the story was going to be told from the mother's point of view"her experiences, isolation, memories, and fantasies," Swinton enumeratesthe actor was enthusiastic about tackling the part.Co-starring John C. Reilly as her husband and Ezra Miller as Kevin, "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is a bone-chilling look at a mother's anguish and conflicted feelings in the face of her evil youngster. With subtlety and nuance, Swinton brings to life a woman who knows something is terribly wrong with her son, doesn't understand why, but clearly feels culpability and profound discomfort because she is unable to embrace him.With an array of film rolesincluding the White Witch in the three "Narnia" films; the wealthy, repressed wife who is awakened by a young lover in "I Am Love" and the savagely ambitious attorney in Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton," for which she won an OscarSwinton admits playing the mother in "Kevin" was a "leap of imagination." She explains, "There is no research anyone can do for this part. It's a mother's worst nightmare." Being a mom in real life "kick-started" her into the film's landscape, she says. Swinton knew she'd love being a mother as soon as she saw her twins, she recalls. At the same time she understood, despite the assumptions that a mother instinctively loves and nurtures her child, that's not always the case. Disliking one's child is a taboo and rarely discussed, Swinton points out.But the major filmmaking challenge was the 30-day shoot. "We did two takes on each setup," she says. The rehearsal process was "nonexistent," though the family-like atmosphere among the creative team and cast made for a relatively smooth journey. Indeed, that camaraderieand shared visionwith the filmmaker is what most draws Swinton to any project. "The role I'll be playing is the last thing I deal with," she notes. Indeed, short of a handful of filmmakers with whom she has workedshe cites the Coen brothers, Charlie Kaufman, and Tony Gilroymany of her European directors do not use scripts at all, she says. In the early stages of her career, Swinton was most identified with the late experimental director Derek Jarman, with whom she worked for nine years, producing a host of films before his death in 1994. "We were working pre-industrially, sharing responsibility and making it up as we went along," she recalls. "We were a bunch of avowed amateurs." To this day, Swinton says she has no acting method, like "proper actors," emphasizing, "I never intended to be an actor, and each film I do I assume will be my last."Planned to Write The London-born Swinton graduated from Cambridge University, with her sights set on a writing career. Yet she found time to appear in a few theatrical school productions and spent a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company before launching her long association with Jarman and other experimental directors. Swinton is still well-known for her gender-bending performance in Sally Potter's 1992 "Orlando," based on Virginia Woolf's novel.Swinton still is floored that commercial directors came calling, likening it to a "miracle." Her work as the White Witch in the first of the Narnia films in 2005 ("The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe") marked her initial foray into the commercial arena. "It was a delicious red herring, opening up a different path," she says. But its greatest significance is that thanks to Disney, "more children might get to see the works of Jarman," as her commercial success may win wider audiences for some of her other, earlier films. Looking back at "Michael Clayton" and her Oscar win, she remarks, "Again, it was a delightful and unlooked-for present. Making a film with Tony Gilroy fell into my lap, and then to get the recognition was amazing. But as far as I can tell, the big difference in my life is everybody asking me, 'What's the big difference in your life?' Yes, I've gotten more offers, but everything I've done since that time I was going to do anyway."Upcoming films represent a mixed bagfrom an untitled Jim Jarmusch project to the German film "Die Blutgrffin" to "Moonrise Kingdom," a Wes Anderson film featuring a starry cast that includes Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, and Frances McDormand.At the moment Swinton is thinking about "We Need to Talk About Kevin," convinced, ironically enough, "it's the feel-good movie of the year." It certainly makes parents who don't have Kevin for a son feel pretty good in contrast. Non-parents may feel even more delighted.Outtakes Landed her first agent when he saw her in a university productionMade her film debut in Derek Jarman's "Caravaggio"Views all her films as her children but reluctantly admits she is especially proud of her work in "Julia," playing an alcoholic who develops a kinship with a child she has kidnapped for ransomFor her role in "We Need to Talk About Kevin," Swinton was named best actress by the National Board of Review. Tilda Swinton Takes On a Dark Family Scenario By Simi Horwitz December 20, 2011 Tilda Swinton had long admired the work of director Lynne Ramsay ("Ratcatcher"). When Swinton learned Ramsay was planning a film adaptation of Lionel Shriver's novel "We Need to Talk About Kevin," centering on a malevolent child's impact on a family, Swinton was determined to help get the film made. Initially, she was not committed to playing the starring role. But as the project evolved and it became clear the story was going to be told from the mother's point of view"her experiences, isolation, memories, and fantasies," Swinton enumeratesthe actor was enthusiastic about tackling the part.Co-starring John C. Reilly as her husband and Ezra Miller as Kevin, "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is a bone-chilling look at a mother's anguish and conflicted feelings in the face of her evil youngster. With subtlety and nuance, Swinton brings to life a woman who knows something is terribly wrong with her son, doesn't understand why, but clearly feels culpability and profound discomfort because she is unable to embrace him.With an array of film rolesincluding the White Witch in the three "Narnia" films; the wealthy, repressed wife who is awakened by a young lover in "I Am Love" and the savagely ambitious attorney in Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton," for which she won an OscarSwinton admits playing the mother in "Kevin" was a "leap of imagination." She explains, "There is no research anyone can do for this part. It's a mother's worst nightmare." Being a mom in real life "kick-started" her into the film's landscape, she says. Swinton knew she'd love being a mother as soon as she saw her twins, she recalls. At the same time she understood, despite the assumptions that a mother instinctively loves and nurtures her child, that's not always the case. Disliking one's child is a taboo and rarely discussed, Swinton points out.But the major filmmaking challenge was the 30-day shoot. "We did two takes on each setup," she says. The rehearsal process was "nonexistent," though the family-like atmosphere among the creative team and cast made for a relatively smooth journey. Indeed, that camaraderieand shared visionwith the filmmaker is what most draws Swinton to any project. "The role I'll be playing is the last thing I deal with," she notes. Indeed, short of a handful of filmmakers with whom she has workedshe cites the Coen brothers, Charlie Kaufman, and Tony Gilroymany of her European directors do not use scripts at all, she says. In the early stages of her career, Swinton was most identified with the late experimental director Derek Jarman, with whom she worked for nine years, producing a host of films before his death in 1994. "We were working pre-industrially, sharing responsibility and making it up as we went along," she recalls. "We were a bunch of avowed amateurs." To this day, Swinton says she has no acting method, like "proper actors," emphasizing, "I never intended to be an actor, and each film I do I assume will be my last."Planned to Write The London-born Swinton graduated from Cambridge University, with her sights set on a writing career. Yet she found time to appear in a few theatrical school productions and spent a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company before launching her long association with Jarman and other experimental directors. Swinton is still well-known for her gender-bending performance in Sally Potter's 1992 "Orlando," based on Virginia Woolf's novel.Swinton still is floored that commercial directors came calling, likening it to a "miracle." Her work as the White Witch in the first of the Narnia films in 2005 ("The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe") marked her initial foray into the commercial arena. "It was a delicious red herring, opening up a different path," she says. But its greatest significance is that thanks to Disney, "more children might get to see the works of Jarman," as her commercial success may win wider audiences for some of her other, earlier films. Looking back at "Michael Clayton" and her Oscar win, she remarks, "Again, it was a delightful and unlooked-for present. Making a film with Tony Gilroy fell into my lap, and then to get the recognition was amazing. But as far as I can tell, the big difference in my life is everybody asking me, 'What's the big difference in your life?' Yes, I've gotten more offers, but everything I've done since that time I was going to do anyway."Upcoming films represent a mixed bagfrom an untitled Jim Jarmusch project to the German film "Die Blutgrffin" to "Moonrise Kingdom," a Wes Anderson film featuring a starry cast that includes Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, and Frances McDormand.At the moment Swinton is thinking about "We Need to Talk About Kevin," convinced, ironically enough, "it's the feel-good movie of the year." It certainly makes parents who don't have Kevin for a son feel pretty good in contrast. Non-parents may feel even more delighted.Outtakes Landed her first agent when he saw her in a university productionMade her film debut in Derek Jarman's "Caravaggio"Views all her films as her children but reluctantly admits she is especially proud of her work in "Julia," playing an alcoholic who develops a kinship with a child she has kidnapped for ransomFor her role in "We Need to Talk About Kevin," Swinton was named best actress by the National Board of Review.