Not many things about the enigmatic Tilda Swinton are cut and dried, but her career does neatly divide at the turn of the millennium.
Before then, she was barely known to moviegoers and was reluctant to consider herself an actor. She often said she felt like she'd been pulled into art projects by her friend, the late Derek Jarman. She was his muse in eight films, beginning with her 1986 debut, "Caravaggio," and peaking with the vituperative "The Last of England," one of many Swinton performances (see also "Snowpiercer") that channel Margaret Thatcher.
Now the Scottish Swinton has more than 90 credits on her IMDb page. But most audiences didn't learn of her until Sally Potter's "Orlando" in 1992. It wasn't until "The Beach" in 2000 and "The Deep End" in 2001 that she made movies that played at multiplexes. She won an Oscar for "Michael Clayton," finally making her a fixture in what she calls "industrial cinema" at 47.