Smartologie: Tilda Swinton For W Magazine August 2011

Tilda Swinton covers W Magazine, August 2011, gives more details about her new controversial film, 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' and her style secrets. More photos below:

Salvatore Ferragamo silk velvet tuxedo jacket, silk blouse; Acne silk velvet pants.

Patricia Underwood for Chris Benz hat, Sermoneta gloves.

“For someone to know what you need to make you comfortable, they need to know who you are. Having them make clothes for me is like being cooked for by someone who knows what you like to eat.” Whether for photo shoots or the red carpet, their process begins with a series of questions. “We very much enjoy going, What are the elements of this event? What’s the place? Who’s the company? What is the moment?” says Swinton, ever the conceptual artist, adding with a laugh, “and then, of course, what do we want to wear?”

“People talk about androgyny in all sorts of dull ways.” Swinton’s father is a former commander of the Queen’s Household Division in London. Her father’s years as a military officer in court uniforms had made him an expert in such matters. “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.”

Lynn Hirschberg of W Magazine talked to Tilda Swinton about her new movie, We Need To Talk About Kevin:

"Your latest film, We Need to Talk About Kevin, in which you play the mother of a violent, disturbed boy, is one of the most emotionally unsettling movies I have ever seen. Your character, who is troubled, quietly enraged, and often unsympathetic, was riveting. In films, mothers are mostly characterized by their love and affection for their children. It takes courage to challenge the sainted idea of maternal perfection. Did that scare you?

Tilda Swinton: I don’t think I’m courageous. One man’s courage is another man’s comfort zone. The movie, which is based on a novel by Lionel Shriver, explored a taboo subject: the idea of a less than perfect mother. I knew that, when an audience watched the film, there would be a gag reflex at some point. But I was fascinated by the subject—it scared me, and that interested me.

In a strange way, Kevin is a love story between a mother and son. However demented, they have a deep bond.
When we were trying to finance this movie, we would reference Rosemary’s Baby. 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. When I had my children [13-year-old twins Xavier and Honor], my manager asked me what project I wanted to work on next. I said, “Something Greek, perhaps Medea.” Nobody quite understood what I meant, what I was feeling.

It is a love story: They understand each other. He doesn’t kill her, and in one version of the movie, she asks him, “Why didn’t you shoot me, too?” He says, “If you’re putting on a show, you don’t shoot the audience.” In that way, Kevin is a classic Oedipal drama—taboo, but not exotic. It’s just one of those things that’s never spoken about.

I would imagine that the female characters in most Hollywood films are too generic for you. You seem to be attracted to complex and often very dark personalities. Do you have to like a character to play her?
I have to feel compassion. And I have to be able to imagine myself in the situation. I can imagine myself as the mother of a scary son who looks at you with hatred. It’s not about liking the person, but it is about understanding. The Greeks speak about the violence of the real. I want to get at something real."