Doctor Strange Star Tilda Swinton Reveals She Identifies As Queer

Doctor Strange star Tilda Swinton has revealed that she identifies as queer, in a new interview. Swinton was explaining how her career has brought her into contact with other unique souls that helped her find a sense of identity and belonging. As the Oscar-winning actress told said: “I’m very clear that queer is actually, for me anyway, to do with sensibility. I always felt I was queer – I was just looking for my queer circus, and I found it. And having found it, it’s my world.” Swinton marks the latest Hollywood star to give an official update on their LGBTQIA+ status, following Elliot Page’s recent debut.

Swinton further explained to Vogue that it has been creative visionaries lik like Wes Anderson and Jim Jarmusch that truly helped her find her sense of familial belonging: “Now I have a family with Wes Anderson, I have a family with Bong Joon-ho, I have a family with Jim Jarmusch, I have a family with Luca Guadagnino, with Lynne Ramsay, with Joanna Hogg.”

As stated, Swinton seems to be part of a growing trend of stars who are updating or revealing their identification status. This is of course happening in accordance with general growing awareness and acceptance of more diverse ideas of gender and sexual identity, in an ongoing social debate.

Ironically enough, many movie fans would probably agree that Tilda Swinton has long been a low-key queer icon, long before openly speaking the term. The actress’s unique looks and choice of roles have often leaned away typical gender-fixed character depictions. For example: most comic book movie fans still adore Swinton as an androgynous version of the angel Gabriel, and the Keanu Reeves Constantine movie, and even her version of Marvel mystic The Ancient One in Doctor Strange carried very gender-neutral tones in design. Even Swinton’s White Witch in the YA Chronicles of Narnia films came with some nicely subtle gender-blending style. She has just as easily taken on distinctly femme roles, playing powerful women in films like Snowpiercer, Michael Clayton, or a traumatized mother in We Need To Talk About Kevin. The typical limits seem endlessly porous for Swinton to pass through as she likes.

As times progress, Tilda Swinton may very well be a celebrated example of a star who helped bring queer into the maintstream light – while still being immensely loved and celebrated by a wide specturm of people. And rightly so.