Tilda Swinton teases retirement while discussing Room Next Door with Julianne Moore

Oscar-winning actor Tilda Swinton recently hinted that her acting career might be winding down, saying her latest film with Julianne Moore, The Room Next Door, could be her last. In an interview for ELLE magazine’s 2024 Women in Hollywood issue, the 64-year-old actress reflected on her journey and suggested that her new drama might mark her farewell to cinema.

"I’ve always intended that each film would be my final one," Swinton remarked. She explained how the joy of filmmaking inspired her, noting, "I always thought, 'Well, that’s a good one to go out on. Let’s just quit while we’re ahead.' And I feel it today."

Tilda Swinton elaborated on her attachment to The Room Next Door, saying, "I feel The Room Next Door is the last film I make. Let’s see if anything else happens."

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Tilda Swinton: A career built on unique collaborations and bold choices

Tilda Swinton has been an influential figure in cinema since the 1980s, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2008 for Michael Clayton. Known for her eclectic filmography, she’s appeared in films like The Chronicles of Narnia, Snowpiercer, Doctor Strange, and Suspiria, captivating audiences with each transformation.

Tilda Swinton’s career has often revolved around collaborations with visionary directors like Derek Jarman, Bong Joon-ho, and Luca Guadagnino, who appreciate her experimental approach. Reflecting on her career in the ELLE interview, she shared, "My original drug that got me into filmmaking… is to work collectively, to work in very close communication with filmmakers.”

For her, these collaborations are central to her identity as an actor and have kept her passion for cinema alive. Swinton stated, "I don’t think of myself as an industrial animal at all… my skill, if I have anything, is finding collaborators."

In The Room Next Door, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, Swinton and Moore portray longtime friends Martha and Ingrid. The film, which premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, delves into themes of friendship, aging, and mortality, with Moore playing a novelist and Swinton a war correspondent.

According to a synopsis, the two characters reconnect under unusual circumstances after years apart, sparking introspective dialogues about death and powerlessness. Swinton revealed that the film’s central theme of mortality resonated with her personally.

"The subject really is power… the feeling of powerlessness… around mortality, or… around aging. We are powerless," she expressed, emphasizing that confronting mortality is both universal and challenging.

Despite her comments about retirement, Swinton still has one project underway: The Ballad of a Small Player, directed by Edward Berger, known for All Quiet on the Western Front. In this Netflix drama, she stars alongside Colin Farrell in a story centered on a high-stakes gambler hiding in Macau.

Meanwhile Swinton and Moore, both Oscar winners with decades of experience, share screen on The Room Next Door. They describe their on-screen chemistry as akin to an old friendship.

Tilda Swinton shared that Almodóvar had asked her who she envisioned as her co-star, to which she immediately responded with Moore. Both actors, born in 1960, navigated the indie film scene of the 1980s and ’90s, fostering mutual admiration for each other over the years.