Tilda Swinton Turns 66 on November 5, and Strange Films Feel at Home With Her

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Tilda Swinton turns 66 on November 5. She can make a period drama, a sci-fi train thriller and a quiet art film feel like they came from the same mind. Her career has never followed the usual rules, and that is much of the fun of watching her.

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Orlando (1992) is where many people first noticed her. Sally Potter's film follows a nobleman who lives for centuries and changes gender along the way, and Swinton carries the whole thing with a straight face. It is strange, funny and moving, and it has aged better than most costume dramas from that decade.

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Michael Clayton (2007) brought her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She plays Karen Crowder, a chief executive whose calm hides a lot of damage. George Clooney gets the bigger part, but she is the one you remember when the credits roll.

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Snowpiercer (2013) proved she could steal a scene in a big blockbuster. She plays Mason, a grotesque government minister who lectures the train's passengers, and she is both ridiculous and frightening. In Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) she plays a vampire opposite Tom Hiddleston, and the late-night mood suits her perfectly.

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Which Tilda Swinton film would you watch first? Orlando is the best way in for me, but if you want to see her go somewhere truly odd, Mason will make you laugh and wince in the same moment.