Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton has taken to our screens in collaboration with French luxury Maison Chanel to dissect her great love of the written word. For the series Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon (Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon in English), Swinton stars in an episode of “In the Library With…” chatting about the deep roots of her literary adoration for the 26 minute short film, noting where it all began, and how she would define her relationship with reading today.
Citing her favorite authors, poets, and stories she’s most likely to reread, Swinton answers a plethora of questions for the fashion house from “How did reading come into your life?” to whether her parents encouraged the activity. “Reading became quite a drug when I was 10…” recalling it was the pleasure of finding solace in being alone yet gaining companionship through the characters who came to life.
Dubbing both Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations as the stories she’s bound to read time and time again, Swinton expresses that they tend to feel different, or that she may perceive the tale differently during each new era of her life. Having first read each of these tomes during her most formative years, the stories bring her comfort, no matter how different they may feel throughout time. Describing Great Expectations as a romantic love letter to one’s own humanity, therefore one’s own fallibility, Swinton finds that taking the time to absorb the literary classic doubles as an act to forgive one’s self for a great many things.
Joining the likes of Chanel ambassadors Margaret Qualley, Charlotte Casiraghi, Anna Mouglalis to participate in the campaign, Swinton divulges her past history as a poet. Describing her shelved passion as a turtle she hopes will eventually come out of its shell, Swinton continues to write essays and plans to soon compiled all of her published works and curate a collection of pieces.
Describing the act of reading as sharpening your wits, buffing up your brain, and clearing your lens, Swinton’s fond appreciation is palpable. Through her poetic description of reading and her illustrated history in profound filmmaking, it’s clear that Swinton’s poignant deference for the art of story telling runs deep.
