Tilda Swinton to play David Bowie in upcoming biopic?
By Ben Kelly
It is being rumoured today that British actress Tilda Swinton is tipped to play the late music legend David Bowie in a forthcoming Hollywood biopic.
In recent years the 55-year-old Oscar winner became something of a muse for Bowie, who passed away on Monday aged 69. An extremely private man in his later years, Bowie counted only a handful of close friends in his inner circle which apparently included Swinton, who portrayed his wife in the 2013 music video for The Stars (Are Out Tonight); a satire on middle class, American life.
Today, the Daily Express claims it has been told Swinton will now play Bowie in a forthcoming film about his colourful life story, which saw him rise from humble Brixton boy to international star through the glam rock he pioneered in the early 1970s.
“It’s remarkable how much Tilda resembles David in his younger days despite the fact she is female,” Their source is quoted as saying. “That and the androgyny that he loved to present as part of his image makes Tilda the perfect choice to play David in the inevitable event of a film being made of his incredible life. Tilda will have first refusal on playing a true icon.”
The androgynous appeal of Swinton – who won an Academy Award for her performance in the legal thriller Michael Clayton in 2007 – has been exploited on the big screen before. In 1992, she starred in the film adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, an epic tale about a character who transcends through centuries and genders. The prospect of a female portraying the late rock legend also feels reminiscent of Cate Blanchett’s turn as Bob Dylan in the offbeat 2007 biopic I’m Not There.
Opening the record breaking David Bowie Is… exhibition at the V&A in 2013, Swinton said she had been drawn to Bowie at the age of 12, through the cover of the Aladdin Sane album, without having even heard it. “The image of that gingery boney pinky whitey person on the cover with the liquid mercury collar bone was – for one particular young moonage daydreamer – the image of planetary kin,” she said, “of a close imaginary cousin and companion of choice.”
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