Tilda Swinton is putting her foot down when it comes to the issue of not wearing face masks.
During the SXSW Film Festival, the actress opened up that she no longer uses one despite being told to observe COVID-19 protocols on film sets. Swinton also said that many individuals, including members of the audience, seem to have chosen not to wear masks now that the worst of the pandemic is over.
In August 2021, the actress contracted the virus and was left bedridden for three weeks. Even after recovering, she still suffered some side effects, such as forgetfulness. Later this year, Swinton will star in the American romantic comedy “Asteroid City,” and the action thriller “The Killer.”
Read on to learn more.
Tilda Swinton Opens Up About The Pandemic
During a keynote address at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, Swinton revealed that she has opted out of observing COVID-19 masking protocols on film sets, per Daily Mail.
“We’ve had different challenges in the last few years particularly, and some of them are lingering around people’s belief in sitting in big spaces,” the actress said as she reflected on the issues that came with the pandemic.
Swinton then shared that now that the worst of the pandemic was over, many people, including audience members, no longer wore masks.
“Look at you. I bet none of you are wearing masks, as well. I mean, who knew that was going to be possible?” she added. “There was a time… I mean, in Texas, did people even wear masks? I have to ask. I don’t know, it’s a wide world, and people do things differently all over.”
Tilda Swinton On Why She No Longer Wears Masks
Elsewhere during her speech, Swinton shared that she would be heading soon to Ireland to shoot a movie, and while she was told to “wear a mask at all times,” she has chosen not to wear one.
“I’m super healthy, and I’ve had COVID so many times, and I’m so full of antibodies, and I have faith,” said the actress, explaining why she no longer wears a mask.
While Swinton also confessed that it was “very nice” to see people all gather in a room all unmasked, she did note that at some point during the pandemic, she worried about “how long it would be before it happened.
She also revealed that one of her concerns was people who felt going to theatres was “a bit obsolete would kind of gain traction,” which fortunately did not happen.
Swinton added. “the one good thing about the pandemic is that it was making the people naysay the people who said that theaters were on the way out.”
COVID-19 Affected Her Acting Abilities
While the Covid-19 outbreak rose in 2020, Swinton came down with the virus in August 2021 and was unable to leave her bed for three weeks.
“I was coughing like an old gentleman who smoked a pipe for 70 years and had nasty vertigo. I got off relatively lightly, but the worst thing is how it affected my brain,” she recalled the experience in an interview with The Guardian.
The effects of the illness impacted her acting abilities at the time, especially for roles for which she “had to learn a lot of text for.”
She added, “I’m normally quite quick at studying and picking stuff up, but this was like chewing a really big piece of gum. I couldn’t remember my lines.”.
Tilda Swinton’s Upcoming Projects
At the time, the actress also shared that she is yet to recover from the effects of the illness completely. “I’m still forgetting things. I have to work my brain,” she told the publication.
Apparently, she hasn’t let her issues stop her from acting, as her appearance at SXSW was for the world premiere of her new movie, “Problemista.”
Swinton stars in the American Comedy alongside the Salvadorian writer Julio Torres and rapper RZA, fully known as Robert Fitzgerald Diggs.
She would also appear in “Asteroid City,” alongside Margot Robbie, Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson, and join Michael Fassbender in David Fincher’s “The Killer.”
Both movies are set to come out this year, “Asteroid City” debuting in June and “The Killer” in November.
