Actress Tilda Swinton Balks at Hollywood Covid Restrictions: ‘I Was Told to Wear a Mask at All Times — and I’m Not’
Dr. Strange star admits she’s happy to see people’s faces and believes pandemic made everyone appreciate film and music.
Actress Tilda Swinton says she’s ditching face masks while filming her next Hollywood movie.
The Avengers: Endgame actress told an audience at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, she won’t be donning a mask, as requested, in an upcoming project in Ireland because she’s healthy and possesses antibodies from being infected with Covid.
“I’m actually just about to start shooting a picture in Ireland, and I was told, full disclosure, and I’m sure this is being recorded – people in Ireland might hear it – to wear a mask at all times,” the keynote speaker told an interviewer Sunday.
“And I’m not wearing a mask because I’m super healthy and I’ve had Covid so many times and I’m so full of antibodies and I have faith.”
“But it’s very nice to see your faces unmasked,” the Doctor Strange star continued.
Swinton’s comments on ditching masks came during a larger discussion on “challenges” in the film industry and society in recent years, where she remarked people were just now getting over the fear of “sitting in big spaces.”
“Look at you, I bet you none of you are wearing masks, as well,” she said addressing the audience.
“I mean, who knew that was gonna be possible? I mean in Texas, did people wear masks? I have to ask,” she continued. “I don’t know. It’s a wide world and people do things differently all over the place.”
“A couple of years ago, we couldn’t imagine sitting in a room like this. Could we? And… I wondered how long it would be before the time we would be able to, and I did – I did have a concern that those who thought that sitting in a big place to look at a big screen was a bit obsolete would kind of gain traction.”
Swinton commented the pandemic taught people to appreciate live music, theater and socialization.
“You know you asked anybody what they really missed during the pandemic, and they said the same things. They said: friends, family, live music, cinema. Those were the only things people missed… And a bit of travel as well,” she said.
“And then I thought, this is the one good thing about the pandemic. It’s making people, you know, nay-say the people who said cinema was on the way out. It’s given it a bit of a boost.”
Swinton’s commentary speaking out against Orwellian Covid mandates comes as Screen Actors Guild president and fellow actress Fran Drescher recently celebrated the end of the Covid emergency and called for equal opportunity work for all actors.
Swinton was in Austin promoting her latest film Problemista.
