Tilda Swinton slapped an American friend who called her "English"
The 63-year-old actress - who has lived in the Highlands since 1997 - was born in London, but considers her nationality to be Scottish because she comes from a Scottish family and spent much of her childhood there and has confessed she reacted badly when a pal referred to her as "English" rather than "British" or "Scottish".
8 July 2024
She was reminded of the incident - which took place while she was filming 1992 movie 'Orlando' - during an interview with the Guardian newspaper and Tilda explained: "Well, I'll slap myself on the back for that now.
"I mean, he should know better ... And you know these Americans: you've got to teach them. Quite right!"
The 'Michael Clayton' star has previously admitted she feels more Scottish than British and has "never felt English".
She told the BBC: "I don't quite believe the word British. I feel like it's sort of a strictly for export term. I don't really know what it means. I think it has something to do with a sort of political attitude."
She added: "I have lived in Scotland full-time for the last 20 years, I was brought up in Scotland through my childhood, I am from a family that has lived in Scotland for centuries.
"I have never felt English, and I have never felt British, politically. I am happy to describe myself as Scottish and I feel, like many people, that Scotland is a naturally independent country."
It came after fellow actress Kelly Macdonald insisted Swinton was "too posh" to be Scottish. During a US TV interview in 2018, Kelly was asked about Tilda and said: "I have a problem with people that are Scottish but don't sound it. I get very, very confused. Yeah, I don't understand. But, yeah, she's based in Scotland ...
"She's posh Scottish. Posh Scottish people are really English. I am not posh."
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