Your “Daily (Show)” Swinton

I know, I know. I keep talking about Tilda. “We need to talk about Tilda.” (I think I cover Tilda with the frequency and fervor I ordinarily reserve for Neil Patrick Harris.)

But Tilda gives a good interview—although, to be sure, sometimes her quotes can come off as icy or brittle. But in taped interviews, her sense of humor—about filmmaking and parenthood both—really shines. She is eccentric but not spastic, and she is very, very gracious.

“I try and steer clear of anyone who has an opinion, really,” Swinton tells Jon Stewart in a recent episode of The Daily Show. She says this very wryly, and she is laughing, but she isn’t really kidding.

She cops to exerting a certain amount of creative control on all the film projects she funds. But wouldn’t she like to direct? “No. No, no, no. No. No, no, no. No.” (I didn’t count how many times she said “No” in a row, actually, but there were several of them.)

“So that’s a ‘maybe,'” Stewart replies.

“I’m too lazy, by far,” she tells him. The audience laughs. “No, really,” she says.

“So you produce [We Need to Talk About Kevin], you act in the movie, but directing, that is where you draw the line,” Stewart says.

“Absolutely impossible,” she concedes seriously. Oh, lord. We live in a word where Madonna wants to direct every movie, while Tilda Swinton wants to direct nothing.

Stewart and Swinton turn the conversation to parenthood, and it’s really charming. (Swinton has two 14-year olds, you guys. Two!)

“They’re great!” she says, really earnest.

Anyway, again, sorry about all the Tilda. I am trying to cut back on the number of Daily Show clips I post, too. I can’t help it, people! I really love how easygoing celebrities become when Stewart interviews them. And don’t get me started on the time Cameron Diaz removed Jon Stewart’s stitches on television. It was as disgusting as it was amazing.