Tilda with Michael Clayton costar George Villechaize – er, Clooney

The Oscars are only a week away, but instead of buzzing about Tilda Swinton’s chances of taking home the Best Supporting Actress award for her work in Michael Clayton, all the papers want to talk about is her personal life. When has the Daily News ever paid this kind of attention to an actress as under-the-radar as Swinton? They kick things off with this:

Actress Tilda Swinton, her longtime partner John Byrne and her young loverboy Sandro Kopp claim to be perfectly happy with their unconventional menage-a-trois relationship.

None of which is news, since Swinton publicly acknowledged the arrangement some time ago; but as the article notes, Britain’s Daily Mail has landed one of their trademark interviews with Kopp’s spurned lover, Emma Williamson, and that’s the kind of development gossip editors from around the world live for. Interestingly, reporters Steve D’Antal and Amanda Perthen buck Daily Mail tradition by not dragging Swinton through the mud. They even turn a critical eye to Williamson’s account of the story, observing:

There is no doubt Emma means what she says, no doubt she has been profoundly hurt by Sandro’s faithless behaviour.

But the image she paints of their relationship and of Sandro’s character seems out of sync with her conclusion that they were destined for a “happily ever after”, were it not for the arrival of bohemian Tilda.

Naturally, that doesn’t stop them from attacking Kopp, even questioning his sanity, but it does highlight the fact that even tabloid hacks have some reverence for the almighty Swinton.

In non-salacious Tilda-related news, The Observer ran a nice remembrance of director Derek Jarman this weekend, written by Howard Sooley. Jarman, who died of complications from AIDS on February 19, 1994, effectively launched Swinton’s career, directing her in seven films. He was also one of her closest friends. You can read interviews about her involvement in Isaac Julien’s Derek, a documentary about Jarman’s life and career, at Dark Horizons and FilmStew.