Why Problemista Star Tilda Swinton Comes to the U.S. ‘Less and Less’: ‘Not for the Fainthearted’ (Exclusive)

Tilda Swinton thinks parts of her new film about surviving as an immigrant in America are too relatable.

“I come to America, I must admit, less and less,” admits the Scottish actress, 63, to PEOPLE. “Not for the faint of heart, you know.”

Swinton is acting A problem solver (currently in theaters), writer-actor-first-time director Julio Torres’ semi-autobiographical account of the American dream is whimsically imaginative and painfully funny, given his first-hand insight into the country’s immigration bureaucracy.

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“I felt like I was slowly building a house of cards,” Torres, 37, recalls of moving from his native El Salvador to New York for college. “It was like I was really building the foundations of something, but with every card I knew it could all be gone very, very quickly.”

Even after he became an Emmy nominee Saturday night live writer and co-creator/HBO star Los Espookys, Torres admits that the feeling of “uncertainty” remains. “There’s a constant feeling, like, ‘Am I allowed to stand here? Am I going to get in trouble if I sit here? What rule did I break today that I didn’t know was a rule? Which piece of paper did I not fill in on time, and which will be returned to me?’ ”

“Going through immigration at the airport, even with some fancy artist visa, you’re scrutinized,” agrees Swinton. “Every time you go in, they literally search your entire body cavity. There’s a sort of underlying assumption that you want to steal something. And that, ‘Why would you want to go back to Scotland when you can live here?’ ”

The Michael Clayton The Oscar winner adds that she has “beloved friends and colleagues” in the US, but feels “more and more alienated as time goes on”.

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That A problem solver led by a comedy duo born in San Salvador and London is no coincidence. Narrated by Isabella Rossellini and starring RZA, Greta Lee, Catalina Saavedra and James Scully, the A24 hit — produced by Emma Stone and her husband Dave McCary — uses the “surreal adventure” of immigrant Alejandro (Torres) to expose the “insidious worlds of New York City and the U.S. immigration system,” according to the synopsis.

Julio Torres and Tilda Swinton in the movie “Problemista”.

A24

“As time runs out on his work visa, a job helping a volatile art world renegade becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream,” the synopsis continues.

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Swinton plays that art-world outcast — with the accent on the “loose” — named Elizabeth, a character Torres jokes is “very first.”

Elizabeth’s disheveled red-dyed wig actually helped Swinton get used to the frantically demanding art dealer. “All kinds of architecture are work for me,” she says, “They’re like nuclear codes: the hair unlocks one part, then the tummy unlocks another, then her shoulder [pads.]”

Tilda Swinton at the screening of “Problemista” in New York on February 27.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

The character “doesn’t really feel like she has a relationship with anyone I’ve played before, or even anyone I know,” she adds. “She doesn’t just walk into a room, she kind of invades the room.”

Torres chimes in: “We talked about Elizabeth going into each room first. Remember?” Swinton corrects him: “Claws first!”

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For Torres, what unlocked the “engine or tone” of his feature directorial debut was casting Larry Owens as the physical embodiment of Craigslist, luring Alejandro to do odd jobs for money. “I started to think of Craigslist as a conversational being. Then I said, ‘Oh, well, actually this really human story is going to be told the way I know how.’ ”

“Problemista” poster.

A24

A problem solver, he says, is also “such a wonderful parade of so many friends” — including Swinton. The moment the two met during the film development process, Three thousand years of longing the actress counted herself among the fans of Torres’ peculiar comedy.

“Even before a conversation can be had with a potential collaborator, if you know and admire their work, you’re halfway there,” Swinton tells PEOPLE. “I was so captivated by Julio, the landscape of his work, from the moment I first saw him. And it has done such good things to my heart, always has and still does.”

She adds: “People always talk about not meeting your heroes, but I was very lucky; people end up being exactly what you hoped they would be. He is no exception.”

A problem solver it’s in theaters now.

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Source: HIS Education