Tilda Swinton always knew she was never going to be "bimbo material."

The 52-year-old actress - who earned the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in Michael Clayton in 2008 - struggled to get meaningful roles when she started her acting career and knew she would be "a bit off an outsider" until she got older.

"I was never going to be bimbo material. So I just kept my head down in my 20s. I had this strange instinct that I would only begin to start my real work in my 40s," she said.

Tilda has 16-year-old twins Honor and Xavier with Scottish playwright John Byrne and she admits she is a naturally lazy person and prefers to spend time at home with them than work, and she is often hassled into accepting roles: "I had my children and knew that at some point, when they were old enough, I would have more time. I am truly idle, because I would never do anything that I didn't want to do. I have some very hardy and wily representatives whose job it is to mud-wrestle me to the ground and make me work."