Tilda Swinton in tight corset spot
September 18, 2007 
British actress Tilda Swinton has revealed that she does not mind suffering for her art, even if that means wearing a corset that is too tight.
She told the Times that when she played the White Witch in Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia, the corset she had to wear was so tight that she had to be supported by a stand between takes.
"I am a soldier," she said. "I live a soldier's life when I'm working. That's how it feels to me - except I've got a slightly greater chance of survival."
Luckily, made to measure corsets that are not used in film are much more comfortable.
Yet in her latest role, the actress swaps her corset for a sad-looking bra, playing in her latest film, Michael Clayton, which is out this September.
She explained that in the film, it was important not to have a figure that was toned by a corset, as she plays a miserable American executive.
In one scene, her character, Karen Crowder, sits in front her hotel dressing-table mirror rehearsing a corporate speech in her bra, with her saggy flesh on display.
"That image struck me very early on when I was reading the script," Ms Swinton said. "It was one of the things that made me want to do the film - it made her seem vulnerable. She needed to have a certain kind of body, which I built with the help of rather a lot of pie."
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