Alicia Vikander

Early life

Vikander was born on 3 October 1988 in Gothenburg to (1951–2022), a stage actress, and Svante Vikander, a psychiatrist. Her parents are from small villages in the north and south of Sweden, respectively. She is one-quarter Finnish; her maternal great-aunt moved from Finland to Sweden to escape World War II. Alicia's parents separated when she was two months old, and she was mostly raised by her mother. She has five half-siblings on her father's side. Vikander has said she had the best of both worlds growing up, being an only child to her mother and being surrounded by a large family when she went to her father's house every second week.

Vikander started her acting career at seven years old, on stage and on television. She trained in ballet from age nine with the Svenska Balettskolan i Göteborg (1998–2004). At 15, Vikander moved from Gothenburg to train at the ballet's upper school in Stockholm, living on her own. She trained one summer at the American Academy of Ballet in New York.

At age 16, she almost left school to commit fully to the television series she worked on with director Tomas Alfredson, realising her passion for acting. Her dance career was sidelined in her late teens due to injuries. She auditioned for drama school but was turned down twice. At one point, Vikander was admitted to law school but she never attended, following her dreams to become an actress instead.

Career

1997–2014: Rise to prominence

Vikander started her acting career at age seven, starring in a production of Kristina från Duvemåla at The Göteborg Opera, which was written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson from ABBA, performing in the play for three and a half years. She appeared in several musicals at the Opera, such as The Sound of Music and Les Misérables. In 1997 she participated in the TV4 children's singing show Småstjärnorna; she performed the Helen Sjöholms song, "Du måste finnas". She won her episode with praise from the judges for her stage presence.

She began appearing in a number of short films and television roles in her native Sweden. She later appeared in Swedish TV drama Andra Avenyn from 2008 to 2010.

Vikander received critical acclaim for her feature film debut, playing the leading role of Katarina in the Swedish film Pure (2010). The film tells the story of the troubled secretary Katarina, who desperately tries to escape her life. With this role, Vikander won the Rising Star Award in 2010 at the Stockholm International Film Festival, the Shooting Star Award at the Berlin International Film Festival In 2011, she had the leading role of Fragancia Fernandez, who is arrested for attempted murder, in The Crown Jewels. In 2012, Vikander gained international attention for playing the key role of Kitty in the English-language film adaptation of Anna Karenina, starring Keira Knightley. The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and received positive reviews.

That year, she added Danish to her repertoire while co-starring as Queen Caroline Mathilde in the Nikolaj Arcel feature film A Royal Affair. It had its world premiere at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival and was received with critical acclaim. The film was subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards. Vikander was named as one of the 10 Actors to Watch: Breakthrough Performances of 2012 at the 20th Hamptons International Film Festival, was nominated for BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2013, and received the Editor's Choice Award at the 2013 Elle Style Awards.

In 2013, she starred as German Pirate Party member Anke Domscheit-Berg in The Fifth Estate. The film opened the Toronto International Film Festival on 5 September 2013. It garnered mixed critical reactions. Vikander also had the leading role of Erika in the Swedish film Hotell, for which she got the Marrakech International Film Festival Award for Best Actress. In 2014, she appeared in the Australian crime thriller Son of a Gun. The film was released in Australia on 16 October 2014 and received mixed reviews; Vikander was praised for her performance.

2015–2019: Breakthrough and acclaim

In 2015, Vikander had substantial roles in eight films. She garnered widespread critical acclaim for her portrayal of painter Gerda Wegener in Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the second Swedish actress to win this award; the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress; and received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role but lost both awards to Brie Larson for Room.

She garnered critical acclaim and wide recognition for her starring role as Artificial intelligence Ava in Alex Garland's directorial debut Ex Machina, for which she received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 2016, Forbes included Vikander in its 30 Under 30 list.

She had the leading role of pacifist Vera Brittain in Testament of Youth alongside Kit Harington and Emily Watson. Testament of Youth was well received upon its release, with critics particularly praising Vikander's performance. For her role as Brittain, Vikander was nominated for BIFA for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film. She also played the role of half-human/half-witch Alice Deane in the fantasy film Seventh Son (2015), narrated the Swedish documentary Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015), had the female leading role in the Guy Ritchie-directed action film The Man from U.N.C.L.E., based on the 1964 MGM television series of the same name; and appeared in the film Burnt (2015).

On 6 May 2016, it was announced that Vikander set up a production company called Vikarious along with her agent Charles Collier. The company's first film, Euphoria, a production with Sweden's B-Reel Films, began shooting in the German Alps in August 2016. The film is the English-language directorial debut of Swedish writer/director Lisa Langseth, and was Langseth and Vikander's third collaboration. Vikander starred opposite Eva Green and Charlotte Rampling as sisters in conflict travelling through Europe toward a mystery destination. Euphoria received its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2017.

In 2016, Vikander starred opposite Matt Damon in Jason Bourne, directed by Paul Greengrass. It was released on 29 July 2016 by Universal Pictures. Vikander then appeared in the adaptation of the novel The Light Between Oceans (2016), directed by Derek Cianfrance, with Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz. The film was released in the United States by Touchstone Pictures on 2 September 2016. Vikander portrayed Lara Croft in the action reboot film Tomb Raider, which was released on 16 March 2018. In 2019, Vikander starred in the short film I Am Easy to Find directed by Mike Mills, which was part of the eighth album of the same name by The National. That same year, Vikander starred in the psychological thriller Earthquake Bird opposite Riley Keough directed by Wash Westmoreland for Netflix.

2020–present: Career fluctuations{{clarify|date=December 2025}}

In 2020, Vikander portrayed a young Gloria Steinem in the biographic drama The Glorias directed by Julie Taymor, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020. Vikander next starred opposite Dev Patel in the medieval fantasy The Green Knight (2021) directed by David Lowery which was released by A24. She also starred in the thriller Beckett (2021), opposite John David Washington directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino and produced by Luca Guadagnino, and Blue Bayou directed by Justin Chon. She starred in Firebrand (2023) as Queen Catherine Parr, replacing Michelle Williams. She starred together with Cate Blanchett in Guy Maddin's film Rumours (2024).

Advocacy

Vikander identifies as a feminist and has advocated for gender equality in film, commenting:

On 10 November 2017, Vikander was one of 584 women who called for the Swedish film and theatre industries to address what they claimed was a culture of sexual misconduct. She added her signature to an open letter published in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. The letter contained numerous accounts of sexual harassment, assault and rape suffered by women in the Swedish industry, all recounted anonymously. According to a translation of the letter published by English-language Swedish publication The Local, the signatories vowed that they would "no longer be silent". Following the letter's publication, Swedish press reported that culture minister Alice Bah Kuhnke called a meeting of the heads of Sweden's National Theatre Company, the Royal Dramatic Theatre, and the Royal Swedish Opera.

Personal life

In late 2014, she began a relationship with actor Michael Fassbender, whom she met while filming The Light Between Oceans. They made their first public appearance as a couple at the 2016 Golden Globe Awards, where Vikander was nominated for her performances in Ex Machina and The Danish Girl, and Fassbender was nominated for Steve Jobs. They married on 14 October 2017 in a private ceremony in Ibiza, Spain. They have two sons, born in 2021 and 2024.

Vikander lived in London for several years before moving to Lisbon, Portugal, with her family in 2017.

Vikander also holds both Swedish and UK citizenship.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Other credited works

In 2020, Vikander recorded a narration of the audiobook chapter "Pippi Longstocking Moves Into Villa Villekulla", supporting the global charitable initiative "Pippi of Today", a collaboration between The Astrid Lindgren Company and Save the Children, to create awareness and raise money for girls on the move.

In 2021, Vikander recorded the song "Blue Bayou", which is featured in the Blue Bayou (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).

References

References

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