Alicia Vikander

Alicia Amanda Vikander

3 October 1988

A Swedish actress and dancer. Vikander trained in ballet with the Royal Swedish Ballet School from the age of nine in Gothenburg. At the age of 15, Vikander moved from Gothenburg to train at its upper school in Stockholm where she lived on her own, aiming to become a principal dancer. She appeared in several musicals at the Gothenburg Opera, such as "The Sound of Music", "Les Misérables" and would travel around the world for summer courses, training one summer at the School of American Ballet. At the age of 16, she almost left school to fully commit to the television series she worked on with director Tomas Alfredson, realizing her passion for acting. Her dance career was sidelined by injuries in her late teens and she ended up auditioning 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.

She began her career by appearing in a number of short films and television roles in her native Sweden. She became well known in Scandinavia for her role in the popular Swedish TV drama "Andra Avenyn" (2008–2011).

In 2012, Vikander gained international attention for playing the key role of Kitty in the English language film adaptation of "Anna Karenina" opposite Keira Knightley and Domhnall Gleeson. The film premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival and received positive reviews. That year, she also added Danish to her repertoire while co-starring as Queen Caroline Mathilde in the Nikolaj Arcel feature film "A Royal Affair" with Mads Mikkelsen. 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.

In her first film of 2015, she had the leading role of iconic pacifist Vera Brittain in "Testament of Youth" alongside Kit Harington and Emily Watson. The film was released in wide distribution in the UK on 16 January 2015. "Testament of Youth" was well received upon its release, with critics praising Vikander's performance in particular. For her role as Vera Brittain, Vikander was nominated for BIFA Award 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) with Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Vikander gained public recognition for her starring role as Artificial intelligence Ava in Alex Garland's directorial debut "Ex Machina", opposite Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac. Vikander's performance received a BIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film nomination. She also 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.She appeared in the film "Burnt" (2015) with Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller. Vikander portrayed painter Gerda Wegener in Tom Hooper's "The Danish Girl" (2015). 

As an actress

• Min balsamerade mor (2002)
• En decemberdröm (2005)
• Levande föda (2007)
• Andra Avenyn (2007-2008)
• Darkness of Truth (2007)
• The Rain (2007)
• Höök (2008)
• My Name Is Love (2008)
• Susans längtan (2009)
• Pure (2010)
• Jeu de chiennes (2011)
• The Crown Jewels (2011)
• A Royal Affair (2012)
• Anna Karenina (2012)
• Hotell (2013)
• The Fifth Estate (2013)
• Testament of Youth (2014)
• Son of a Gun (2014)
• Seventh Son (2014)
• Ex Machina (2015)
• Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015)
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
• Burnt (2015)
• The Danish Girl (2015)
• Jason Bourne (2016)
• The Light Between Oceans (2016)
• Tulip Fever (2017)
• Submergence (2017)
• Euphoria (2017)
• Tomb Raider (2018)

Quotations

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I love films that make me react emotionally and physically when you walk out of the cinema. Two of my favorite films however have got to be 'The Tree Of Life' and 'The Piano Teacher,' which also stars one of my favourite actresses Isabelle Huppert.

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I love when I am outside my comfort zone.

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I love to see how far you're able to go, both in skills but also emotionally how far I can push myself.

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I started off when I was seven years old doing musicals. I was in 'Les Miserables' and 'The Sound of Music,' and my mum's an actress. My parents divorced when I was young, and when she couldn't find a babysitter, I was in the wings, sleeping.

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I endured quite a few injuries when I was younger and had my first surgery on my foot when I was 15. But I love dancing. 'Anna Karenina' was great for me as it meant I could combine the two and I actually went back and did some classes.

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I love doing interviews that are about work that I do, films that I make. I am not very interested in the rest. I think I have always been quite reserved and a bit frightened of that whole thing.

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I was able to actually combine dance and acting, which was a dream come true.

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In 'A Royal Affair' I had to learn to act like a queen and learned Danish. It's so much different to act in another language. It's the nuances in the words.

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My Mother is an actress, so it's always been a part of my life.

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I do work very hard. I have been very colored by that education. I spent six days a week, seven hours a day training. That will always be the foundation of my work.

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My agent in Sweden used to send off interview tapes but I decided to take it upon myself and come to London to visit casting directors which is when things first started taking off for me. I love Sweden but the industry out here is quite small so when I was given the chance to go internationally I took it.

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