Alicia Vikander

Biography

Alicia Amanda Vikander was born on October 3, 1988, in Johannebergs församling, Gothenburg, Sweden. Growing up in Gothenburg, she became interested in performing arts early on, acting in minor stage productions at the Gothenburg opera house as a child. Alongside acting, she trained seriously as a ballet dancer at the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm, which helped develop her discipline and physical presence that would later influence her acting on screen. Her ability to speak multiple languages and her formal training gave her a strong foundation to pursue an international career in film and television.

Vikander's professional acting journey started with roles in Swedish short films and TV series. She first gained attention with her role in the drama series Andra Avenyn, which aired from 2008 to 2010. She made her feature film debut in the Swedish drama Pure in 2010, winning the Guldbagge Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which highlighted her strong dramatic abilities. In 2012, she expanded her international presence with roles in two prominent period films: she played Kitty in Joe Wright's adaptation of Anna Karenina and Queen Caroline Mathilde in the acclaimed Danish film A Royal Affair, both highlighting her ability to adapt to different cinema styles.

The years 2014 and 2015 were pivotal for Vikander's international career. She played Vera Brittain in the World War I drama Testament of Youth and Ava, a humanoid AI, in Ex Machina by Alex Garland. Her detailed physical and psychological performance in Ex Machina earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 2015, she starred as Gerda Wegener in Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl with Eddie Redmayne. Her performance as the devoted and emotionally deep wife of one of the first known people to undergo gender reassignment surgery won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 2016 ceremony. That year, Forbes named her on its 30 Under 30 list.

After her Oscar win, Vikander continued to take on diverse and significant projects. She acted in the 2016 action hit Jason Bourne with Matt Damon, and in 2018, she played Lara Croft in the adventure film Tomb Raider, a reboot of the popular video game series. She appeared in David Lowery's medieval fantasy film The Green Knight in 2021 and starred in the HBO miniseries Irma Vep in 2022, directed by Olivier Assayas. In her personal life, Vikander married German-Irish actor Michael Fassbender in 2017, whom she met on the set of the film The Light Between Oceans.