Alicia Amanda Vikander (/vɪˈkændər/, Swedish: (listen); born 3 October 1988) is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film Awards.
Born and raised in Gothenburg, Vikander began acting as a child in minor stage productions at the Gothenburg opera house and trained as a ballet dancer at the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm. She began her acting career in Swedish short films and television series and first gained recognition for her role in the drama series Andra Avenyn (2008–2010). She made her feature film debut in Pure (2010), for which she won the Guldbagge Award for Best Actress. She gained wider recognition in 2012 for playing Kitty in Joe Wright's adaptation of Anna Karenina and Queen Caroline Mathilde in the Danish film A Royal Affair.
Vikander achieved global recognition for her roles as Vera Brittain in Testament of Youth (2014), a humanoid robot in Ex Machina (2014), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Gerda Wegener in The Danish Girl (2015), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2016, Vikander was listed by Forbes in its 30 Under 30 list. She has since starred in the action film Jason Bourne (2016), the fantasy film The Green Knight (2021), and the miniseries Irma Vep (2022).
Early life
Alicia Amanda Vikander was born on 3 October 1988 in Gothenburg to Maria Fahl (1951-2022), a stage actress, and Svante Vikander, a psychiatrist. Her parents are from small villages in the north and south of Sweden, respectively. They separated when Vikander 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. She is one-quarter Finnish; her maternal great-aunt moved from Finland to Sweden to escape World War II.
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.
Vikander 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.
