Alicia Vikander facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alicia Vikander
Vikander at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Alicia Amanda Vikander (1988-10-03) 3 October 1988 (age 36) Gothenburg, Sweden
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2002–present
Spouse(s)	Michael Fassbender ​ (m. 2017)​
Children	2
Awards	Full list

Alicia Vikander (born 3 October 1988) is a famous actress from Sweden. She has won many important awards, including an Academy Award. She has also been nominated for three BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

Alicia grew up in Gothenburg, Sweden. She started acting as a child in plays at the Gothenburg opera house. She also trained to be a ballet dancer at the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm.

She began her acting career in Swedish TV shows and short films. She became well-known for her role in the TV series Andra Avenyn (2008–2010). Her first big movie was Pure (2010). For this role, she won the Guldbagge Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

In 2012, she gained more attention for playing Kitty in Anna Karenina. She also played Queen Caroline Mathilde in the Danish film A Royal Affair.

Alicia Vikander became famous around the world for her roles in several movies. She played Vera Brittain in Testament of Youth (2014). She also played a smart robot in Ex Machina (2014). For Ex Machina, she was nominated for a BAFTA Award. In 2015, she played Gerda Wegener in The Danish Girl. This role won her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2016, Forbes magazine included her in their "30 Under 30" list. Since then, she has starred in many exciting films. These include Jason Bourne (2016) and Tomb Raider (2018). She also appeared in the fantasy film The Green Knight (2021). Her recent work includes the miniseries Irma Vep (2022).

Becoming an Actress

Alicia Amanda Vikander was born on 3 October 1988 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her mother, Maria Fahl, was a stage actress. Her father, Svante Vikander, was a psychiatrist. Her parents separated when she was very young. Alicia was mostly raised by her mother. She also has five half-siblings from her father's side.

Alicia started training in ballet when she was nine years old. She went to the Swedish National Ballet School in Gothenburg. At 15, she moved to Stockholm by herself to train at the Royal Swedish Ballet School. She finished her ballet training in 2007. She also spent a summer training at the School of American Ballet in New York.

When she was 16, Alicia almost stopped school to focus on a TV series. She realized then that she loved acting the most. Later, injuries made her stop her dancing career. She tried out for drama school twice but was not accepted. At one point, she was even accepted into law school. But she chose to follow her dream of becoming an actress instead.

Her Acting Journey

Starting Out

Alicia Vikander began her career in Sweden. She appeared in many short films and TV shows. She then starred in the Swedish TV drama Andra Avenyn from 2008 to 2010.

Breakthrough Roles (2010–2014)

Vikander (right) and director Lisa Langseth at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival

Alicia received great reviews for her first main movie role. She played Katarina in the Swedish film Pure (2010). The movie is about Katarina, a troubled secretary trying to change her life. For this role, Alicia won the Rising Star Award in 2010. She also won the Shooting Star Award and the important Guldbagge Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

In 2011, she played Fragancia Fernandez in The Crown Jewels. In 2012, Alicia became known internationally. She played Kitty in the English movie Anna Karenina. This film was shown at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and got good reviews.

That same year, she learned Danish for her role as Queen Caroline Mathilde. This was in the film A Royal Affair. The movie was shown at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival and was highly praised. It was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Alicia was named one of the "10 Actors to Watch" in 2012. She was also nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2013.

In 2013, she played Anke Domscheit-Berg in The Fifth Estate. This film opened the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Alicia also had a main role as Erika in the Swedish film Hotell. She won an award for Best Actress for this role. In 2014, she appeared in the Australian crime film Son of a Gun. Critics praised her performance in this movie.

Global Recognition (2015–2019)

Vikander at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con

In 2015, Alicia Vikander was in eight films! She earned a lot of praise for playing painter Gerda Wegener in The Danish Girl. For this role, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also won the Screen Actors Guild Award and the Critics' Choice Movie Award. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award too.

She also got great reviews for her role as Ava, an AI robot, in Ex Machina. For this, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award. In 2016, Forbes magazine recognized her in their "30 Under 30" list.

Alicia played Vera Brittain in Testament of Youth. Critics especially liked her acting in this film. She also played Alice Deane in the fantasy film Seventh Son (2015). She narrated the documentary Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015). She also had a main role in the action film The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and appeared in Burnt (2015).

In 2016, Alicia started her own film company called Vikarious. Their first film, Euphoria, was filmed in the German Alps. Alicia starred in it with Eva Green. Euphoria was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017.

In 2016, Alicia starred with Matt Damon in Jason Bourne. She also appeared in The Light Between Oceans with Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz. In 2018, Alicia played Lara Croft in the action film Tomb Raider. In 2019, she was in the short film I Am Easy to Find. That same year, she starred in the thriller Earthquake Bird for Netflix.

Recent Work (2020–Present)

In 2020, Alicia played a young Gloria Steinem in the film The Glorias. This movie was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. Alicia then starred with Dev Patel in the medieval fantasy film The Green Knight. She also appeared in the thriller Beckett and Blue Bayou.

She starred as Queen Catherine Parr in Firebrand (2023). She will also star with Cate Blanchett in the film Rumours.

Personal Life

Alicia Vikander with her husband Michael Fassbender in 2020

In late 2014, Alicia started a relationship with actor Michael Fassbender. They met while filming The Light Between Oceans. They first appeared in public as a couple at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards in 2016.

Alicia and Michael got married in a private ceremony in Ibiza on 14 October 2017. They later moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where they live now. They have two sons, born in 2021 and 2024. Alicia has both Swedish and British citizenship.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Pure	Katarina
2011	The Crown Jewels	Fragancia Fernandez
2012	A Royal Affair	Caroline Matilda of Great Britain
	Anna Karenina	Ekaterina "Kitty" Alexandrovna
2013	The Fifth Estate	Anke Domscheit-Berg
	Hotell	Erika
2014	Testament of Youth	Vera Brittain
	Son of a Gun	Tasha
	Ex Machina	Ava
	2015	Seventh Son	Alice Deane
2015	Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words	Ingrid Bergman (voice)	Documentary film
	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Gaby Teller
	The Danish Girl	Gerda Wegener
	Burnt	Anne Marie
	The Magic Diner	Herself	Short film
2016	Jason Bourne	Heather Lee
	The Light Between Oceans	Isabel Graysmark Sherbourne
2017	Birds Like Us	Huppu, Mi (voices)
	Tulip Fever	Sophia Sandvoort
	Euphoria	Ines Thompson	Also producer
	Submergence	Danielle Flinders
	Moomins and the Winter Wonderland	Little My, Sorry-oo (voices)
2018	The Magic Diner Part II	Herself	Short film
	Tomb Raider	Lara Croft
	Arden's Wake: Tide's Fall	Meena (voice)	Short film; also executive producer
	Anthropocene: The Human Epoch	Narrator	Documentary film
2019	I Am Easy to Find	Woman	Short film
	Earthquake Bird	Lucy Fly
2020	The Glorias	Gloria Steinem
2021	Blue Bayou	Kathy LeBlanc
	The Green Knight	Essel, The Lady
	Beckett	April Hanson
2023	Firebrand	Catherine Parr
2024	Rumours	Celestine Sproul
	The Assessment	Virginia
2025	Hope	TBA	Post-production
TBA	The Last Day	TBA	Post-production

Television

Other Works

In 2020, Alicia Vikander read a part of the "Pippi Longstocking" audiobook. This was to support "Pippi of Today," a project helping girls who have moved from their homes.

In 2021, Alicia recorded the song "Blue Bayou." This song is featured in the soundtrack for the movie Blue Bayou.

See also

In Spanish: Alicia Vikander para niños

• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of Swedish actors