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Lena Olin
Lena Olin in 2015.jpg
Olin in 2015
Born
Lena Maria Jonna Olin

(1955-03-22) 22 March 1955 (age 69)
Stockholm, Sweden
Education Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting
Occupation Actress
Years active 1976–present
Spouse(s)
(m. 1994)
Children 2
Parent(s) Britta Holmberg
Stig Olin

Lena Maria Jonna Olin (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈlêːna ʊˈliːn]; born 22 March 1955) is a Swedish actress. She has received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Mentored by filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, she made her screen debut with a small role in his film Face to Face (1976). After graduating from drama school, Olin joined the Royal Dramatic Theatre, followed by roles in Bergman's films Fanny and Alexander (1982) and After the Rehearsal (1984). She made her international breakthrough in the role of a free-spirited artist in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), which earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.

Olin garnered further critical acclaim for her portrayals of a Jewish survivor in the comedy-drama Enemies, A Love Story (1989), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and an abused wife in the comedy-drama Chocolat (2000), for which she received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Her other film roles include The Adventures of Picasso (1978), Havana (1990), Romeo Is Bleeding (1993), Mr. Jones (1993), The Ninth Gate (1999), Queen of the Damned (2002), Casanova (2005), The Reader (2008), Remember Me (2010), Maya Dardel (2017), and The Artist's Wife (2019).

On television, Olin starred as KGB agent Irina Derevko on the spy thriller Alias (2002–2006), which earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Her other television roles include the sitcom Welcome to Sweden (2014–2015), the drama series Riviera (2017–2020), and the drama series Hunters (2020–2023).

Early life

Olin was born March 22, 1955, in Stockholm, Sweden, the youngest of three children of actors Britta Holmberg (1921–2004) and Stig Olin (1920–2008). She studied acting at Sweden's National Academy of Dramatic Art from 1976 to 1979.

In October 1974, at age 19, Olin was crowned Miss Scandinavia in Helsinki, Finland.

Olin worked as a substitute teacher, and as a hospital nurse, before becoming an actress.

Film career

Olin performed for over a decade with Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre-ensemble (1980–1994) in plays by William Shakespeare and August Strindberg, and appeared in smaller roles of several Swedish films directed by Bergman and in productions of Swedish Television's TV-Theatre Company.

Ingmar Bergman cast Olin in Face to Face (1976). A year later, she began acting at the national stage in Stockholm in productions directed by Bergman, and with Bergman's production of King Lear (in which Olin played Cordelia) she toured the world, including Paris, Berlin, New York, Copenhagen, Moscow, and Oslo. Critically acclaimed stage performances by Olin at Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre included the leading part as The Daughter in A Dream Play by Strindberg, Margarita in the stage adaptation of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters, Ann in Edward Bond's Summer, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, the title role in Ingmar Bergman's rendition of Strindberg's Miss Julie, and her neurotic Charlotte in the contemporary drama Nattvarden (The Last Supper) by Lars Norén.

In 1980, Olin was one of the earliest winners of the Ingmar Bergman Award, initiated in 1978 by the director himself, who was also one of the two judges.

Olin's international debut in film was a small role in Bergman's Fanny and Alexander (1980), with Bergman later casting her in her first international lead role, After the Rehearsal (1984). In 1988, Olin starred with Daniel Day-Lewis in her first major part in an English speaking and internationally produced film, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, followed by Sydney Pollack's Havana (1990), Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate (1999), and others.

In 1989, Olin nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her work in Enemies: A Love Story, in which she portrayed the survivor of a Nazi death camp. In 1994 Olin starred in Romeo Is Bleeding.

Olin and director Lasse Hallström collaborated on the film Chocolat (2000), which received five Academy Award nominations, and worked together again on Casanova (2005).

In 2002, Olin appeared in her first American television role, joining the main cast of Alias for its second season, playing the role of Irina Derevko. For her work on the series, Olin was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2003. She left the show after one season, reprising Derevko for the season four two-part finale, returned for two season five mid-season appearances and again for the season five series finale.

In 2005, Olin returned to Sweden for a brief period of filming and starred in a supporting role in Danish director Simon Staho's film, Bang Bang Orangutang.

In 2008, Olin appeared in the Oscar-nominated film The Reader, playing a Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz death march at a trial in the 1960s, and as the woman's daughter twenty years later.

Between 2014 and 2015, Olin starred in Swedish sitcom Welcome to Sweden.

Olin starred in the US-Polish independent drama film Maya Dardel in the year 2017.

Personal life

Olin has a son, August, from a relationship with actor Örjan Ramberg. Since 1992, she has been married to filmmaker Lasse Hallström, with whom she has a daughter, Tora. They reside in Bedford, New York.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1976 Face to Face Shop Assistant
1977 Friaren som inte ville gifta sig Gypsy Woman TV movie
Taboo Girl (uncredited)
1978 The Adventures of Picasso Dolores
1980 Love Lena
1982 Som ni behagar TV movie
Gräsänklingar Nina
Fanny and Alexander Rosa (The Ekdahl house)
1983 After the Rehearsal Anna Egerman (older) TV movie
1985 Wallenberg: A Hero's Story Marta TV movie
1986 Glasmästarna Lady with Dog TV movie
Flight North Karin
A Matter of Life and Death Nadja Melander
1987 Komedianter Ann TV movie
1988 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Sabina Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Friends Sue
1989 S/Y Glädjen Annika Larsson
Enemies, A Love Story Masha New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
1990 Hebriana Lena TV movie
Havana Bobby Duran
1993 Romeo Is Bleeding Mona Demarkov Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Mr. Jones Dr. Elizabeth Bowen
1995 The Night and the Moment The Marquise
1996 Night Falls on Manhattan Peggy Lindstrom
1998 Polish Wedding Jadzia
Hamilton Tessie
1999 Mystery Men Dr. Anabel Leek
The Ninth Gate Liana Telfer
2000 Chocolat Josephine Muscat Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominated—European Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2001 Ignition Judge Faith Mattis
2002 Queen of the Damned Maharet
Darkness Maria
2003 The United States of Leland Marybeth Fitzgerald
Hollywood Homicide Ruby
2005 Casanova Andrea
Bang Bang Orangutang Nina
2007 Awake Lilith Beresford
2008 The Reader Rose Mather / Ilana Mather
2010 Remember Me Diane Hirsch
2012 The Hypnotist Simone Bark
2013 The Devil You Know Kathryn Vale
Night Train to Lisbon Older Estefânia
2017 Maya Dardel Maya Dardel Best Actress Award at the Prague Independent Film Festival
2019 The Artist's Wife Claire Smythson
2020 Adam Yevgeina
2022 Hilma Hilma
2023 One Life Grete Winton
2024 Upgraded Catherine Laroche
Spaceman Zdena

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Hamilton Tessie
2002–2006 Alias Irina Derevko Main cast (season 2), guest 5 episodes (seasons 4–5)
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2003)
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Television Series (2003, 2004)
2010 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ingrid Block Episode: "Confidential"
2014–2015 Welcome to Sweden Viveka Börjesson Main cast
2016 Vinyl Mrs. Fineman 3 episodes
2017–2020 Riviera Irina Atman Main cast
2017 Mindhunter Annaliese Stilman 1 episode
2020–2023 Hunters Eva Braun-Hitler / The Colonel Main cast
TBA The Darkness Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir Lead role

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Lena Olin para niños

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