Lina Leandersson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lina Leandersson
Leandersson in November 2009
Born	(1995-09-27) 27 September 1995 (age 29) Falun, Sweden
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2008–present

Lina Leandersson (born September 27, 1995) is an actress from Sweden. She is famous for her main role as Eli in the 2008 Swedish movie Let the Right One In. This film is a vampire story based on a book with the same name.

Early Life and Acting Start

Lina Leandersson was born in Falun, Sweden. She loved performing from a young age. She acted in plays for fun and took drama classes. Lina also enjoyed street and jazz dance.

One of her first roles was in a play where she played the mother of a spoiled girl. In 2006, she was a judge in a Swedish song contest called Lilla Melodifestivalen. That same year, she was chosen for a TV show. She was one of only five people picked from 500 who applied. The show was for Nickelodeon's TV host school. It was shown in October 2006.

Starring in Let the Right One In

Lina found out about the role in Let the Right One In online. She auditioned three times before she got the part. She did not know she was trying out for a vampire role at first.

"I was shocked," she later said. "I thought it was a more normal role." But once she got used to the idea, she found it more fun. "I wanted to be a vampire when I was little," she added.

In the movie, Lina plays Eli. Eli is a child vampire who becomes friends with Oskar. Oskar is a 12-year-old boy who is often picked on by bullies. Eli tells Oskar to fight back. In the end, Eli saves Oskar by stopping three of the bullies.

Eli is meant to be a character who looks like both a boy and a girl. Because of this, the director, Tomas Alfredson, decided to change Lina's voice. He used a different voice for Eli that sounded less like a girl. "Lina's voice is beautiful, but I thought it was too high," he said. The voice for Eli in the movie was done by Elif Ceylan. Lina joked that it was "nice to be dubbed" because her own voice "sounds weird."

Lina and the other main actor, Kåre Hedebrant, were not allowed to read the full script. Instead, the director would read their lines to them before each scene. Lina said that Tomas was a good storyteller and she listened carefully.

She found the hardest parts were when she had to act angry. It was also tough to switch between being normal and "crazy." Lina said she really got into her role. She felt like she "became" the character Eli. However, she said she is not much like Eli. She described Eli as more grown-up and thoughtful.

Filming outside in very cold weather (down to −30 °C) was uncomfortable. But Lina said making the movie was "the most fun [she] has ever had." The director, Tomas Alfredson, praised Lina often. He said she was very smart, like "an 80-year-old woman, very wise and very quiet."

Other Acting Projects

After Let the Right One In, Lina worked on other films. In 2012 and 2013, she filmed for The Arbiter by Estonian director Kadri Kousaar. She also worked on Broken Hill Blues by Swedish director Sofia Norlin.

In 2015, Lina acted on stage for the first time. She performed at Sweden's national theater, the Royal Dramatic Theater. She was in a play by Henrik Ibsen called The Wild Duck.

Lina's Personal Life

Lina grew up in Falun with her mother, stepfather, and two younger sisters. She has both Swedish and Iranian family roots. Lina has always enjoyed dancing and acting in plays.

Even though many people in her family like sports, Lina is not a big fan. She once said, "I was on a football team when I was in third grade. But I was so bad that I wasn't allowed to play in a match."

Lina has said many times that she wants to keep acting. She wants to try different kinds of roles to challenge herself. She was a student at Gruvrisskolan. History was her favorite subject. She found it "interesting to know how people lived and died in the past."

She did not think school would stop her from acting. She said she would "just have to work harder than everyone else." She also said, "school isn't that difficult, it's quite easy." Lina is a fan of the Twilight movies. From 2011 to 2014, she studied theater at Kulturama. This is a school for performing arts in Stockholm, Sweden.

Filmography

Stage Performances

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Lina Leandersson para niños