Alicia Vikander, the 27-year-old Swedish actor who has become one of the most ubiquitous screen presences of 2015, has revealed that she made five films in a row before she had a scene with another woman. In an interview, she discussed her career trajectory, her ballet background, and her thoughts on the film industry's gender imbalance.
Vikander, who trained at the Royal Swedish Ballet School in her teens, initially dreamed of a life in dance. However, she realised that acting might be her stronger suit after playing a non-dancing role in a production of Les Sylphides. Her mother, Maria Fahl Vikander, is a veteran Swedish stage actor. 'I don't have the best feet,' Vikander said, explaining that her feet were not ideal for ballet, which led her to pursue acting.
This year, Vikander has appeared in seven major films, including Ex Machina and The Danish Girl, for which she received Golden Globe nominations. She also starred in Testament of Youth, The Man from UNCLE, Burnt, Son of a Gun, and Seventh Son. Despite the volume of work, she insists that the saturation was not a strategy. 'It's a coincidence, really,' she said. 'All these films that I shot at different times over three years simply all arrived together this year.'
Vikander also discussed her upcoming role in a film about Russian President Vladimir Putin, though she did not provide details. She noted that she has been shooting almost constantly since her English-language debut in Anna Karenina, and she reflected on the lack of female co-stars in her early projects. 'I made five films in a row before I had a scene with another woman,' she said, highlighting the gender disparity in the film industry.
