Queen Vikander

Meet Alicia Vikander.

A Swedish born actress who is not only drop-dead gorgeous but extremely talented as well. Over here in the temperate part of the world, we're probably not acquainted with her, or any of her works but this gorgeous Swede is definitely on her way to greater things and I can only hope she gets picked up by more publications, directors or photographers to increase her international appeal. She played several musicals at the Gothenburg Opera and trained at the Royal Swedish Ballet School for three years, only to hang up those pointe shoes after injuries. Vikander also won the Guldbagge (Golden Beetle or Golden Scarab) Award for Best Actress for her role in the 2010 movie, Pure. 

Vikander's latest film is A Royal Affair, in which she plays Queen Caroline who indulged in a love triangle with her schizophrenic husband King Christian VII and his German physician, Friedrich Struensee. With director Helmer Nikolaj Arcel (who adapted the film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and executive producer Lars von Trier, this film promises to take on some perverse and dark turns. To illustrate the tenacity of this 24 year old, this is what she had to say about being on set,

“Every morning, call time was at 4:30 a.m., and I would always fall asleep in hair-and-makeup,” she recalls of work on the film. “But then an hour and 45 minutes later, I got to wake up a queen.”- Interview Magazine (read the full story) 

Behind her porcelain complexion and immaculate features lies a childhood that brings to mind a sense of nostalgia and the grand theatre. As the daughter of stage actress Maria Fahl Vikander, Vikander spent her childhood days backstage as her mother rehearsed, sometimes even sleeping in the wings. It's tough not to be carried away by the romanticism in the nostalgia, I'm a sucker for the backstage. The show is on stage but the magic is in the wings, the dressing rooms, the hallways; where absolute chaos takes place alongside silence and stillness so quiet and so still all you hear is your own breathing.

I'd love to see more of Vikander. Whilst her looks and talent are no doubt stunning, she evokes a sense of nostalgia and mystery in that smouldering gaze of hers.

By W Magazine

♥,
Fir