Lena Olin

Lena Olin (born March 22, 1955) is an internationally acclaimed actress. She was born in Stockholm, Sweden as the youngest of three children. Her father, Stig Olin was also an actor and appeared in several of Ingmar Bergman's films. After studying acting at the drama school of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, Olin performed on stage classic plays of Shakespeare and Ibsen and appeared in smaller roles of several Swedish films directed by Bergman. It was he who casted her for the first time, after she had not passed her first audition because of her shyness. Later she acted at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, directed by Bergman.

Related Topics:
March 22 - 1955 - Stockholm - Sweden - Stig Olin - Ingmar Bergman - Shakespeare - Ibsen - Royal Dramatic Theatre

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Olin's international debut in a lead role was in the 1984 Swedish film After the Rehearsal, which directed by Bergman. The year before she appeared in Bergman's Fanny and Alexander. In 1988, Olin starred opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in her first American film, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and became a well-known and respected actress. In 1989, she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Enemies: A Love Story, in which she portrayed the survivor of a Nazi camp.

Related Topics:
1984 - 1988 - Daniel Day-Lewis - 1989 - Academy Award - Best Supporting Actress - Nazi camp

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Olin is today a prominent member of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, where she began her career as young actress. She appears in many different plays, from classic to contemporary.

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Olin married twice. Her first spouse was Örjan Ramberg, from whom she divorced. In 1994, she married Lasse Hallström, a film director with whom she collaborated with in the 2000 film Chocolat. Chocolat went on to receive five Academy Award nominations.

Related Topics:
Örjan Ramberg - 1994 - Lasse Hallström - 2000 - Chocolat - Academy Award

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From 2002 to 2003, Olin appeared opposite Jennifer Garner in her first television role on the second season of the American television series Alias. For her work on the series as Irina Derevko, Olin received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2003. Olin received immense critical acclaim for her part in Alias - particularly her chemistry with Victor Garber, who played her former husband and sometime-enemy Jack Bristow - and was rumored to have been offered a salary upwards of $100,000 per episode to remain part of the cast. She left the show after her first and only season, however, to spend more time with her family in New York.

Related Topics:
2002 - 2003 - Jennifer Garner - American - Television series - Alias - Irina Derevko - Emmy Award - Victor Garber - Jack Bristow

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In May 2005, Olin returned for a two-episode appearance at the end of the show's fourth season. The Post Gazette reports that Olin will make at least a few appearances in the upcoming fifth season, which premieres in September.

Related Topics:
May - 2005 - Post Gazette - September

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She currently lives in New York with her husband and two children, August and Tora.

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