Lithe, intense Swedish leading lady of Hollywood and international films, Olin's parents were both actors. Her father Stig starred in several early Ingmar Bergman films. She has long been a member of the Royal Dramatic Theater in Sweden, where she has made outstanding appearances in work ranging from Shakespeare and Strindberg to contemporary plays. While still in drama school, Olin made her Swedish film debut in Karleken (1980). Two of her next three films were made by Bergman: Fanny and Alexander (1983) and After the Rehearsal (1984); her part in the latter was created for her by Bergman. She also did a four-hour Swedish TV film, Hebriana. Her English-language film debut was in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988). For her second English-language role, that of a survivor of a Nazi death camp in Paul Mazursky's Enemies, A Love Story (1989), Olin received a New York Film Critics award and an Oscar nomination. She is the only Swedish actress to have made an impact in Hollywood since Ingrid Bergman.
Lena Olin
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- Worked as a hospital orderly and a substitute teacher before becoming an actor.
- Flunked her first drama-school audition at Stockholm's prestigious Royal Dramatic Theatre.
- Was mentored by Swedish director (and family friend) Ingmar Bergman, who hired her as an extra in 1976's Face to Face and as a maid in 1982's Fanny and Alexander.
- Largely unknown to U.S. audiences until her acclaimed performances in 1988's The Unbearable Lightness of Being and, a year later, Enemies, A Love Story.
- Has collaborated on two films with director-husband Lasse Hallström: Chocolat (2000) and Casanova (2005).