# Lena Olin
**Lena Olin** (full name Lena Maria Jonna Olin) is a Swedish actress, born in 1955 in Stockholm, who trained at the [Royal Dramatic Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-dramatic-theatre) under [Ingmar Bergman](https://www.edgepedia.org/ingmar-bergman) and built an international film career beginning with *The Unbearable Lightness of Being* (1988). She has received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.[1](https://biyografi.bio/sv/lena-maria-jonna-olin/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1955, Stockholm, Sweden; full name Lena Maria Jonna Olin[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin) |
| Family | Daughter of actor and director Stig Olin and actress Britta Holmberg[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin) |
| Breakthrough | Sabina in *The Unbearable Lightness of Being* (1988), directed by Philip Kaufman[3](https://snl.no/Lena_Olin) |
| Academy Award | Nominated for Best Supporting Actress, 1990, for *Enemies, a Love Story* (1989); won the 1989 New York Film Critics Circle Award for the same role[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/lena-olin) |
| Television | Irina Derevko in *Alias* (2002–2006, 28 episodes); Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, 2003[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000565/) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/lena-olin) |
| Marriage | Married director Lasse Hallström in 1994; has appeared in several of his films, including *Chocolat* (2000)[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin) |
| Recent honor | Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award 2026, Stockholm International Film Festival[6](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/stockholms_filmfestival/pressreleases/stockholm-lifetime-achievement-award-2026-gaar-till-lena-olin-3472223) |
## Training and the Bergman years
Olin grew up in a theater family: her father, Stig Olin, appeared in Ingmar Bergman films during the 1940s and 1950s, and her mother, Britta Holmberg, was also an actress.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lena_olin) She first applied to the Royal Dramatic Theatre school to overcome shyness and failed her first audition, but Bergman saw enough to cast her in a small role in his film *Face to Face* (1976).[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lena_olin) On Bergman's advice she applied to the Stockholm School of Dramatic Arts; after two rejections she was accepted in 1976 and graduated in 1979, the only member of her class offered a permanent position at the Royal Dramatic Theatre.[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin)
**Stage career.** At Dramaten she became one of Bergman's favorite stage actresses during the 1980s, taking leading roles in his productions of *King Lear* and *A Dream Play*; she would have played the title role in his *Miss Julie* had she not been pregnant.[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin) Her classical repertoire at the theater also included Shakespeare, August Strindberg, and [Anton Chekhov](https://www.edgepedia.org/anton-chekhov).[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/lena-olin) Bergman described her as "a strong, beautiful, vivacious person, passionate, occasionally chaotic, equipped with a solid, stable degree of common sense."[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin)
Her early film work included *The Adventures of Picasso* (1978), a commercial breakthrough directed by Hasse and Tage, and a small part in Bergman's *Fanny and Alexander* (1982).[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lena_olin) Bergman then wrote one of the leading roles for her in his television film *After the Rehearsal* (1984), in which she played Anna, an actress who infuriates her director by becoming pregnant while working on a Strindberg play; the part prefigured her own pregnancy, which complicated a Bergman production of *A Dream Play*.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lena_olin)
## International film career
Olin's international breakthrough came as Sabina in [Philip Kaufman](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-kaufman)'s film of [Milan Kundera](https://www.edgepedia.org/milan-kundera)'s *The Unbearable Lightness of Being* (1988), one of the two female leads.[3](https://snl.no/Lena_Olin) • [8](https://lex.dk/Lena_Olin) American critics hailed her as "a new Garbo."[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin) Her role as Masha, a Holocaust survivor, in [Paul Mazursky](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-mazursky)'s *Enemies, a Love Story* (1989) won the 1989 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress and brought an Academy Award nomination the following year.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/lena-olin) • [9](https://www.lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2014/07/15/paul-mazursky-hommage-tardif_6004781_3476.html) According to the Stockholm International Film Festival, only seven Swedish actors have ever been nominated for an acting Oscar, a group that includes Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo, Max von Sydow, and Olin.[6](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/stockholms_filmfestival/pressreleases/stockholm-lifetime-achievement-award-2026-gaar-till-lena-olin-3472223)
**1990s and 2000s.** Her early 1990s films included *Havana* (1990) with [Robert Redford](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-redford) and *Mr. Jones* (1993) with [Richard Gere](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-gere), both commercial disappointments, and *Romeo Is Bleeding* (1993), in which she played a Russian hitwoman.[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin) In 2000 she played Josephine Muscat in *Chocolat*, directed by her husband [Lasse Hallström](https://www.edgepedia.org/lasse-hallstrom), in an ensemble with Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, and Judi Dench; the role brought a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[6](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/stockholms_filmfestival/pressreleases/stockholm-lifetime-achievement-award-2026-gaar-till-lena-olin-3472223) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/lena-olin) She also appeared in *The Ninth Gate* (1999), *Casanova* (2005), and *The Reader* (2008).[3](https://snl.no/Lena_Olin) • [10](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/lena-olin/credits/3030386432/)
**Television.** From 2002 to 2006 she played Irina Derevko, the mother of [Jennifer Garner](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-garner)'s title character, in the spy series *[Alias](https://www.edgepedia.org/alias-tv-series)*, appearing in 28 episodes; the role earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2003, along with Golden Satellite Award nominations in 2003 and 2004.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000565/) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/lena-olin) Later television work includes the Amazon series *Hunters* (2020–2023), in which she played the Colonel and, in the second season, [Eva Braun](https://www.edgepedia.org/eva-braun), and the lead as detective Hulda Hermannsdóttir in *The Darkness* (2024), the first television series directed by Lasse Hallström, filmed in Iceland.[11](https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/film/a/gE4JAA/lena-olin-och-rolf-lassgard-om-andra-akten) • [12](https://www.moviezine.se/nyheter/lena-olin-the-darkness-skyshowtime-lasse-hallstrom)
## Work with Lasse Hallström and later career
Olin married Lasse Hallström, the director of *My Life as a Dog* and *The Cider House Rules*, in 1994; they have a daughter, Tora, and Olin also has a son, August, from a previous relationship with actor Örjan Ramberg.[2](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin) She has acted in a number of his films, including *Chocolat*, *Casanova*, and *Hilma* (2022), in which she played the Swedish painter [Hilma af Klint](https://www.edgepedia.org/hilma-af-klint).[6](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/stockholms_filmfestival/pressreleases/stockholm-lifetime-achievement-award-2026-gaar-till-lena-olin-3472223) • [13](https://buzzmelt.com/person/lena-olin) In 2017 she returned to the Swedish stage after 26 years, playing Martha in *Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* at Stockholm City Theatre.[14](https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/6667749)
Her recent films include *One Life* (2023), in which she played Grete Winton, wife of [Nicholas Winton](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-winton), opposite [Anthony Hopkins](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-hopkins), and *Upgraded* (2024).[15](https://time.com/6952770/one-life-true-story-nicolas-winton/) • [10](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/lena-olin/credits/3030386432/) In October 2026 the Stockholm International Film Festival announced that she would receive the Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award 2026, citing a career that runs from the Royal Dramatic Theatre under Bergman to Oscar-nominated films such as *Enemies, a Love Story* and *Chocolat*.[6](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/stockholms_filmfestival/pressreleases/stockholm-lifetime-achievement-award-2026-gaar-till-lena-olin-3472223) • [16](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/stockholms_filmfestival/pressreleases/the-stockholm-international-film-festival-presents-2026-lineup-3472378)
## Awards and recognition
At the 1980 Guldbagge Awards, Olin received the Ingmar Bergman Award, a prize presented at the Swedish film industry's annual gala.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/lena-olin) Her nomination record spans film and television: a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for *The Unbearable Lightness of Being* (1989), the Academy Award and New York Film Critics Circle honors for *Enemies, a Love Story*, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, and European Film Award nominations for *Chocolat* (all 2001), and the Emmy and Golden Satellite nominations for *Alias*.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/lena-olin) On Rotten Tomatoes, her highest-rated film is *Fanny and Alexander* at 100 percent and her lowest is *Darkness* (2002) at 5 percent.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lena_olin)
## References
1. [Lena Maria Jonna Olin - Svensk skådespelerska | Biyografi.bio](https://biyografi.bio/sv/lena-maria-jonna-olin/)
2. [Lena Olin, Ingmar Bergman Foundation](https://www.ingmarbergman.se/en/person/lena-olin)
3. [Lena Olin, Store norske leksikon](https://snl.no/Lena_Olin)
4. [Olin, Lena, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/lena-olin)
5. [Lena Olin, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000565/)
6. [Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award 2026 går till Lena Olin, Stockholms filmfestival](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/stockholms_filmfestival/pressreleases/stockholm-lifetime-achievement-award-2026-gaar-till-lena-olin-3472223)
7. [Lena Olin, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/lena_olin)
8. [Lena Olin, Lex.dk](https://lex.dk/Lena_Olin)
9. [Paul Mazursky, hommage tardif, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2014/07/15/paul-mazursky-hommage-tardif_6004781_3476.html)
10. [Lena Olin List of Movies and TV Shows, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/lena-olin/credits/3030386432/)
11. [Rolf Lassgård och Lena Olin om succéfilmen, Aftonbladet](https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/film/a/gE4JAA/lena-olin-och-rolf-lassgard-om-andra-akten)
12. [Lena Olin om nya tv-rollen, MovieZine](https://www.moviezine.se/nyheter/lena-olin-the-darkness-skyshowtime-lasse-hallstrom)
13. [Lena Olin, BuzzMelt](https://buzzmelt.com/person/lena-olin)
14. [Lena Olin tillbaka på scen efter 26 år, Sveriges Radio](https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/6667749)
15. [The Emotional True Story Behind One Life, Time](https://time.com/6952770/one-life-true-story-nicolas-winton/)
16. [The Stockholm International Film Festival Presents 2026 Lineup, Stockholms filmfestival](https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/stockholms_filmfestival/pressreleases/the-stockholm-international-film-festival-presents-2026-lineup-3472378)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Nordic actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license