Lena Olin Biography

Fast Facts

• 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)