ALICIA VIKANDER An Oscar winner's new world

THE STAR TALKS ABOUT GROWING UP IN SWEDEN, FINDING HER PASSION AND HOW MOTHERHOOD HAS CHANGED HER

Although Alicia Vikander originally planned to be a professional ballerina, her backup plan, acting, has worked out pretty well. The Swedish-born star, 32, won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar five years ago for The Danish Girl and showed off her action chops in 2016’s Jason Bourne and 2018’s Tomb Raider. She now co-stars in the emotional drama Blue Bayou as the wife of a Korean adoptee (played by Justin Chon, who wrote and directed the film) trying to keep his family together while facing deportation. “I wasn’t aware that adopted adults can be forced out of their homes and away from their families,” says Vikander. “I wanted to bring that story to light.”

It’s also been an exciting time for Vikander off-screen: the fiercely private star and her husband, German- Irish actor Michael Fassbender, 44, quietly welcomed their first child earlier this year. Chatting via Zoom from Paris, where she’s been filming the upcoming HBO limited series Irma Vep, she talked about taking risks, facing her fears, and life as a new mum.