Background
Lena Olin was born on 22 March 1955 in Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden. She is the daughter of the Swedish actor Stig Olin, who was in several Ingmar Bergman films—Crisis (45); To Joy (49); This Can't Happen Here (50)— and directed a few of his own.
Education
It was Bergman who promoted the young Lena at the Stockholm Royal Dramatic Theatre and then cast her in his own work: she has a small role as a saleswoman in Face to Face (75); she is a nursemaid in Fanny and Alexander (82); and she is the young actress (pregnant—as in life) in After the Rehearsal (84).
Career
Granted the credentials, and her own beauty and ability, it would seem natural for Olin to become a star in English-language pictures. And she has worked in America for over a decade, often with great impact, without establishing herself: astounding as the sophisticate in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (88, Philip Kaufman); nominated as supporting actress for Enemies: A Love Story (89, Paul Mazursky); she was the (Ingrid) Bergmanesque lead in Havana (90, Sydney Pollack), and that film’s failure seems to have affected her prospects badly; Mr Jones (93, Mike Figgis); Romeo Is Bleeding (93, Peter Medak); Night Falls on Manhattan (97, Sidnev Lumet); Polish Wedding (98, Theresa Connelly); Hamilton (98, Harald Zwart); Mystery Men (99, Kinku Usher); The Ninth Gate (99, Roman Polanski); Chocolat (00, Lasse Hallstrom—her husband); Ignition (01, Yves Simoneau); Darkness (01. Jaume Balaguero); Queen of the Damned (02, Michael Rymer).