Lena Olin
Birthday: 22 March 1955, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden
Birth Name: Lena Maria Jonna Olin
Height: 178 cm
Swedish-born Lena Olin already had a successful career as an actress before she came to Hollywood. She acted at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm and was directed by Ingmar Bergman. She was born in Stock ...Show More
[In response to a question about kissing her co-stars] Kissing someone you don't feel for is unpleas Show more
[In response to a question about kissing her co-stars] Kissing someone you don't feel for is unpleasant. Many, however, were very pleasant. Like Johnny Depp. I don't think a lot of women would have a problem kissing him. [Laughs heartily] He's a good friend of ours, by the way. [Lena is married to Lasse Hallstrom, who directed What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Chocolat.] He's not exactly in the Connecticut neighborhood a lot, since he lives in France, but we often see each other at the Oscars and film events. Hide
"I am in love with my best friend" (On husband Lasse Hallström).
"I am in love with my best friend" (On husband Lasse Hallström).
"I was supposed to play the world's most dangerous woman and do a lot of action scenes. Then you can Show more
"I was supposed to play the world's most dangerous woman and do a lot of action scenes. Then you can't come in there like a couch-potato... so I started training at gyms, weight-lifting and all things possible, and then I've just continued with that a couple of times a week." (on how she manages to keep so fit when playing her "Alias" success-character Irina Derevko) Hide
"I want to show that from the negative, when you dare to see it, the positive is born, because there Show more
"I want to show that from the negative, when you dare to see it, the positive is born, because there is the root to the good. I have inside myself, for example, a sharp aggression. But if you remove it, I lose my creativity. I have a great insecurity, but if you remove it, I also lose my sensitivity. Good theater is the theater that can make it a little attractive, a bit cool, to have these dark inner depths. You must be a bit afraid of them. I have a big need of spending time being alone, just to fear these dark sides. We must have secrets. That's why I almost never agree, or rarely, to really personal interviews: you must have large pools, untouched inside yourself." (on acting, theater and her interest in playing dark women roles on stage and in films) Hide
"What's most interesting and most real to me in my work is to never make the role a complete charact Show more
"What's most interesting and most real to me in my work is to never make the role a complete character, because then you lose a part of the truth. I can't say that this person is just like this or like that. Because you can never do that with real people in real life, so if you try that on stage you lose the truth. Since I myself strive to be able to be a great many things, I also want my character to have that very same liberty. Eventually in that way it will add to a sort of completeness. But it is the story that is told that is the interesting thing and the situations the character is in. And as we humans always are shaped by a special situation or given circumstances, I can never ever say: Thus is my character." (on her acting work, Swedish interview, 1990) Hide
"There are no patterns that lasts a lifetime. Some people can't stand the floating boarders. They de Show more
"There are no patterns that lasts a lifetime. Some people can't stand the floating boarders. They decide on one life philosophy and live thereafter. But I've decided not to decide. I don't know everything. I don't understand everything. Both my own and others reactions are often a mystery to me. I let it be that way, hoping that maybe, instead, I can learn to understand the pattern of no patterns." (on life, people and relationships) Hide
[on Johnny Depp] -- Johnny is a very sweet person and fun to be around.
[on Johnny Depp] -- Johnny is a very sweet person and fun to be around.
Lena Olin'S roles
