When Alicia Vikander was breaking big a few years ago – booking every part for steely, strong women from here to Hollywood – she made 11 movies in the space of three years.
Every single one was directed by a man. In some of those films she went the entire length of the project without shooting a single scene with another woman. When Vikander was working in Sweden, she made three films in a row… all directed by women.
It’s this realisation that led Vikander to launch her own production company Vikarious earlier this year. The company’s first film is Euphoria, a female-led bildungsroman – something cinema sorely needs – co-starring Eva Green. The director will be Lisa Langseth, the Swedish director who made Vikander’s career when she cast her in the gritty coming-of-age flick Pure back in 2009.
In a recent interview with a British magazine, she said that her intention is to “change the culture. That’s the biggest gift I’ve been given, and I think I can make a difference with it.”
Speaking to marie claire in 2014 about Son of a Gun, an Australian heist movie starring Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites and filmed in Perth and Kalgoorlie (“of all places”, Vikander joked), the actress bemoaned the lack of roles for women in the industry.
“I did four films last year and I was the female lead and I was the only female role in all of those films,” Vikander said.
“I mean, sadly enough it’s something that we’re quite used to [in the industry]. I love to hang around, and I had such a blast with the boys [on Son of a Gun]. But you know, that’s very often the case.”
“It’s very difficult to find really strong, complex female characters. And I managed to find that in this film. But I was the only girl. I’m used to hanging around with the blokes.”
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