Pernilla August
Encyclopedia
Pernilla August is a Swedish
Swedish
Swedish may refer to:*Swedish cuisine*Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe *Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland...

 actress, director
Director
-Arts :* Director , an Irish rock band from Malahide* Film director* Music director* Music video director, a film director that specializes in supervising the filming and editing of music videos...

 and script-writer. Being one of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

's leading actresses and a long time collaborator with director Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...

, she won the Best Actress Award
Best Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of films at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.-Award Winners:-External links:* * ....

 at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival
1992 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Gérard Depardieu *John Boorman *Carlo Di Palma *Jamie Lee Curtis *Joële Van Effenterre *Lester James Peries *Nana Djordjadze *Pedro Almodóvar *René Cleitman...

 for her role in his The Best Intentions
The Best Intentions
The Best Intentions is a 1992 Swedish drama film directed by Bille August and written by Ingmar Bergman. It is semi-autobiographical and tells the story of the complex courtship of Bergman's parents, Erik and Karin , and the difficult early years of their marriage, up to the point where Anna is...

. Her international career includes the role of Shmi Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

Actress

August started acting during her childhood in theater and at school. Her professional acting career started in 1975 when acclaimed director Roy Andersson
Roy Andersson
Roy Andersson is a Swedish film director, best known for his films A Swedish Love Story and Songs from the Second Floor. More than any other, Songs from the Second Floor succeeded in cementing his personal style — a style characterized by long takes, absurdist comedy, stiff caricaturing of...

 cast her in a minor role in the film Giliap
Giliap
Giliap is a 1975 Swedish drama film directed by Roy Andersson, starring Thommy Berggren as a man who takes a job as a waiter at a run-down hotel. It was a financial and critical failure, and it led to Andersson's not making another feature film for 25 years...

the same year, followed from 1979 by films by other internationally renowned directors, Vilgot Sjöman
Vilgot Sjöman
David Harald Vilgot Sjöman was a Swedish writer and film director. His films deal with controversial issues of social class, morality, and sexual taboos, combining the emotionally-tortured characters of Ingmar Bergman with the avant garde style of the French New Wave...

 (among them, the film about Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer. He is the inventor of dynamite. Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments...

, 1983) and Lasse Hallström
Lasse Hallström
Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström is a Swedish film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for My Life as a Dog and later for The Cider House Rules .-Life and career:...

. She studied acting at Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting
Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting
The National Academy of Mime and Acting , known in Swedish as Teaterhögskolan i Stockholm, is a school in Stockholm for acting and mime...

 in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 1979-82. Before finishing her studies, she even attracted the attention of Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...

 who cast her in his film Fanny and Alexander
Fanny and Alexander
Fanny and Alexander is a 1982 Swedish fantasy drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was originally conceived as a four-part TV movie and cut in that version, spanning 312 minutes. A 188-minute version was created later for cinematic release, although this version was in fact the...

(1982), playing the nanny in the director's romanticised portrait of his childhood. That marked the beginning of two decades of collaboration, collecting several international awards, including TV series The Best Intentions
The Best Intentions
The Best Intentions is a 1992 Swedish drama film directed by Bille August and written by Ingmar Bergman. It is semi-autobiographical and tells the story of the complex courtship of Bergman's parents, Erik and Karin , and the difficult early years of their marriage, up to the point where Anna is...

(1991), where she portraited Bergman's mother and met her second husband to be, director Bille August
Bille August
Bille August is a Danish Academy Award winning film and television director. His film Pelle the Conqueror from 1987 won the Palme D'or, Academy Award and Golden Globe. He is one of the very few directors to win the Palme D'or twice, winning the prestigious award again in 1991 for The Best...

, and TV-productions Private Confessions
Private Confessions
Private Confessions is a 1996 Swedish drama film directed by Liv Ullmann and written by Ingmar Bergman. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Pernilla August – Anna* Max von Sydow – Jacob...

(1996), directed by Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann
Liv Johanne Ullmann is a Norwegian actress and film director, as well as one of the "muses" of the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman...

 and Bergman's own In the Presence of a Clown
In the Presence of a Clown
In the Presence of a Clown is a play written for television by Ingmar Bergman, and was recorded for Swedish television in 1997 with Bergman as a director...

(1997).

She also starred in Bo Widerberg's The Serpent's Way
The Serpent's Way
The Serpent's Way is a 1986 Swedish drama film directed by Bo Widerberg. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Stina Ekblad - Tea Alexisdotter* Stellan Skarsgård - Karl Orsa Markström...

(1986) as well as his TV-production of Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...

's The Wild Duck
The Wild Duck
The Wild Duck is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Plot:The first act opens with a dinner party hosted by Håkon Werle, a wealthy merchant and industrialist. The gathering is attended by his son, Gregers Werle, who has just returned to his father's home following a self-imposed...

(1989). Among the many Scandinavian
Scandinavian
Scandinavian refers to a resident of or something associated with Scandinavia, including:* Scandinavians, a Nordic ethnic group* Scandinavian Airlines , an aviation corporation* Scandinavian Defense, a chess opening...

 and international films are also Bille August's Jerusalem
Jerusalem (film)
Jerusalem is the title of a Swedish international feature-film from 1996, based upon two novels, Jerusalem I + II by Swedish autor and Nobel laureate Selma Lagerlöf...

(1996), Richard Hobert
Richard Hobert
Richard Hobert, born 1 December 1951 in Kalmar, is a Swedish scriptwriter and film director.Hobert studied political science, languages and film/theatre at the Lund University from 1970-73. He debuted as a radio playwright in 1974. Holbert worked as a writer and assistant director up to his debut...

's Where the Rainbow Ends (1999) [granted her a Guldbagge Award
Guldbagge Award
The Guldbagge Award is an official Swedish film award awarded annually since 1964 by the Swedish Film Institute.-Etymology:Guldbagge is the Swedish name for Cetonia aurata, a beetle also known as rose chafer. The name of the award could also be interpreted as a play on the Swedish word skalbagge,...

 as Best actress] and The Birthday (2000], I Am Dina
I Am Dina
I Am Dina is a 2002 Swedish-Norwegian-Danish film directed by Ole Bornedal. It is based on the 1989 book Dinas bok by Herbjørg Wassmo. The movie was one of the most high-profile in Norwegian movie history.-Plot:...

(2002), Björn Runge
Björn Runge
Björn Lennart Runge born 21 June 1961 in Lysekil is a Swedish director and author. He was nominated for The Nordic Council Film Prize in 2006 for "Mun mot mun".Björn Runge has worked in film since he was 20, and has worked with Roy Andersson, amongst others...

's Om jag vänder mig om/If I Turn Around (2003) [a Silver Bear at Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

 2004 and more Best actress awards], Per Fly
Per Fly
Per Fly Plejdrup is a Danish film director, generally credited simply as Per Fly. He is married to Danish actress Charlotte Fich. They have the children Anton and Aksel together.-Biography:...

's Manslaughter
Manslaughter (2005 film)
Manslaughter is a 2005 Danish film written and directed by Per Fly. The film stars Jesper Christensen and Pernilla August as well as Fly's wife Charlotte Fich....

(2005), Swedish-Taiwanese
Taiwanese
Taiwanese may refer to:* things of or pertaining to the current Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan* things of or pertaining to the island of Taiwan* Taiwanese people, residents of Taiwan or people of Taiwanese descent...

 Miss Kicki
Miss Kicki
-Plot:Kicki has, after several years abroad, returned to Sweden. Her 17-year old son - Viktor has been brought up by his grandmother and has a very distant relationship to his mother. In an effort to get reacquainted Kicki invites her son to join her on vacation in Taiwan...

(2009) and Jan Troell's Truth and Consequense (2012).

At the Royal Dramatic Theatre
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....

 in Stockholm she has acted in several notable plays, starting 1981, several directed by Ingmar Bergman and touring internationally. These include Ophelia
Ophelia
Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet.-Plot:...

 in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

(1986) [a part she has also played in another Swedish TV film, 1985], August Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...

's A Dream Play
A Dream Play
A Dream Play was written in 1901 by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. It was first performed in Stockholm on 17 April 1907. It remains one of Strindberg's most admired and influential dramas, seen as an important precursor to both dramatic Expressionism and Surrealism.-Plot:The primary...

(1986), Nora in Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...

's A Doll's House
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....

(1989), Hermione in Bergman's special version of A Winter's Tale (1994), the title role in Schiller's Mary Stuart (2000) and Helene Alving in Ibsen's Ghosts (2002). She also worked with renowned Russian
Russian
Russian refers to anything related to Russia, including:*Russians , an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries...

 director Jurij Ljubimov in Alexander Pushkin's A Feast in the Time of Plague (1996). 1983-84 she worked at Folkteatern i Gävleborg (The Folk Theatre in Gävleborg) with director Peter Oskarson
Peter Oskarson
Peter Oskarson is a Swedish theatre director and actor from Stockholm. He was educated at the Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting from 1971-73, where he studied directing under Rudolf Penka, Wolfgang Heinz and Giorgio Strehler....

 in Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...

's Three Sisters
Three Sisters (play)
Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...

. 2008 she acted in the stage production of Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias (play)
Steel Magnolias is a comedy–drama play about the bond among a group of Southern women in northwest Louisiana. It is written by Robert Harling, based on his experience with the death of his sister. The title suggests the "female characters are as delicate as magnolias but as tough as steel"...

in Stockholm.

Many in the English-speaking world
English-speaking world
The English-speaking world consists of those countries or regions that use the English language to one degree or another. For more information, please see:Lists:* List of countries by English-speaking population...

 know her best as Shmi Skywalker (the mother of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....

 ) from the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

prequel movies. She also appeared in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. The series explores the childhood and youth of the fictional character Indiana Jones and primarily stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Corey Carrier as the title character, with...

. She shared the role as Virgin Mary in Mary, Mother of Jesus
Mary, Mother of Jesus (film)
Mary, Mother of Jesus is a made-for-television Biblical film that retells the story of Jesus through the eyes of Mary, his mother. It stars Swedish Pernilla August and Melinda Kinnaman as Mary, David Threlfall as Joseph and Christian Bale as Jesus. The film was produced by Eunice Kennedy Shriver...

(1999) with Melinda Kinnaman
Melinda Kinnaman
Melinda Rosalie Kinnaman is a Swedish actress.Kinnaman was born in Sweden with two American parents and a brother, Joel Kinnaman, who is also an international actor. By age 13 she made her acting debut, portraying the tomboy Saga in the acclaimed 1985 movie My Life as a Dog, directed by Lasse...

. She played a bomber in the Swedish film Sprängaren
Sprängaren
Sprängaren may refer to the following:*The Bomber, a 1998 book by Liza Marklund*Deadline based on the book...

(2001).

Director

After her directorial debut with the 2005 short film Time Bomb (Blindgångare), she debuted as feature-film director and script-writer 2010 with Beyond
Beyond (film)
Beyond is a 2010 Swedish drama film directed by Pernilla August, starring Noomi Rapace, Ola Rapace, Tehilla Blad, Outi Mäenpää and Ville Virtanen. The original Swedish title is Svinalängorna, which means "The swine rows" and refers to the housing project where parts of the story are set. The film...

, starring Noomi Rapace
Noomi Rapace
Noomi Rapace is a Swedish actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish/Danish film adaptations of the "Millennium series": The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest...

 and Ola Rapace
Ola Rapace
Ola Rapace is a Swedish actor. He is best known in Sweden for roles in the popular TV series Tusenbröder and the first season of the Swedish TV series Wallander which is based on Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander books...

. The film was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...

 at the 84th Academy Awards
84th Academy Awards
The 84th Academy Awards ceremony will honor the best films of 2011 and will take place on February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. It will be televised in the United States on ABC. The host was originally going to be Eddie Murphy. However, after Brett Ratner resigned as...

and was much awarded with Swedish Guldbagge Award
Guldbagge Award
The Guldbagge Award is an official Swedish film award awarded annually since 1964 by the Swedish Film Institute.-Etymology:Guldbagge is the Swedish name for Cetonia aurata, a beetle also known as rose chafer. The name of the award could also be interpreted as a play on the Swedish word skalbagge,...

s and more; August won for Best Director and Best Script.

Awards

Among many international awards and nominations, at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival
1992 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Gérard Depardieu *John Boorman *Carlo Di Palma *Jamie Lee Curtis *Joële Van Effenterre *Lester James Peries *Nana Djordjadze *Pedro Almodóvar *René Cleitman...

 she won the award for Best Actress
Best Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of films at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.-Award Winners:-External links:* * ....

, for her role in Bille August
Bille August
Bille August is a Danish Academy Award winning film and television director. His film Pelle the Conqueror from 1987 won the Palme D'or, Academy Award and Golden Globe. He is one of the very few directors to win the Palme D'or twice, winning the prestigious award again in 1991 for The Best...

's The Best Intentions
The Best Intentions
The Best Intentions is a 1992 Swedish drama film directed by Bille August and written by Ingmar Bergman. It is semi-autobiographical and tells the story of the complex courtship of Bergman's parents, Erik and Karin , and the difficult early years of their marriage, up to the point where Anna is...

. 2002 she was honored with the Royal Swedish medal Litteris et Artibus
Litteris et Artibus
Litteris et Artibus is a Swedish royal medal established in 1853 by Charles XV of Sweden, who was then crown prince. It is awarded to people who have made important contributions to culture, especially music, dramatic art and literature....

 for her artistic work.

Personal life

August has been married twice and changed her name both times. Her first marriage was to Klas Östergren
Klas Östergren
Klas Östergren is a Swedish novelist, screenwriter and translator who, in 1999, was nominated for his country's top film award, the Guldbagge and, in 2005, received the grand prize bestowed by the country's premier literary society, Samfundet De Nio.A native of Stockholm, Klas Östergren was twenty...

 and her second to Bille August
Bille August
Bille August is a Danish Academy Award winning film and television director. His film Pelle the Conqueror from 1987 won the Palme D'or, Academy Award and Golden Globe. He is one of the very few directors to win the Palme D'or twice, winning the prestigious award again in 1991 for The Best...

 (1991–1997). She has three daughters: Agnes, Asta and Alba.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK