Alicia Vikander Source

I guess, like most foreigners, when you’re away, you see your own culture being even more strange. But where I come from and my roots mean a lot. I miss my family and my friends. Something I’ve realized as I’ve been traveling is that it’s more about the actual people than the actual place. 

Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender in sync

“Alicia is a force of nature. She’s just the most extraordinary talent. She has this deep, visceral relationship with her emotions. She challenged me to step up my game continuously.” ‒ Eddie Redmayne

Alicia Vikander photographed by Masakazu Sugino in Tokyo, September 2016

          How do you want to be remembered? That I was brave, that I dared to try new things. I think hopefully that will make it an interesting life to look back on. That you never really knew what turn I was going to take. I still love not knowing where I’m going to be in 10 years. 

Can I help? […] No, thanks. Please, I’d rather be by myself. It’s the books I’m worried about. Never seen anyone beat them up that way.

Love is within everyone. I don’t know if that changes the way I look at the world. Since I was a kid, I have been surrounded by people who have given me love. If you grow up in a home where you don’t get that, you might have a different life. By knowing love, I’ve learned how to respect other people and give that back to others.

Alicia Vikander photographed by Ryan McGinley.

ALICIA VIKANDER by Ryan McGinley for Porter Magazine (Winter 2016)

To be quite honest, it’s nerve-racking, the way these films sort of piled up. It’s a mixed feeling when everything you’ve ever wanted in making films is coming true, and yet you feel scared because it’s happening all at once. Suddenly you’re in rooms with people you’ve looked up to for years, like Judi Dench. You wonder if you’re good, if you have what it takes. You carry an anxiety around with you—I’ve met many actors now who will say this—and the lonely feeling that this could be your one chance.

I like not knowing about my favourite actresses and actors. I love seeing Meryl Streep up there and knowing so little about who she is outside of what she’s playing on screen. But I meet journalists and even young girls who say, ‘Oh, we just want to know more about you.’ I guess it’s become another a character, a role in a way, for actors to play– this version of themselves to present to them. But it is a made-up idea of who you are.