Alicia Vikander

Alicia Vikander? Oh man, she’s got that whole “quietly taking over Hollywood” thing down pat. Born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a mom who was an actress and a dad who literally got paid to listen to people talk about their feelings (psychiatrist—solid gig), it’s almost like she was destined for a life in the arts. She’s got some Finnish blood too, thanks to her mom’s side, and a family story that goes all the way back to a great-aunt dodging WWII by moving to Sweden. Not your average family history, right? As a kid, Alicia was basically a triple threat—hitting the stage at The Göteborg Opera and training like crazy at the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Stockholm, then in New York at the School of American Ballet. Not exactly what most of us were doing after school. She started small, popping up in Swedish short films and TV series, but people started really noticing her in Northern Europe after she played Josefin in “Andra avenyn” back in 2007. Her breakout movie? “Pure” in 2009, which snagged her Sweden’s top acting award, the Guldbagge for Best Actress. From there, she just kept leveling up—playing Kitty in “Anna Karenina” and Queen Caroline Mathilde in “A Royal Affair.” She even grabbed a BAFTA Rising Star nom for those. And she just kept the hits coming: “Hotell,” “The Fifth Estate,” then blowing up globally with “Testament of Youth,” stealing the show as an AI in “Ex Machina,” and finally nabbing an Oscar for “The Danish Girl.” She’s not slowing down, and honestly, why would she?