Anja Lundqvist

Anja Lundqvist—yeah, she’s one of those Stockholm originals you just can’t miss if you’re even slightly tuned into Swedish film or TV. Born smack in the middle of summer, 1971, right in Stockholm (honestly, you can sort of see that Nordic cool in everything she does), she’s bounced around the industry for decades. You probably know her from “Tillsammans” (2000)—that Lars Moodysson flick everybody in Sweden’s seen at least twice. She played Lena, and, wow, she just nailed that messy, heartfelt, weird communal living vibe. Not many actors can do vulnerable and stubborn at the same time, but she has it down. Fast forward to “Heder” (2019), and suddenly she’s deep in the world of legal drama, tangled up in Stockholm’s justice system with a bunch of other badass women. It’s gritty, pretty raw, and you can tell Lundqvist is having the time of her life tearing into all those complicated emotions. Then, just when you think she’s peaked, out comes “Together 99” (2023). It’s a throwback, a sequel-ish reunion to the original “Tillsammans,” and, man, nostalgia hits hard. Lundqvist revisits Lena, but this time with all the baggage and wildness of the past two decades. She brings this honesty and a little bit of chaos to every scene—like, you don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or just text your old roommates. Honestly, she’s not just another actor—she’s got this writer’s edge too, always poking at the messiness of being human. That’s her magic: she makes the awkward and the beautiful feel totally real.