HOMETOWN: Lidingö, Sweden. My parents purchased a home on the waterfront before I was born so I spent the majority of my childhood by open oceans and rivers which I think is what makes Los Angeles so appealing as a city to me. When my mom and dad separated I moved with my mom to Rialto, California and went to high school there.
FAMILY: I think in terms of inspiration in my career, my father and my grandfather are probably the best that I could have. In the past people have expected me to go into directing films or television just because of who I'm related to but I always joke if you can't direct, you act. I don't have the attention span for directing, or I'd probably be doing it. Everyone would get sick of me running off to complete tasks I was supposed to do ten weeks ago, or something. My mom is an early childcare teacher and a faith healer for her church. I grew up as a Pentecostal Christian from when I was about fourteen to eighteen. It wasn't for me, but I'll admit faith healing is pretty relaxing.
THE ACTING BUSINESS: When I was a kid my ambition was never to be an actor. I used to like to perform, but it was mostly directed towards my porcelain dolls in my bedroom and not for anyone else's eyes. I used to watch a lot of what was foreign cinema to me. A lot of American and English movies and television shows. So I liked practicing accents and would recite lines as they were spoken on the television but never did I really expect anything to come of it. When my father took on Låt den rätte komma in or Let the Right One In as others may know it he asked me if I would like to audition for the lead female role. I was terrified of the idea of it, but at the same time I felt like it was a really exciting chance to put everything I had put into practice in the privacy of my own room into use. So I auditioned, and I got the role and everything took off slowly but surely from there.
MOVING TO LOS ANGELES: For a while when I was younger my parents would hop back and forth from Sweden to the US, and sometimes England and so on. However, when my parents split up my mom decided to move back to California where all of her family is. When she returned she found that about 70% of her family had converted to Pentecostal Christianity and they weren't just having a laugh with her in the emails they sent her over the years so it was natural for her to adopt the religion, too. I went to the Lighthouse Christian Academy in Rialto which honestly has like, fuck all students but it was a good experience. Anyway, even though I spent a lot of my childhood in and out of the States it was a huge culture shock to me. It's true what they say, everything in America is bigger but the difference in cultures and everything didn't keep me from staying here. I still return to Sweden for movies occasionally, but I like it here now.
ANXIETY AND FEAR THE WALKING DEAD: For a long time I've always secretly and quietly -- but probably not to the casting director -- wanted to work on The Walking Dead, but the timing has never been right. I've done voice work for the video game series as Clementine but I've always wanted to really get my hands dirty. When my manager told me of a spin-off they were working on, I admittedly jumped at the chance but it's my first role on American television and I've been really nervous about how people will perceive it. It's the kind of thing where like, you constantly think about how you would feel if someone announced they were creating a spin-off to a classic TV series like.. I'm blanking on examples. Home Improvement. There are some things you can't touch, you know? But I'm really, really excited about where this can go because it definitely shows the whole zombie showdown in a completely different light and I always love the idea of approaching different perspectives and timeframes of things that are already established. I don't think it hurts to show completely different ideals and actions to an idea or concept you've had firmly planted in your mind for years already!
NEXT UP: I'm working on a film right now called American Pastoral which is a sort of political film with some very cool actors and I'm also sorting out some new music with my band, The Wisps which will be out very soon if things go well so I challenge you all to check it out if you're trawling for new music.