Alicia Amanda Vikander is a Swedish actress and dancer. She studied at the Royal Swedish Ballet School. She began her professional acting career by appearing in Swedish short films and television series, notably in the TV drama Andra Avenyn (2008–10). She was born on 3 October 1988 in Gothenburg, Sweden. In 2011 Vikander starred in another Swedish film, The Crown Jewels. She played the lead of Frangancia Fernandez, a woman accused of attempted murder against the son of a powerful factory owner. In 2015, Vikander gained recognition for such starring roles as Vera Brittain in Testament of Youth, Ava in Ex Machina, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role; and Gerda Wegener in The Danish Girl, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress; she was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.