Tucked away in London’s Highgate, the Queen’s Wood Cafe was once a local secret but has since become an Instagram favourite. Built in 1898 as a wood-keeper’s cottage, it looks like something from a fairy tale, nestled among the trees and decorated with faded bunting and twinkling lights. I suggested it as a quiet meeting spot, but Alicia Vikander already knew it well. “I used to come here with the kids,” she says with a smile, heading to the counter to get us coffee. Though born in Sweden and now based in Portugal, a big part of her heart remains in north London, where she lived for many years.

She’s back in town to prepare for her first stage role since her teens, starring opposite Andrew Lincoln in Simon Stone’s bold reimagining of Ibsen’s The Lady From the Sea at the Bridge Theatre. For nearly 15 years, Vikander, now 36, has been a familiar face on screen, bringing her precise and versatile talent to everything from historical dramas like Testament of Youth to sci-fi (Ex Machina) and blockbusters (Tomb Raider, Jason Bourne). She won an Oscar for The Danish Girl at 27, earning global recognition. Her co-star Eddie Redmayne praises her as “the most formidable actor,” adding, “She has this unique mix of technical skill and spontaneous freedom, perhaps from her dance background.”

Dressed in a black Toteme coat—“very Swedish”—against the early summer breeze, with her Louis Vuitton handbag on the table (she’s a brand ambassador), she dives into our conversation with energy and insight. She’s both excited and nervous about her new role. The Lady From the Sea, one of Ibsen’s most enigmatic plays, focuses on Ellida, a lighthouse keeper’s daughter obsessed with the sea. In the original, she’s married to a doctor and haunted by her infant son’s death when a sailor from her past returns to claim her. (A note: Stone is known for radically reworking classics, so this version may stray from the original.)

Vikander’s casting came about much like Billie Piper’s in Stone’s acclaimed Yerma—her agent persistently made the case. Stone says, “That’s a good sign. When a brilliant actor is that eager, it adds an extra 30 percent. She’s a great collaborator, pragmatic about her work—she grew up in a theater family and sees it as a collective craft passed down through generations. She’s been craving that sense of community.”

This play is a homecoming for Vikander in more ways than one. Her parents separated when she was young, and she lived mostly with her mother, Maria Fahl, a well-known stage actress in Sweden. “If you were an actress, you were on stage,” Vikander recalls. When her mother couldn’t find a babysitter, young Alicia would watch from backstage, often Shakespeare. “I saw Romeo and Juliet 24 times, apparently,” she says. “I loved being immersed in that world—like kids rewatching cartoons. I dreamed of being up there. Stage felt real to me; film seemed distant. It was what my mom did, what I grew up with.”

Yet, she’ll be making her British theater debut next month, just a month before turning 37. I remind her that we met once before, when she was playing a young Vera—Alicia Vikander, who starred in the 2014 film adaptation of Testament of Youth, reflects, “If you’d told me back then how long it would take to get on stage, I would have been surprised. I thought this day would come much sooner.”

Her mother passed away in 2022. They were very close, and Vikander feels a deep sadness that her mother isn’t here to see this moment. “She died with a script beside her—it’s true. She worked until she couldn’t. I always imagined I’d do this while she was still with me.”

Taking on Ibsen marks another first: it’s the first time she and her actor husband, Michael Fassbender, have worked simultaneously. Fassbender has been in London filming the second season of the spy drama The Agency, which made this possible. Usually, they take turns staying home with their two sons, aged four and one, alternating film projects.

“The days can be very long—you might leave before the kids wake up and not return until after they’re asleep. Knowing one parent is always home helps a bit…” She pauses. “There’s so much parent guilt, especially as a mom—I struggle with that constantly. With our four-year-old, we talk about it: ‘Papa is going back to work, and then I’ll be home.'”

She wonders how her own mother managed. “How did she do it? In Sweden, if you worked at the state theater, they subsidized a babysitter during certain hours. Without that, she couldn’t have done her job.”

Motherhood has changed her. “I love being a mom. I was scared before having kids—I didn’t feel very maternal until they arrived. After our second was born, I started feeling more confident, like I know what I’m doing now. I’m also gentler with myself.”

She smiles. She and Fassbender met while filming the 2016 adaptation of The Light Between Oceans. They’ve made Lisbon their main home. “My husband wanted to live somewhere he could surf every day. We’re at the beach with the kids every weekend we’re there.”

They recently made another film together, Hope, directed by South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin. Vikander had wanted to work with him ever since seeing his acclaimed horror film The Wailing and had approached him about another project before he offered her this role. It didn’t go exactly as planned. “I got pregnant while Michael was shooting Black Bag. We couldn’t make the schedules work, so they suggested we film our scenes at different times.” She laughs. “We used Korean doubles for each other. We worked together, just not at the same time.”

Vikander chooses projects carefully. Her interest in science fiction has led to roles like the wide-eyed robot in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2014), and she’s now developing her own sci-fi film. But she also seeks variety, such as working with Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz on his English-language debut, Firebrand, where she played Catherine Parr opposite Jude Law’s Henry VIII. “I like taking on projects that offer new experiences.”

This approach explains the wide range of work she’s done since her breakthrough in The Danish Girl, where she played the wife of Eddie Redmayne’s transgender artist. The film earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and a Best Actor nomination for Redmayne, though it also drew criticism for casting a cis actor in the lead role and perpetuating stereotypes.September 2025. Vikander, whose father is a psychiatrist in Sweden and advises on gender confirmation surgery, supports the film. “I’ll be the first to admit it already feels very dated, and I think that’s a good thing. At the time, it was a turning point that at least got people talking about transgender lives. I hope it opened some eyes and made space for more art to explore these themes.”

She says the whirlwind of winning an Oscar was difficult to handle. “Everything happened so fast. I didn’t have time to process what was going on. It took me years to really understand that moment—how a public image of you is created, one I’d look at and think, ‘Who is that?’”

Few moments or roles in her career feel as poignant as the one she’s about to take on. “I feel very close to her,” she says of her late mother. “Doing this makes our bond feel clear and strong.” She smiles. “I feel like she’s looking down and saying, ‘Wow, Alicia, you’re going to be a real actress now.’”

The Lady From the Sea runs at the Bridge Theatre from September 10 to November 8.

In this story:
Hair: Syd Hayes
Makeup: Niamh Quinn
Nails: Simone Cummings
Production: Image Partnership
Digital Artwork: May

Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Alicia Vikanders stage debut motherhood and life with Michael Fassbender with clear and concise answers

General Career FAQs

Q Who is Alicia Vikander
A She is an Academy Awardwinning Swedish actress known for films like The Danish Girl Ex Machina and the Tomb Raider reboot

Q What was Alicia Vikanders London stage debut
A It was a play called The Dance of Death by August Strindberg which she performed in 2023 at the Donmar Warehouse

Q Why was doing a play a big deal for her
A Despite being a famous movie star performing live on stage is a completely different and often more intimidating challenge as there are no retakes and you perform directly for an audience

Q What role did she play in The Dance of Death
A She played the role of Kurt a character originally written for a man which was a unique and modern take on the classic play

Motherhood Personal Life FAQs

Q Does Alicia Vikander have children
A Yes she and her husband actor Michael Fassbender have a son

Q What has she said about the challenges of being a working mother
A She has spoken openly about the mum guilt many working parents feel the struggle of balancing a demanding career with family time and the immense pressure to do it all perfectly

Q How does she balance her career with motherhood
A She has mentioned being more selective with the projects she takes on to ensure she has time for her family She also values having a strong support system

Q How does she and Michael Fassbender manage their careers together
A They are very supportive of each others work They often schedule their projects so that one of them can be more present at home while the other is filming

Life with Michael Fassbender FAQs

Q How did Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender meet
A They met while filming the movie The Light Between Oceans together in 2014

Q Are they private about their relationship