Lina Leandersson
Encyclopedia
Lina Leandersson is a Swedish
child actress
. She played a lead role in the 2008
Swedish romantic
vampire film
Let the Right One In, based on the novel by the same name
. Born in Falun
, Leandersson started performing at an early age. She acted in local amateur theatre
performances, and had a few brief television appearances in 2006. At the age of eleven, Leandersson was cast to play one of the two leads in Tomas Alfredson
's film, Let the Right One In, after applying for the role through a web-based casting service
. The film was an international success, and Leandersson's performance as the vampire
Eli brought her widespread critical acclaim as well as several awards and nominations. She has stated that she wants to continue acting.
and jazz dance
. One of her first roles was in amateur theatre performance, playing the mother of a spoiled girl wanting new jeans. In 2006 she appeared as a jury member in the Swedish song competition Lilla Melodifestivalen
. The same year, she was selected as one out of five, from a total of five hundred applicants, to participate in "Nickelodeon's
programledarskola", which was televised in October 2006.
; "I thought it was a more usual role." But as soon as she grew accustomed to the idea, "it became even more fun. I wanted to be a vampire when I was little", she said.
In the film, she plays Eli, a child vampire who develops a friendship with the main character, 12-year-old Oskar (played by Kåre Hedebrant
). Oskar is frequently tormented by bullies. Eli initially tells Oskar to fight back, and rescues him in the end, killing three of the bullies in process. Because Eli is supposed to be an androgynous
character in the film, director Tomas Alfredson
decided to overdub
Leandersson's voice with a less feminine one. "Lina's voice is beautiful, but I thought it was too high in pitch", he said. Eli's voice throughout the whole film was provided by Elif Ceylan
. In an interview with Dagens Nyheter
, Leandersson laughingly commented that "it was actually nice to be dubbed, my voice sounds weird".
Leandersson and Hedebrant were never allowed to read the script. Instead, the director would read their lines aloud to them before every scene. According to Leandersson, "Tomas is a good teller. I listened very carefully." She identified the most difficult parts as the ones where she was supposed to be angry, and the transitioning between being normal and "crazy". In an interview, Leandersson recalled how she went totally into her role, to the point of "becoming" the character Eli, but affirmed that there are few similarities between herself and her character, describing Eli as more mature and contemplative. While she found it uncomfortable to film outdoor scenes in temperatures down to −30°C, she described her experience as "the most fun [she] has ever had."
When asked about the biggest challenge in making the film, Alfredson mentioned the fact that people already would have a perception of the characters and the surroundings from the novel. He especially felt that the depiction of Eli was difficult, but stated that he was "very happy about Lina". On another occasion, he again commented positively on Leandersson's appearance, stating that "[w]e hardly used makeup or anything in post-production to make her like this, she is simply damn good. She's also a very special girl, which I think shows in the film." He has frequently commended Leandersson for her intelligence, often comparing her to "an 80-year-old woman, very wise and very quiet."
, she "evokes Eli's radical apartness with an air of watchful caution and a contained stillness of body that not only belies her childish appearance (...)", and "In a performance devoid of sentimentality she perfectly captures the awful solitude of a creature who exists outside time". James Berardinelli
also praised Leandersson for "crafting an individual who is both mysterious and compelling", while Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter
wrote: "The youthful actors imbue even the most emotional and disturbing scenes with remarkable complexity. Leandersson is particularly impressive as the conflicted young vampire who wants nothing more than to be an ordinary girl again". Luke Y. Thompson of LA Weekly
compared her performance favorably to that of Kirsten Dunst
as the child vampire Claudia
in Interview with the Vampire
. He concluded that, while Dunst "used to be the gold standard; in Leandersson, I think we have a new champion." The Oregonian
called Leandersson's performance "incredible", and expressed doubt that any actress in the American remake
could top it. While Swedish reviewers generally made positive comments about the two leads, Emma Engström of Göteborgs-Posten
felt that Leandersson's character was lacking in depth.
Leandersson received several awards and award nominations for her performance in the film.
with her mother, stepfather, and two younger sisters. She is of Swedish and Iranian descent. Leandersson has always liked to dance and play theatre. Though there are several athletes in her family, she is not particularly fond of sports. "I was on a football team when I was in third grade. But I was so bad that I wasn't allowed to play in a match", she recalled. She has stated on several occasions that she wants to continue acting, and has indicated that she would like to try different types of roles to challenge herself. Leandersson was a student at Gruvrisskolan
. In an interview, she identified history as her favorite subject, because she finds it "interesting to know how people lived and died in the past". She does not see school as a hindrance to continue acting, saying that she "will just have to work harder than everyone else. But school isn't that difficult, it's quite easy." She is a fan of the Twilight film series
, but has also said that Let the Right One In is the better film. She is studying theatre at Kulturama, a school for performing arts
in Stockholm
, Sweden.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
child actress
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
. She played a lead role in the 2008
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
Swedish romantic
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
vampire film
Vampire films
Vampire films have been a staple since the silent days, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptation of vampire fiction has been from Bram Stoker's Dracula, with over 170...
Let the Right One In, based on the novel by the same name
Let the Right One In
Let the Right One In , or Let Me In, is a 2004 vampire fiction novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist. The story centers on the relationship between a 12-year-old boy, Oskar, and a centuries-old vampire child, Eli. It takes place in Blackeberg, a working class suburb of Stockholm, in the...
. Born in Falun
Falun
Falun is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 36,447 inhabitants in 2005. It is also the capital of Dalarna County...
, Leandersson started performing at an early age. She acted in local amateur theatre
Amateur theatre
Amateur theatre is theatre performed by amateur actors. These actors are not typically members of Actors' Equity groups or Actors' Unions as these organizations exist to protect the professional industry and therefore discourage their members from appearing with companies which are not a signatory...
performances, and had a few brief television appearances in 2006. At the age of eleven, Leandersson was cast to play one of the two leads in Tomas Alfredson
Tomas Alfredson
Tomas Alfredson is a Swedish film director, best known internationally for directing the 2008 vampire film Let the Right One In...
's film, Let the Right One In, after applying for the role through a web-based casting service
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
. The film was an international success, and Leandersson's performance as the vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
Eli brought her widespread critical acclaim as well as several awards and nominations. She has stated that she wants to continue acting.
Early life and career
Lina Leandersson was born in Falun, Sweden. She took an interest in performing from an early age, acting in amateur theatre performances, attending drama courses, and performing street-Street dance
Street dance, more formally known as vernacular dance, is an umbrella term used to describe dance styles that evolved outside of dance studios in any available open space such as streets, dance parties, block parties, parks, school yards, raves, and nightclubs, etc...
and jazz dance
Jazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...
. One of her first roles was in amateur theatre performance, playing the mother of a spoiled girl wanting new jeans. In 2006 she appeared as a jury member in the Swedish song competition Lilla Melodifestivalen
Lilla Melodifestivalen
Lilla Melodifestivalen is the Swedish national final that selects the entry to represent Sweden in the annual Melodi Grand Prix Nordic junior singing competition. Between 2002 and 2005, Sweden sent its winners to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, when MPG Nordic wasn't active...
. The same year, she was selected as one out of five, from a total of five hundred applicants, to participate in "Nickelodeon's
Nickelodeon Sweden
Nickelodeon Sweden is a children's channel broadcasting to Sweden.Nickelodeon has been available in Sweden since 1996 when a pan-Scandinavian version was launched on the analogue Viasat platform...
programledarskola", which was televised in October 2006.
Let the Right One In
Leandersson applied for the role in Let the Right One In through a web-based casting service. After being contacted by child casting director Maggie Widstrand, she auditioned for the role three times before finally being cast. She was unaware that the role she was auditioning for was that of a vampire. "I was shocked", she later told ExpressenExpressen
Expressen is one of two nationwide evening tabloid newspapers in Sweden, the other being Aftonbladet. Expressen was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and slogans "it stings" or "Expressen to your rescue", always on the reader's side....
; "I thought it was a more usual role." But as soon as she grew accustomed to the idea, "it became even more fun. I wanted to be a vampire when I was little", she said.
In the film, she plays Eli, a child vampire who develops a friendship with the main character, 12-year-old Oskar (played by Kåre Hedebrant
Kåre Hedebrant
Kåre Hedebrant is a Swedish actor. He played the main character in the 2008 Swedish romantic horror film Let the Right One In. He lives in Hässelby, near Stockholm...
). Oskar is frequently tormented by bullies. Eli initially tells Oskar to fight back, and rescues him in the end, killing three of the bullies in process. Because Eli is supposed to be an androgynous
Androgyny
Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ, stem ανδρ- and γυνή , referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics...
character in the film, director Tomas Alfredson
Tomas Alfredson
Tomas Alfredson is a Swedish film director, best known internationally for directing the 2008 vampire film Let the Right One In...
decided to overdub
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
Leandersson's voice with a less feminine one. "Lina's voice is beautiful, but I thought it was too high in pitch", he said. Eli's voice throughout the whole film was provided by Elif Ceylan
Elif Ceylan
Elif Ceylan is a Swedish voice actress. She provided the voice for the lead character of Eli in the widely acclaimed 2008 film Let the Right One In. Late in production, it was decided that Leandersson's voice would be replaced by a darker voice, because the character was supposed to be 200 years...
. In an interview with Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
, Leandersson laughingly commented that "it was actually nice to be dubbed, my voice sounds weird".
| I loved the movie. It is so special – a dramatic, scary movie with children in leading roles. It’s frightening yet so fantastically beautiful. It was the best thing in my life to do this movie. —Lina Leandersson |
Leandersson and Hedebrant were never allowed to read the script. Instead, the director would read their lines aloud to them before every scene. According to Leandersson, "Tomas is a good teller. I listened very carefully." She identified the most difficult parts as the ones where she was supposed to be angry, and the transitioning between being normal and "crazy". In an interview, Leandersson recalled how she went totally into her role, to the point of "becoming" the character Eli, but affirmed that there are few similarities between herself and her character, describing Eli as more mature and contemplative. While she found it uncomfortable to film outdoor scenes in temperatures down to −30°C, she described her experience as "the most fun [she] has ever had."
When asked about the biggest challenge in making the film, Alfredson mentioned the fact that people already would have a perception of the characters and the surroundings from the novel. He especially felt that the depiction of Eli was difficult, but stated that he was "very happy about Lina". On another occasion, he again commented positively on Leandersson's appearance, stating that "[w]e hardly used makeup or anything in post-production to make her like this, she is simply damn good. She's also a very special girl, which I think shows in the film." He has frequently commended Leandersson for her intelligence, often comparing her to "an 80-year-old woman, very wise and very quiet."
Reception
Let the Right One In was an international success. Critics lauded the performances of the young leads, often highlighting Leandersson for particular acclaim. According to Karen Durbin of ElleElle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
, she "evokes Eli's radical apartness with an air of watchful caution and a contained stillness of body that not only belies her childish appearance (...)", and "In a performance devoid of sentimentality she perfectly captures the awful solitude of a creature who exists outside time". James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
also praised Leandersson for "crafting an individual who is both mysterious and compelling", while Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
wrote: "The youthful actors imbue even the most emotional and disturbing scenes with remarkable complexity. Leandersson is particularly impressive as the conflicted young vampire who wants nothing more than to be an ordinary girl again". Luke Y. Thompson of LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
compared her performance favorably to that of Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
as the child vampire Claudia
Claudia (The Vampire Chronicles)
Claudia is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. She is one of the main characters in Interview with the Vampire, the first novel in the series...
in Interview with the Vampire
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles is a 1994 American drama and horror film directed by Neil Jordan, based on the 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. The film focuses on Lestat and Louis, beginning with Louis' transformation into a vampire by Lestat in 1791...
. He concluded that, while Dunst "used to be the gold standard; in Leandersson, I think we have a new champion." The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
called Leandersson's performance "incredible", and expressed doubt that any actress in the American remake
Let Me In (film)
Let Me In is a 2010 American romantic horror film directed by Matt Reeves and starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloë Grace Moretz. It is based on the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In , directed by Tomas Alfredson, and the novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist...
could top it. While Swedish reviewers generally made positive comments about the two leads, Emma Engström of Göteborgs-Posten
Göteborgs-Posten
Göteborgs-Posten is a major daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Gothenburg, with containing coverage of local, regional, national and international issues. It is chiefly distributed in western Götaland. It has the second largest national circulation, after Dagens Nyheter and before...
felt that Leandersson's character was lacking in depth.
Leandersson received several awards and award nominations for her performance in the film.
Personal life
Leandersson lives in FalunFalun
Falun is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 36,447 inhabitants in 2005. It is also the capital of Dalarna County...
with her mother, stepfather, and two younger sisters. She is of Swedish and Iranian descent. Leandersson has always liked to dance and play theatre. Though there are several athletes in her family, she is not particularly fond of sports. "I was on a football team when I was in third grade. But I was so bad that I wasn't allowed to play in a match", she recalled. She has stated on several occasions that she wants to continue acting, and has indicated that she would like to try different types of roles to challenge herself. Leandersson was a student at Gruvrisskolan
Gruvrisskolan
Gruvrisskolan is an elementary school located in Falun, Sweden. The school, built in 1992, was the first "F-9" school in Falun.The school holds a good score in the Swedish school ranking system.-Notable alumni:...
. In an interview, she identified history as her favorite subject, because she finds it "interesting to know how people lived and died in the past". She does not see school as a hindrance to continue acting, saying that she "will just have to work harder than everyone else. But school isn't that difficult, it's quite easy." She is a fan of the Twilight film series
The Twilight Saga (film series)
The Twilight Saga is a series of supernatural romance fantasy films from Summit Entertainment based on the four Twilight series novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. The films star Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The series has grossed over $2 billion in worldwide...
, but has also said that Let the Right One In is the better film. She is studying theatre at Kulturama, a school for performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden.
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2008 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2008 The 21st Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given by the CFCA on December 18, 2008, honored the best in film for 2008. Disney/Pixar's WALL-E became the most successful film on this years' ceremony, won four awards, including Best Film, out of five nominations... |
Most Promising Performer | Let the Right One In | |
| 2009 | Online Film Critics Society Awards 2008 Online Film Critics Society Awards 2008 ----Best Picture: WALL-E The 12th Online Film Critics Society Awards, honoring the best in film for 2008, were given on 19 January 2009.-Best Picture:WALL-E*The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*The Dark Knight... |
Breakthrough Performer | ||
| 2009 Wonder Awards Cinefantastique Cinefantastique was a horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor Frederick S. Clarke... |
Best Performance By an Actress In a Leading Role | |||
| Chlotrudis Awards 2009 Chlotrudis Awards 2009 The 15th Annual Chlotrudis Awards were presented March 22, 2009, by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. Honoring the best of the past year's independent, documentary and international film, the awards ceremony took place at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts... |
Best Actress | |||
| 30th Annual Young Artist Awards Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist... |
Best Performance in an International Feature Film — Leading Young Performers | |||
| 35th Annual Saturn Awards Saturn Award The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within... |
Best Performance By a Younger Actor | |||
| 2009 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Fangoria Fangoria is an American magazine devoted to horror and exploitation films, which has a number of associated brands:* Fangoria Comics* Fangoria Films* Fangoria RadioFangoria may also refer to:* Fangoria , a Spanish electro pop band... |
Best Actress | |||
| 2009 Constellation Awards | Best Female Performance in a 2008 Science Fiction Film | |||
| Scream Awards 2009 Scream Awards The Scream Awards is an award show dedicated to the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres of feature films. Originally only having Scream Queen and Heroic Performance awards for actors, the personnel awards have expanded to include actors and actresses of all three recognized genres. In addition,... |
Best Horror Actress | |||
| Breakout Performance-Female | ||||
| Gransito Movie Awards 2009 Gransito Movie Awards Gransito Movie Awards is an Italian film awards assigned every years, since 2001, by a group of movie lovers and Italian journalists.In April the nominees are announced on the official site; in may the winners are announced.... |
Rivelazione Femminile (Breakthrough female performance) |