Melinda Kinnaman
Encyclopedia
Melinda Rosalie Kinnaman (born November 9, 1971 in Stockholm
) is a Swedish
actress.
Kinnaman was born in Sweden
with two American parents and a brother, Joel Kinnaman
, who is also an international actor. By age 13 she made her acting debut, portraying the tomboy Saga in the acclaimed 1985 movie My Life as a Dog
, directed by Lasse Hallström
. She was later educated at the Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting
in Stockholm
from 1991 to 1994. Since then, she has been part of the ensemble at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
in Stockholm and made major parts in many classics, such as Iphigenia in Iphigenia at Aulis (1995), Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (1997), Anja in The Cherry Orchard
(1997), Estelle in Sartre's No Exit
(2000), Marie in Woyzeck
(2003), Jessica in The Merchant of Venice
(2004) and Martirio in The House of Bernarda Alba (2008). 2011 she played the violinist
in Duet for One
. She has also developed acrobatics
skills and worked with theatre interwoven with contemporary circus
from the start 1994 with Robert Lepage
's magical production of August Strindberg
's A Dream Play
and advanced even more in the lead of a brave staging of Romeo and Juliet
2002. She followed up on that line even for a few years guest performing in Copenhagen
in Shakespeare's The Tempest
and HC Andersen
's The Little Mermaid
. She has even participated in productions of modern dance
in Stockholm.
On stage, screen and television she's been working in major parts with many prominent personalities, such as Bo Widerberg in The Serpents Way (1986), August Strindberg
's The Father and Hedvig in Henrik Ibsen
's The Wild Duck
(1989), Hans Alfredson
in Time of the Wolf (1988), Colin Nutley
in British
-Swedish
TV series The Way Home (1989), Ingmar Bergman
and Daniel Bergman
in Sunday's Children
(1992), as well as with contemporary dramatists such as Lars Norén
and Henning Mankell
. 1999 she shared the title role in the international film Mary, Mother of Jesus
with Pernilla August
.
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...
) is a Swedish
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....
actress.
Kinnaman was born in 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....
with two American parents and a brother, Joel Kinnaman
Joel Kinnaman
Joel Kinnaman is a Swedish-American actor from Stockholm. He is best known for playing the lead role in the critically acclaimed Swedish film Easy Money, and for his role as Frank Wagner in the Johan Falk film series – a role that earned him a Guldbagge Award nomination in the "Best Supporting...
, who is also an international actor. By age 13 she made her acting debut, portraying the tomboy Saga in the acclaimed 1985 movie My Life as a Dog
My Life as a Dog
My Life as a Dog is a 1985 Swedish drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, based on a novel by Reidar Jönsson. It tells the story of Ingemar, a young boy sent to live with relatives...
, directed by Lasse Hallström
Lasse Hallström
Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström is a Swedish film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for My Life as a Dog and later for The Cider House Rules .-Life and career:...
. She was later educated at the Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting
Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting
The National Academy of Mime and Acting , known in Swedish as Teaterhögskolan i Stockholm, is a school in Stockholm for acting and mime...
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...
from 1991 to 1994. Since then, she has been part of the ensemble at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
in Stockholm and made major parts in many classics, such as Iphigenia in Iphigenia at Aulis (1995), Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (1997), Anja in The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on...
(1997), Estelle in Sartre's No Exit
No Exit
No Exit is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The original French title is Huis Clos, the French equivalent of the legal term in camera, referring to a private discussion behind closed doors; English translations have also been performed under the titles In Camera, No Way Out...
(2000), Marie in Woyzeck
Woyzeck
Woyzeck is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. He left the work incomplete at his death, but it has been variously and posthumously "finished" by a variety of authors, editors and translators. Woyzeck has become one of the most performed and influential plays in the German theatre...
(2003), Jessica in The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
(2004) and Martirio in The House of Bernarda Alba (2008). 2011 she played the violinist
Violinist
Violinist may refer to:*A person who plays the violin**List of violinists*Violinist *The Violinist, by Chagall...
in Duet for One
Duet for One
Duet for One is a film adapted from an award-winning British play, a two-hander by Tom Kempinski, about a world-famous concert violinist named Stephanie Anderson who is suddenly struck with multiple sclerosis. It is set in London and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky...
. She has also developed acrobatics
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
skills and worked with theatre interwoven with contemporary circus
Contemporary circus
Contemporary circus, or nouveau cirque , is a genre of performing art developed in the later 20th century in which a story or a theme is conveyed through traditional circus skills. Animals are rarely used in this type of circus, and traditional circus skills are blended with a more character-driven...
from the start 1994 with Robert Lepage
Robert Lepage
Robert Lepage, is a playwright, actor, film director, and stage director from Québec City, Québec, and is one of Canada's most honoured theatre artists.- Life and work :...
's magical production of August Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
's A Dream Play
A Dream Play
A Dream Play was written in 1901 by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. It was first performed in Stockholm on 17 April 1907. It remains one of Strindberg's most admired and influential dramas, seen as an important precursor to both dramatic Expressionism and Surrealism.-Plot:The primary...
and advanced even more in the lead of a brave staging of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
2002. She followed up on that line even for a few years guest performing in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in Shakespeare's The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
and HC Andersen
HC Andersen
HC Andersen could be:*Hans Christian Andersen, the 19th century Danish poet.* Hans C. Andersen, Professor Emeritus of physical chemistry at Stanford University.*HC Andersen, a Finnish rock band.*HC Anderson, a strong beer brewed by Albani Brewey...
's The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" is a popular fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince...
. She has even participated in productions of modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
in Stockholm.
On stage, screen and television she's been working in major parts with many prominent personalities, such as Bo Widerberg in The Serpents Way (1986), August Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
's The Father and Hedvig in Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
's The Wild Duck
The Wild Duck
The Wild Duck is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Plot:The first act opens with a dinner party hosted by Håkon Werle, a wealthy merchant and industrialist. The gathering is attended by his son, Gregers Werle, who has just returned to his father's home following a self-imposed...
(1989), Hans Alfredson
Hans Alfredson
Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson is a Swedish actor, film director, writer and comedian. He was born in Malmö, Sweden. He is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson...
in Time of the Wolf (1988), Colin Nutley
Colin Nutley
Colin Nutley is an English director successful in the Swedish film industry.-Career:Nutley went to Portsmouth Art College and began his career in British television as a graphic designer. He then turned to drama and documentary film-making for ITV, BBC and Channel 4...
in British
British
The word British is an adjective referring in various ways to the United Kingdom or the island of Great Britain and its people and language.People...
-Swedish
Swedish
Swedish may refer to:*Swedish cuisine*Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe *Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland...
TV series The Way Home (1989), Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
and Daniel Bergman
Daniel Bergman
Daniel Sebastian Bergman , born 7 September 1962, is a Swedish film director. He is the son of Ingmar Bergman and Käbi Laretei. He also directed an episode on the Swedish horror series CHOCK, with Ernst-Hugo Järegård.-Selected filmography:* 1987 - Ägget...
in Sunday's Children
Sunday's Children
Sunday's Children , is a 1992 Swedish drama film directed by Daniel Bergman and written by Ingmar Bergman.-Cast:* Thommy Berggren – Erik Bergman* Henrik Linnros – Pu Bergman* Lena Endre – Karin Bergman* Jacob Leygraf – Dag* Anna Linnros – Lillan...
(1992), as well as with contemporary dramatists such as Lars Norén
Lars Norén
Lars Norén is a Swedish playwright, novelist and poet. He is considered Sweden's most prominent contemporary playwright of today.Born in Stockholm, Norén wrote his first play at age 19...
and Henning Mankell
Henning Mankell
Henning Mankell is a Swedish crime writer, children's author, leftist activist and dramatist, best known for a series of mystery novels starring his most famous creation, Inspector Kurt Wallander.-Life and career:...
. 1999 she shared the title role in the international film Mary, Mother of Jesus
Mary, Mother of Jesus (film)
Mary, Mother of Jesus is a made-for-television Biblical film that retells the story of Jesus through the eyes of Mary, his mother. It stars Swedish Pernilla August and Melinda Kinnaman as Mary, David Threlfall as Joseph and Christian Bale as Jesus. The film was produced by Eunice Kennedy Shriver...
with Pernilla August
Pernilla August
Pernilla August is a Swedish actress, director and script-writer. Being one of Sweden's leading actresses and a long time collaborator with director Ingmar Bergman, she won the Best Actress Award at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival for her role in his The Best Intentions...
.