When Alicia Vikander first attended the Academy Awards three years ago, few on the red carpet knew who she was. The Swedish actress had flown to Hollywood in 2013 to support “A Royal Affair†— a Danish picture competing for the foreign film prize that year — but she was barely known outside of Europe.
On Sunday night, the 27-year-old left the Dolby Theatre with an Oscar in hand for her supporting turn in “The Danish Girl.†In the film, in which she stars opposite Eddie Redmayne, Vikander plays Gerda Wegener, the wife of a painter who was one of the first people to receive gender reassignment surgery in the 1920s.
OSCARS 2016: Live updates | List of nominees
In her acceptance speech, Vikander thanked Redmayne and director Tom Hooper and then pointed at her mother in the crowd.
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Jennifer Lawrence
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“The Martian†actor Matt Damon
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Actress Priyanka Chopra
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Taylor Kinney, left, and Lady Gaga arrive at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
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“Titanic†costars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet reunite on the red carpet.
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Amy Poehler and Michael Keaton
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Charlize Theron
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The Weeknd and Common
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Oscar nominees Cate Blanchett (“Carolâ€) and Bryan Cranston (“Trumboâ€).
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Oscar nominee Rachel McAdams (supporting actress, “Spotlightâ€).
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From left, actress Margot Robbie, best actor nominee Eddie Redmayne (“The Danish Girlâ€) and actress Jennifer Garner.
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People protest the all-white slate of acting Oscar nominees and lack of diversity in the industry near the 88th Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center.
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Taylor Kinney, left, and Lady Gaga
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“Director Ridley Scott and Giannina Facio, left, and supporting actor nominee Tom Hardy (“The Revenantâ€) with Charlotte Riley.
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Supporting actor nominee Tom Hardy (“The Revenantâ€) with actress Charlotte Riley.
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Best actress nominee Cate Blanchett (“Carolâ€).
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Nominees and former costars Kate Winslet (supporting actress, “Steve Jobsâ€) and Leonardo DiCaprio (best actor, “The Revenantâ€).
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Leonardo DiCaprio
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Actor Christian Bale with wife Sibi Blazic.
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Reese Witherspoon
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Model Heidi Klum
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Model Chrissy Teigen and husband John Legend
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Kerry Washington
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Supporting actress winner Alicia Vikander (“The Danish Girlâ€).
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Naomi Watts, Olivia Munn, Priyanka Chopra
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Cinematographer Ed Lachman, Spirit Award winner and Oscar nominee for “Carol.â€
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Mindy Kaling
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Jordan’s foreign-language nominee “Theeb†is represented by, from left, director Naji Abu Nowar and actors Jacir Eid and Hassan Mutlag Al-Maraiyeh.
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Sofia Vergara, costar of ABC’s “Modern Family,†on the red carpet.
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Actor Byung-hun Lee.
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Governors Ball chef Wolfgang Puck.
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From left, model Heidi Klum, best actress nominee Saorise Ronan (“Brooklynâ€) and last year’s supporting actress winner Patricia Arquette (“Boyhoodâ€).
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“Room’s†young actor Jacob Tremblay shares a stretch of red carpet with “Modern Family’s†Sofia Vergara.
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Original song nominees Jimmy Napes, left, and Sam Smith (“Writing’s on the Wall,†“Spectreâ€).
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Nominated film editor Hank Corwin (“The Big Shortâ€) and wife Nancy arrive at the 88th Academy Awards.
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Actor Orlando Jones during the arrivals.
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Tobias Lindholm, center, director of Denmark’s foreign-language nominee “A War,†arrives with the film’s lead actor Pilou Asbæk, right.
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“Beasts of No Nation†actor Abraham Attah.
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Morning show host and former NFL player Michael Strahan addresses the media on the red carpet.
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“Good Morning America†anchor Robin Roberts.
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Composer Carter Burwell, nominated for original score for “Carol.â€
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Model Dorith Mous on the red carpet.
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Members of the nominated live-action short feature “Shok†arrive on the red carpet for the 88th Academy Awards.
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Sofia Vergara at the 88th Academy Awards.
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“Beasts of No Nation†costar Abraham Attah arrives at the 88th Academy Awards.
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Orlando Jones arrives for the 88th Academy Awards.
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TV personality Stephanie Bauer on the Oscars red carpet.
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TV personality Giuliana Rancic at the 88th Academy Awards.
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TV personality Maria Menounos at the 88th Academy Awards.
( Ethan Miller/Getty Images, left, Jason Merritt/Getty Images, right) “Thank you for giving me the belief that anything can happen,†she said, raising her statuette. “Even though I would never have believed this.â€
Vikander’s Oscar win caps off a whirlwind year for the actress, who also appeared in four other films in 2015: “Testament of Youth,†“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,†“Burnt†and “Ex Machina.†She received particularly strong notices for her performance in the latter film, portraying a humanoid robot who seduces a young man with her artificial intelligence.
OSCARS 2016: Red carpet arrivals | Best and worst dressed
But adjusting to the spotlight has not been easy for Vikander, who admitted she finds it difficult to be understood in English — even though she is proficient in the language.
“It’s tough,†she told The Times this fall. “I try to be myself, but I’m always nervous letting go. I am very serious about my work. But I think it’s a bit of a cultural thing too. Everyone thinks my English is so good. But with the language barrier, I often feel like I want to add that little extra flavor to what I’m saying. Sometimes I wish people could hang out with me for 10 minutes when I’m speaking Swedish.â€
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The cast of Best Picture winner “Spotlight†takes a selfie backstage at the 88th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre.
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Director Tom McCarthy with the Oscar for best picture, “Spotlight.†(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Actress Stacey Dash speaks onstage during the 88th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on Feb. 28, 2016.
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Michael Keaton and the cast and producers of “Spotlight†celebrate after winning the Oscar for best picture.
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The production team and cast of Spotlight celebrate the award for best picture.
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Leonardo DiCaprio (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Brie Larson (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, winner of Best Director with Tom Hardy
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Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Lady Gaga performs (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Lady Gaga and abuse survivors (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Daisy Ridley and Dev Patel (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Vice President Joe Biden (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Director Laszlo Nemes (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chris Rock and Girl Scouts (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Dave Grohl during the In Memoriam segment (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Whoopi Goldberg
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Kate Winslet and Reese Witherspoon (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Kate Winslet and Reese Witherspoon (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chris Rock (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Louis C.K. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chris Rock (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Mark Rylance (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Mark Rylance thanks Steven Spielberg before accepting his Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
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Patricia Arquette (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Filmmakers Pato Escala Pierart and Gabriel Osorio Vargas (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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The Weeknd performs (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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The Weeknd performs (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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The Weeknd performs (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Jonas Rivera and Pete Docter (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Girl Scouts sell cookies with Chris Rock (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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David White, right, and Mark Mangini (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Marcos Taylor as Suge Knight
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Rachel McAdams and Michael B. Jordan (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Emmanuel Lubezki (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Priyanka Chopra, left, and Liev Schreiber (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Margaret Sixel (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chris Evans, right, and Chadwick Boseman (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Benecio del Toro and Jennifer Garner (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Elka Warden, Lesley Vanderwalt and Damian Martin (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Presenters Margot Robbie and Jared Leto (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Cate Blanchett (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Tina Fey and Steve Carell (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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CaJenny Beavan (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Alicia Vikander (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Adam McKay, front, and Charles Randolph with their Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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Sam Smith (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Sarah Silverman (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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“The Big Short,†the anarchic, bracing broadside against Wall Street malfeasance, won the adapted screenplay Oscar at tonight’s 88th Academy Awards. The script was written by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay, who also directed. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Emily Blunt and Charlize Theron (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chris Rock (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Vikander, who grew up in Gothenburg but now lives in London, has also recently made a name for herself in the fashion world as one of the faces of Louis Vuitton. She has made the rounds this awards season with her boyfriend, fellow Oscar-nominee Michael Fassbender. The two were seated next to each other at the Golden Globes last month, where Vikander lost out in the supporting actress category to Fassbender’s “Jobs†co-star Kate Winslet.
The couple is set to appear in a romance together this year, “The Light Between Oceans.†Vikander will also appear in the next “Jason Bourne†film.
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