Helena Kristina Bergström Nutley (Swedish pronunciation: [hɛˈlêːna ˈbæ̂rjstrœm]; born 5 February 1964[1]) is a Swedish actress and film director. From an acting family, she began her career in 1982. She has appeared on the stages of the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten) and the Stockholm City Theatre, but is best known for her work in films. The Women on the Roof is considered a breakout role for her. Her most awarded film is The Last Dance, for which she received the Guldbagge Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Festival Awards in Montreal and Istanbul. Her husband, Colin Nutley, has directed her in several movies. In 2007, she directed for the first time for the film Mind the Gap. She is also a screenwriter and a singer.

Helena Bergström
Bergström in 2013
Born
Helena Kristina Bergström

(1964-02-05) 5 February 1964 (age 60)
NationalitySwedish
Occupation(s)Actress, director
Years active1988–present
SpouseColin Nutley
ChildrenMolly, Timothy
Parent(s)Hans Bergström
Kerstin Widgren
RelativesOlof Widgren (grandfather)

Early and personal life

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Bergström was born in Kortedala, Gothenburg,[1][2] the daughter of actress Kerstin Widgren[3] and Hans Bergström, a director and actor. Her maternal grandfather, Olof Widgren, was also an actor.[2]

Bergström studied in Mississippi in the United States as an exchange student when she was a teenager.[3]

She is married to Colin Nutley, with whom she has two children, Molly and Timothy,[4] and a stepson, Daniel Nutley.[3] They met while filming Blackjack. At the time, Nutley was married and was 20 years her senior.[4] They live in an apartment on Kungsholmen, an island in central Stockholm, where her grandparents lived. They also have a house in the country.[3][5]

Career

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She first appeared in a movie directed by her father in 1978, entitled Sweet Home.[2] Bergström embarked on a film career in 1982,[1] working in the television mini-series "Time Out".[6] A year later she appeared in the satirical comedy series Vidöppet, or Wide Open in English.[3][6] In 1988, she graduated from "Teaterhögskolan", the theatre academy, in Stockholm,[6] after which she worked at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten) and at the Stockholm City Theatre.[2][3]

In 2008, she starred in a drama about Nobel Prize-winning author Selma Lagerlöf.[1] She is known for her work in films, such as Miss Julie and House of Angels.[3] The Woman on the Roof is described as the role that made her a noted actress.[2] Although it was not a box office success, it was praised by the film critics.[6] She became more notable after her "vivid portrayal of a tough city girl" during World War II in 1939.[6] In 1990, she received the Swedish Film Academy Kurt Linder scholarship, and in 1992 Teaterförbundet Daniel Engdahl scholarship.[2]

She has been directed by her husband in films including Black Jack, House of Angels, The Last Dance.[2] Her husband has directed Bergström in films involving sex scenes; she said he found this to be uncomfortable.[7]

With Tove Alsterdal, a playwright and journalist, she wrote her first screenplay, Så olika (2009), or So Different in English.[8] She first directed Mind the Gap , which was released in 2007.[2] In 2015, she directed her fourth film, Holy Mess (Swedish: En underbar jävla jul) She is also a singer, singing more than 100 songs of Édith Piaf at the City Theatre. In 2002, she recorded an album of Piaf songs.[2]

Filmography

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Year Swedish title English title Role Award
1982 Time Out Time Out (TV series) actor[6]
1983 Vidöppet (TV series) Wide Open (TV series) actor[6]
1987 Uppvaknandet The Awakening actor[9]
1988 Friends Friends actor [10]
1989 Husbonden (TV series) The Master actor[9]
1989 Kvinnorna på taket The Women on the Roof actor[11]
1989 1939 1939 actor[11]
1990 Black Jack Blackjack actor[9]
1992 Änglagård House of Angels actor Nominated for Guldbagge Award for Best Actress and Prize (Stockholm)[11][12][13]
1993 Pariserhjulet The Ferris Wheel actor Guldbagge Award for Best Actress[14]
1993 Sista dansen The Last Dance actor Guldbagge Award for Best Actress[11][15] and Festival Award (Montreal, Istanbul)[13]
1994 Änglagård – andra sommaren House of Angels – The Second Summer actor[9]
1996 Jägarna The Hunters actor[11]
1996 Sånt är livet Such Is Life actor[11]
1998 Under solen Under the Sun actor[16]
1998 Still Crazy Still Crazy actor[11][17]
2000 Livet är en schlager Once in a Lifetime actor[11]
2001 Sprängaren Deadline actor[11][18] Nominated for Guldbagge Award for Best Actress[13]
2002 Mrs Klein (TV) Mrs. Klein (TV) actor[9]
2003 Paradiset Paradise actor[11][18]
2004 The Queen of Sheba's Pearls The Queen of Sheba's Pearls actor[11]
2005 Fordringsägare Creditors actor[19]
2006 Heartbreak Hotel Heartbreak Hotel actor Festival Award (Festroia)[11][13]
2007 Se upp för dårarna Mind the Gap director[11][20]
2008 Angel Angel actor[9]
2008 Ernst-Hugo Ernst-Hugo actor[9]
2008 Selma (TV) Selma (TV) actor[9]
2009 Så olika So Different screenwriter, director[11][9]
2010 Änglagård – tredje gången gillt Angels – Third Time Lucky actor[11]
2011 Någon annanstans i Sverige Somewhere Else actor Nomination - Guldbagge Award for Best Actress - Supporting role[9][13]
2013 Julie Julie director[11]
2014 Medicinen Medicine actor [11]
2014 Den fjärde mannen The Fourth Man actor [9]
2015 En underbar jävla jul A Holy Mess screenwriter, actor[9]
2017 Vilken jävla cirkus Mending Hugo's Heart director
2021 Dancing Queens Dancing Queens director
2022, 2024 Bäckström Bäckström actor

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Laquist, Erik (22 December 2008). "Helena, vem är Selma Lagerlöf för dig?". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Helena Bergström - Biography". Swedish Film Institute. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Helena Bergström: "Att barnen flyttar är svårt"". Expressen. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2017 – via translate.google.com.
  4. ^ a b "Helena Bergström: "Det är inte lätt att skiljas"" (in Swedish). Expressen. 30 July 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Kungsholmen: District guide". Visit Stockholm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Per Olov Qvist; Peter von Bagh (2000). Guide to the Cinema of Sweden and Finland. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-0-313-30377-7.
  7. ^ "Helena Bergström om omtalade sexscenen" (in Swedish). Expressen. 6 December 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  8. ^ John-Henri Holmberg (7 January 2014). A Darker Shade of Sweden. Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-8021-9244-8.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Helena Bergström". The Swedish Film Database. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Friends (1988)". The Swedish Film Database. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Helena Bergström". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  12. ^ John Sundholm (31 August 2012). Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema. Scarecrow Preaa. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-8108-5524-3.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Awards". The Swedish Film Database. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  14. ^ "Pariserhjulet (1993)". The Swedish Film Database. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  15. ^ "Sista dansen (1993)". The Swedish Film Database. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  16. ^ Tom Lynch (1 December 2002). Screen World 2002. Hal Leonard. p. 267. ISBN 978-1-55783-598-7.
  17. ^ John Willis; Barry Monush (1 April 2000). Screen World 1999. Hal Leonard. p. 279. ISBN 978-1-55783-411-9.
  18. ^ a b Scandinavian Crime Fiction. University of Wales Press. 1 January 2011. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-7083-2331-1.
  19. ^ Michael Robinson (2008). An International Annotated Bibliography of Strindberg Studies 1870-2005: Vol. 2, the Plays. MHRA. p. 949. ISBN 978-0-947623-82-1.
  20. ^ David Long (26 December 2010). Little Book of the London Underground. History Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-7524-6236-3.
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