Swedish actress Alicia Vikander hasn’t elevated her name to a household term just yet but her currently professional trajectory suggests that day is more imminent than questionable. Her relatively quiet yet extensive career in front of the camera seems to be approaching its stride as evidenced in a captivating performance as an inquisitive robot in Alex Garland’s new Sci-fi effort, Ex Machina.
To date Ms. Vikander’s North American roles have been supporting at best and barely noticeable at worst. Her recent busy cinematic run began two years ago in The Fifth Estate, followed by Son of a Gun alongside Ewan McGregor and the effects-heavy fantasy bust, Seventh Son.
In Ex Machina, making its Blu-ray and DVD debut on July 14, 2015, Vikander is given the opportunity to spread her wings and could reach her largest audience yet on home video. The normally animated and jovial actress taps into an entirely new persona as Ava, a highly advanced artificial intelligence with a face as beautiful as the mystery behind her motives. The nuances in Vikander’s voice to express a multitude of emotions coupled with subtle movements and precise body control drawn from years as a ballerina makes for an utterly convincing portrayal of an artificial being capable of leveling the playing field with her creator.
Thanks in part to her Ex Machina performance, Vikander was able to land the female lead in the upcoming Jason Bourne sequel starring Matt Damon after passing on Assassin’s Creed, which ironically stars her boyfriend, Michael Fassbender. She will also appear in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with Henry Cavill and in Adam Jones alongside Bradley Cooper later this year, and is recently a spokeswoman for Louis Vuitton as of a few weeks ago.
Get used to the name Alicia Vikander. At this rate she’ll score a spot in either the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Cinematic Universe or a Star Wars film before the year is out.
