Pernilla August | |
|---|---|
 Pernilla August at theGuldbagge Award in 2013 | |
| Born | Mia Pernilla Hertzman-Ericson (1958-02-13)13 February 1958 (age 67) |
| Other names | Pernilla Östergren Pernilla Wallgren Pernilla Wallgren-Östergren |
| Occupation(s) | Actress,film director |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingAsta andAlba |
| Relatives | Anders August (former stepson) |
Pernilla August (Swedish pronunciation:[pæˈɳɪ̂lːaˈǎʊɡɵst]ⓘ; born 13 February 1958), also known asPernilla Östergren,Pernilla Wallgren, andPernilla Wallgren-Östergren, is a Swedish actress, director and screenwriter. She was a longtime collaborator with directorIngmar Bergman and won theBest Actress Award at the1992 Cannes Film Festival for her role in his filmThe Best Intentions. She is best known internationally for portrayingShmi Skywalker inGeorge Lucas'sStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace andStar Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
Pernilla August was born on 13 February 1958, as Mia Pernilla Hertzman-Ericson, inStockholm, Sweden.[1][2]
She started acting during her childhood, in theatre and at school.
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August's professional acting career started in 1975 when directorRoy Andersson cast her in a minor role in the filmGiliap the same year, followed from 1979 by films by other directors,Vilgot Sjöman (among them, the film aboutAlfred Nobel, 1983) andLasse Hallström. She studied acting atSwedish National Academy of Mime and Acting inStockholm 1979–82.[3]
Before finishing her studies, she attracted the attention ofIngmar Bergman, who cast her in his filmFanny and Alexander (1982),[4] playing the nanny in the director's romanticised portrait of his childhood. That marked the beginning of two decades of collaboration, collecting several international awards, including television seriesThe Best Intentions (1991),[5] where she portrayed Bergman's mother and met her second husband to be, directorBille August,[4] and TV-productionsPrivate Confessions (1996), directed byLiv Ullmann and Bergman's ownIn the Presence of a Clown (1997).[6]
August also starred inBo Widerberg'sThe Serpent's Way (1986) as well as his TV-production ofHenrik Ibsen'sThe Wild Duck (1989). Among the manyScandinavian and international films are also Bille August'sJerusalem (1996),Richard Hobert'sWhere the Rainbow Ends (1999) [granted her aGuldbagge Award as Best actress] andThe Birthday (2000],I Am Dina (2002),Björn Runge'sOm jag vänder mig om/If I Turn Around (2003) [aSilver Bear atBerlin International Film Festival 2004 and more Best actress awards],Per Fly'sManslaughter (2005), Swedish-TaiwaneseMiss Kicki (2009) andJan Troell'sTruth and Consequence (2012).
At theRoyal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, August has acted in several plays, starting 1981, several directed by Ingmar Bergman and touring internationally. These includeOphelia inWilliam Shakespeare'sHamlet (1986) [a part she has also played in another Swedish television film, 1985],August Strindberg'sA Dream Play (1986), Nora inHenrik Ibsen'sA Doll's House (1989), Hermione in Bergman's special version ofA Winter's Tale (1994), the title role inSchiller'sMary Stuart (2000) andHelene Alving inIbsen'sGhosts (2002). She also worked withRussian director Jurij Ljubimov inAlexander Pushkin'sA Feast in the Time of Plague (1996). In 1983–84, she worked at Folkteatern i Gävleborg (The Folk Theatre inGävleborg) with directorPeter Oskarson inAnton Chekhov'sThree Sisters. In 2008, she acted in the stage production ofSteel Magnolias in Stockholm.[7]
August appeared in two episodes ofGeorge Lucas'sThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in 1993.[8] Many in theEnglish-speaking world know her best asShmi Skywalker, the mother ofAnakin Skywalker,[9] from Lucas'sStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999),[10] and its sequelAttack of the Clones (2002).[11] She shared the role asVirgin Mary inMary, Mother of Jesus (1999) withMelinda Kinnaman.[12] She played a significant role in the Swedish filmSprängaren (2001) alongsideHelena Bergström. In 2004 August voiced Madame Suliman in the Swedish dub ofHowl's Moving Castle. In 2011, she reprised her role as Shmi Skywalker in the third season ofStar Wars: The Clone Wars for the episode "Overlords", which aired in 2011.[13] She played the recurring character of Queen Kristina of Sweden in theNetflix seriesYoung Royals, which premiered in 2021. In 2023 she appeared as Annie in the television seriesBlackwater, with her daughtersAsta andAlba playing young Annie and Annie's daughter Mia.[14]
After her directorial debut with the 2005 short filmTime Bomb (Blindgångare), August debuted as feature-film director andscreenwriter in 2010 withBeyond, starringNoomi Rapace andOla Rapace. The film was selected as the Swedish entry for theBest Foreign Language Film at the84th Academy Awards[15] and was much awarded at the SwedishGuldbagge Awards, including for Best Director and Best Script.[citation needed]
In October 2011, August was asked to direct a new Danish drama series,Arvingerne (The Legacy). The series premiered onDR on 1 January 2014,[16] and proved to be very successful, winning several awards and selling internationally to over 40 countries. It was renewed for two further series, which finished airing in 2017.[17]
At the1992 Cannes Film Festival August won the award forBest Actress, for her role inBille August'sThe Best Intentions.[18] For the same film she also won theBest Actress award at the28th Guldbagge Awards.[19]
In 2002 she was honoured with the Royal Swedish medalLitteris et Artibus for her artistic work.[20]
August has been married twice and changed her name both times. Her first marriage was in 1982 toKlas Östergren, with whom she has one daughter;[21] the marriage ended in divorce in 1989. The second marriage was in 1991 toBille August, with whom she has two daughters; this marriage also ended in divorce, this time in 1997.[22] She has three daughters: Agnes,Asta, andAlba.[23]
She has been known as Pernilla Östergren, Pernilla Wallgren, and Pernilla Wallgren-Östergren.[24]
