Is Alicia Vikander the Next Jessica Chastain? The 'Ex Machina' Star on the Cusp of a Breakthrough Year

Alicia Vikander in ‘Ex Machina’ (A24)

Back in 2011, Jessica Chastain came from seemingly nowhere to appear in six major theatrical releases, ending the year as one of the most in-demand actresses around. But a 26-year-old Swedish actress, still a relative unknown in the U.S, is about to have a year that should at least match, if not exceed Chastain’s breakthrough.

Alicia Vikander, who stars in the excellent sci-fi drama Ex Machina, now in theaters, has a grand total of nine movies potentially being released in 2015, from indie dramas to summer blockbusters to multiple potential awards contenders. Even if you don’t recognize her name right now, she’s likely to be inescapable by Christmas.

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Admittedly, her year didn’t get off to the best start: the supernatural thriller Seventh Son was a long-delayed bust, and she was the best thing in the lukewarm Aussie crime drama Son Of A Gun, playing a Russian femme fatale.

But she’s astonishing as the slippery, graceful artificially intelligent being Ava in Ex Machina and is just as good opposite Game of Thrones star Kit Harington in the World War I drama Testament Of Youth, that’s hitting theaters in June. And those two are just a warmup.

Kit Harington and Vikander in ‘Testament of Youth’ (Sony Pictures Classics)

The summer will see her in blockbuster mode in Guy Ritchie’s spy caper The Man From U.N.C.L.E, before a role in the fall among the all-star cast of the Bradley Cooper-starring chef rom-com Adam Jones. And then comes awards season, where she has leads in three touted period dramas: opposite Dane DeHaan in Tulip Fever from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom director Justin Chadwick; opposite defending Oscar champ Eddie Redmayne in the biopic The Danish Girl from The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper; and opposite rumored boyfriend Michael Fassbender in Derek Cianfrance’s The Light Between Oceans.

Born in Gothenburg in 1988, Vikander trained as a ballerina before receiving a screen breakthrough thanks to future Let The Right One In director Tomas Alfredson in the TV series En decemberdröm. Her big-screen arrival came when she beat out Noomi Rapace to star in the acclaimed 2010 romantic drama Pure, a hit on the festival circuit.

Vikander earlier this month (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)

She moved to London, sharing a flat she described to the Daily Telegraph as “the dirtiest bachelorette pad” with her friends the Swedish duo Icona Pop, before getting the attention of Hollywood casting agents. She burst into tears of happiness in a Starbucks when she received a phone call with the news that she was being flown to LA to test for the lead in the action fairy tale Snow White and The Huntsman. (“People thought I was having a breakup with my boyfriend!” she told W magazine.).

Vikander is already a cover girl, landing on the April cover of ‘W’ (@W Magazine)

Kristen Stewart ultimately won the part, but Vikander had already booked some high-profile gigs, winning a key supporting role alongside Keira Knightley in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina. That gave her her English-language breakthrough, though the roles didn’t come flooding in immediately: She was terrific in the Swedish-language drama Hotell, but had an underwritten role in the flop Julian Assange biopic The Fifth Estate.

“I’ve had many years of working a lot without being in the public eye,” Vikander told W last month for the magazine’s cover story. “But by this time next year, I think things are going to change. I’m ready to be a bit more known.” With a line-up like the one that Vikander has, being known seems like a certainty.

Watch the trailer for ‘Ex Machina:’

This post has been corrected to reflect that Justin Chadwick is the director of 'Tulip Fever.'