Frida Gustavsson on Her New Act—The Lead Role in the Swedish Film Swoon

Opening on Valentine’s Day in Sweden is a new film, Eld & Lågor (Swoon), that will have resonance for fashion folk even beyond the title. For starters, the lead is played by Frida Gustavsson, who, in her life as a top model, racked up miles gracing catwalks in between creating unforgettable images for Vogue. A take on real-life events, Swoon is a Romeo and Juliet story peppered with subplots and set during World War II. Gustavsson plays Ninni Nilsson, the daughter of amusement park owners, and a creative, unstable young woman, “who struggles to find her place in the world,” and falls for the son of her parents’ rival, the playboy John Lindgren (Albin Grenholm). “They’re complete opposites, but they find something in each other, and form a very, very strong bond,” says the actress, who, upon discovering that her riding teacher’s husband is the son of the real life “Ninni,” felt almost destined to play the part.

Directors Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein were after magical realism and achieved that, says Gustavsson, by aiming for an interpretation, rather than a re-creation, of the ’40s. Similarly, the costumes crafted by Icelandic costume designer Margrét Einarsdóttir evoke a mood rather than following vintage patterns. Though conceived about four years ago, these romantic garments feel on-point in the wake of Dior’s circus-theme couture outing. Play, it seems, is the thing in fashion right now.

Here, Gustavsson shares her journey from awkward teenager to lead actress with Vogue.

Have you always been interested in acting?
I was that little theater-monkey kid when I was little. I loved to put on shows, sing and dance and make my own little plays. I used to make my own movies with my little ponies and superhero dolls. I did a few little acting things and I went to a theater school. Then puberty hit, [the time when] you start to get insecure about your body and what you look like, and I lost my confidence completely. I became a very shy teenager and I started doing a lot of sports. Then, just by coincidence, I got scouted to be a model.

How did that happen?
At IKEA, funnily enough. I was buying meatballs with my dad and Jenny from Stockholmsgruppen came up and said, “Oh hi, do you want to be a model?” I just started laughing and I was like, “You can’t be serious.” My big dream then was to become a sports star. I was doing track and field, and I was competing in everything. I was the tall, weird, skinny girl in my school. I struggled a lot with my confidence, and I didn’t know if I dared be a model. I almost thought it was a prank, but Jenny kept calling and I decided to give it a shot. The summer I turned 16 I was in Paris. That’s when I met Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri, who cast me for their Valentino couture show. It all went just super fast, I went from being this strange art- and fashion-loving kid from suburbia to becoming a person with motorcycle drivers in Paris and paparazzi taking pictures of me.

What were some of the highlights of your modeling career?
It meant so much for me at 16 to meet someone like Grace Coddington or especially Phyllis Posnick, who I did so many shoots with at American Vogue. They would talk to me in a way that adults never had before, and they were really interested in what I had to say and what I could bring to the story. [I would get a brief the night before a shoot saying something] like, “We’re doing something kind of Great Gatsby–esque,” and I would just be on my computer Googling, trying to read everything, trying to find images and creating this picture in my head of what I wanted to bring the next day. I think [my interest in acting was rekindled] when I worked with people like Patrick Demarchelier, or especially Tim Walker, or John Galliano or Jean Paul Gaultier, these people who took fashion beyond being commercial. They were really creating something; creating a story, creating people and I thought, This is really what I love to do. This is what I think I’m the best at, portraying these characters.

What was the tipping point that sent you in the direction of acting?
I was living in New York and going back and forth to Sweden. I never really completely felt at home in the modeling industry. I always felt very connected to Sweden and back home I was working in the studio with the artist Carsten Höller, and after a while I just felt it was time to make a decision: move to New York completely or take a giant leap of faith in myself and try to pursue my dream. I decided on the latter and I did a six-month, full-on theater-school course.

How did you end up in Swoon?
I got a small part in a Nordic crime noir, then, around 2015, I got the script for Swoon. I auditioned for that and I was like, I must be so bad, they’re asking me to come back and do it differently all these times. My friend said, “No, Frida, that’s a good thing that you’re going back.” I wanted this to be my first real, proper role because it was such a great character and such a big project.

It’s a sort of Romeo and Juliet story, right?
Very much. Stockholm is all these different islands, and in Djurgården, which is the royal hunting grounds, they have this amusement park called Gröna Lund. It’s like Coney Island; it’s such a staple of Swedish culture and someplace that everyone in Sweden knows about. [It’s where you go] when you are a teenager and you go into the city with your friends, [hoping] you’re going to find someone to maybe kiss. It’s embedded in teenage, coming-of-age culture in Sweden. Gröna Lund was founded at the turn of the century. Then another family, with a traveling amusement park, decided to set up right across the street from Gröna Lund, which was a little more upscale. Of course these families hated each other. The daughter of Gröna Lund falls in love with the son [of the other family]. It’s set during World War II, so it’s a very classic romantic Romeo and Juliet story, but it brings in all these other little side plots. The visuals are a little bit inspired by The Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge—they’re very magical.

How has your modeling experience impacted your acting?
I’ve seen my face probably more than a person should see their face in their life, so you get that really precise control of your face. I’d say that modeling is a very light version of acting. That doesn’t mean that any model can become a great actress, but I think you get a lot of tools; you work with your body, you work with portraying emotions. If modeling is a two-dimensional portrayal of a person, I think acting is three-dimensional. I thought that was it was very comforting, knowing how to find the light . . . that was just kind of natural, so I could completely focus on the character.

What about the costumes?
We worked with a fantastic Icelandic costume designer called Margrét Einarsdóttir. She’s so inspiring to me. When I came into the studio it was like meeting Jean Paul Gaultier or John Galliano; she just had a grand vision. Every garment that we were wearing was made from scratch, and I had 14 costume changes, which is a lot. I think she really captured that amusement park, anything-can-happen, nothing-is-impossible kind of vibe.

What’s your takeaway from this experience?
It’s changed my life completely—it’s my biggest dream, and to achieve that feels so beautiful. [I wish I could have] just sent this to myself when I was a strange 11-year-old girl sitting, trying to study my lines for the school play. The takeaway from the story of the film is that no dream is too big; and no matter how forbidden love is, it’s worth it.

This interview has been edited and condensed.