Helena Bergström

Acting

Helena Bergström

Born 1964-02-05 · Kortedala, Gothenburg, Sweden

Helena Bergström (born 5 February 1964 in Kortedala, Gothenburg) is a Swedish actress. The granddaughter of legendary Swedish actor Olof Widgren and the daughter of Hans Bergström (director) and Kerstin Widgren (actress). Bergström is married to Colin Nutley and is known for playing the female lead in many of his films. Being one of Sweden’s most highly acclaimed stage actresses she has played the lead part in plays like ”Miss Julie”, ”Twelfth Night”, ”Pygmalion”, ”Piaf”, "A Dolls House", the part of Hamlet in “Hamlet”, “Medea” and Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire”. In the autumn of 2008 she will play the part of Sally Bowles in Stockholm City Theatre’s production of “Cabaret”. Despite being born into a theatrical family, Bergström's childhood dream was to work with animals. Aged 15, she travelled to Mississippi in the US as an exchange student and lived there for a year. During this time, she became fascinated with the theatre and decided that the stage was her calling. Back in Sweden, she won a part in a TV series but failed in her first attempt to achieve a place at stage school. Thanks to tuition from Margreth Weivers, she succeeded on her third attempt in 1985. On graduating from the Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting in 1988, she worked at both the Dramaten Theatre and the Stockholm City Theatre. Her breakthrough came with the film 1939 in 1989. Colin Nutley spotted her on a poster for the film "Women on the roof" Kvinnorna på taket (1989) and gave her the leading role in his film Blackjack (1990). She was also the obvious choice for his film Änglagård (1992) as well as its sequel ”House of Angels – the Second Summer”. In 1998 she played the part of Astrid in the English production ”Still Crazy” which was to be followed by Colin Nutley’s Oscar-nominated ”Under the Sun” - a film that also received the Special Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival "for the quality of its acting". Winner of several awards including Best Actress at the Swedish Film Awards, the Montreal Film Festival and the 1995 Istanbul Film Festival for her performance in Nutley’s ”The Last Dance”. In 2007 she made her directorial debut with “Mind the Gap” (Se upp för dårarna). Has two children, a son and a daughter, with Nutley.

Acting credits

Still Crazy poster
6.9

In the 1970s, Strange Fruit were it. They lived the rock lifestyle to the max, groupies, drugs, internal tension and an ex front man dead from an overdose. Even their demise was glamorous; when lightning struck the stage during an outdoor festival. Twenty years on, these former rock gods they have now sunk deep into obscurity when the idea of a reunion tour is lodged in the head of Tony, former keyboard player of the Fruits. Tony sets out to find his former bandmates with the help of former manager Karen to see if they can recapture the magic and give themselves a second chance.

Still Crazy

1998

Bröllop, begravning och dop - filmen poster
4.5

An independent sequel to the TV series. Here we follow the families Öhrn and Seger and take us through autumn and winter on our way to Christmas celebrations and to a New Year's Eve which inevitably means an end to the old and a beginning of something new… A film about love and death and everything in between.

Bröllop, begravning och dop - filmen

2021

Se mig! poster
9.0

More and more people dream of becoming famous. It has become the ultimate evidence of being "somebody". What you're famous for is many times less important. Filmmakers Stina Gardell and Benjamin Wolff have followed six people whose lives revolve around the Stockholm celebrity circuit.

Se mig!

2001

Under the Sun poster
6.0

Olof lives alone on his family's farm after the death of his mother. Unable to read and write, he is dependent on his younger friend, Erik, who helps him in the afternoons. Once a sailor, Erik brags of having known hundreds of women. Out of the blue, Olof advertises in the local paper for a young lady housekeeper, and Ellen, a middle-class city woman, arrives to take over the house and, as the summer goes on, Olof's heart and Erik's desire as well.

Under the Sun

1998

House of Angels poster
5.9

In a small village in Västergötland, everything is turned upside-down when the local loner dies and his cottage is inherited by his unknown relative Fanny. She rides into town on a big black motorcycle with her androgynous boyfriend Zack, wearing black leather and spikes. When they decide to stay, Flogfält's plans to buy the cottage are upset.

House of Angels

1992

Ernst-Hugo poster
8.0

A gripping portrait of the dramatic, extravagant and ego-centric actor Ernst-Hugo Järegård (1928-1998) who would always be at the center of everything. On the out side he was a hailed and confident diva. In his solitude he was plagued by insomnia, anxiety and a complicated relationship with his father. Includes Ernst-Hugo Järegårds last performance "Aktörens läte/ The sound of the actor" (1998) and "Abstract Poker" (1971).

Ernst-Hugo

2008

VD poster
6.7

A managing director (Ernst-Hugo Järegård) comes uninvited home to one of his workers and humiliates him and his girlfriend.

VD

1988

Ängel poster
7.5

The writer Stig Larsson's feature film debut. A different film which moves around various acting styles - various reality levels. The writer Stig converses with his friend Kim who's in London. A conversation which will get a fateful result.

Ängel

1989

Medicine poster
4.9

Johanna works as a journalist on a women magazine. But her boss is an idiot, her salary is ridiculous and her husband has left her for a younger woman. With a great life crisis she decided to try a new medicine.

Medicine

2014

House of Angels: The Second Summer poster
4.5

Fanny and Zack is back, after she inherited Änglagård last year. Everytone looks forward to their new stay. Axel has told Fanny he is her father, but who else? Ivar also thinks he is her father. Be ready for expectations and confusions.

House of Angels: The Second Summer

1994

BlackJack poster
5.3

Kaj, Lennart and Robert are 30-somethings who go out to dance every weekend. At one dance they meet Inger, whom Kaj falls in love with. Kaj has some friends who are playing in a band. The drummer Tommy is known for being the local Casanova, seducing women when ever he gets the chance. It doesn't take him long to have an affair with Inger, behind Kaj's back.

BlackJack

1990

The Hunters poster
6.5

A policeman from Stockholm come to Norrbotten in Sweden, to join his brother, now when their father is dead. While there he starts to work on a long-running case where reindeers have been poached and soon discovers that his brother is involved...

The Hunters

1996

A Holy Mess poster
5.2

A comedy about the new alternative family and how different family situations and relationships come to a head during the premier family weekend.

A Holy Mess

2015

1939 poster
4.9

When the war breaks out, Annika lives with her parents in Värmland, close to the border to Norway. Her cousin Harald is a dealer in the black market but has to escape from the police to Norway. Annika moves to Stockholm and gets a job as a waitress. She meets the happy-go-lucky Berit and together they have a wonderful time. She also meets a young man, Bengt, whom she marries. But almost immediately she discovers that her husband is different from the man who was courting her. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.

1939

1989

The Women on the Roof poster
4.4

An innocent and beautiful girl, Linnea rents an apartment in Stockholm just before WWI. As she works for an old man who owns a photography studio she meets Anna, a photographer with whom she develops a complex friendship. Anna’s circus-performer boyfriend and European politics complicate Linnea’s routine.

The Women on the Roof

1989

The Last Dance poster
5.2

Blackpool, a dancing contest, a dead woman. This is the opening scene of this movie, which then continues by telling us the story preceding this sad accident - or is it a murder? We will get to know the tensed relationship of the dancing contestant couple Tove and Claes, and see how there lives are affected by Liselott and Lennart, their opponents and friends.

The Last Dance

1993

The Queen of Sheba's Pearls poster
5.8

Set in post-war England, a mysterious woman arrives at the Prettys' rural family home on the eve of young Jack's 16th birthday. Her remarkable likeness to Jack's mother, Emily, who tragically died in an accident eight years ago both baffles and unsettles the family. She even wears the same pearls that Emily wore.

The Queen of Sheba's Pearls

2004

Once in a Lifetime poster
4.5

Mona Bergström is a sweet eurovision-obsessed woman in her 30s. She is married to a lazy husband and has four children, all named after her favorite Swedish Eurovision popstars. Her brother is a crossdressing guy self-titled "Candy Darling". Mona works in a retirement home for disabled people, where she is responsible for taking care of a young man named David who suffers a movement-restricting disease forcing him into a wheelchair. David's parents have abandoned him, as they wanted a normal child. Mona holds a big place in David's heart, and vica versa. David's goal is to get his parents to come and visit him, and he wants to show them that he is a great person, despite his handicap. Therefore he works with music on his computer, and his goal is to create a song, send it to "The Cardigans", a famous Swedish band and have them play the song and credit him, hoping his parents would spot it and want to visit him.

Once in a Lifetime

2000

Rise Above - Filmen om Anton Hysén poster
NR

In 2011, Anton Hysén comes out as Sweden's first male gay footballer. Suddenly he has a decision to make - to pursue the sacrificial dream of becoming a professional footballer, or to step into a world that generates immediate recognition.

Rise Above - Filmen om Anton Hysén

2013

Somewhere Else poster
5.0

Alongside a tranquil road somewhere in Sweden live a number of people who are pretty much like people in general. When a highly improbable and catastrophic chain of events besets them, it leads to break up and change. A tragicomic story that feels both familiar and alien at the same time.

Somewhere Else

2011

Paradiset poster
5.1

Tabloid journalist Annika Bengtzon is writing about a murder in the port of Stockholm and she suspects that the Yugoslav mafia is involved. However, she also finds links to a foundation that runs a shelter for battered women, Paradiset. Looking for a good story she also meets a welfare official, Thomas, who also thinks that the foundation should be looked into. Written by Mattias Thuresson

Paradiset

2003

Malou möter Helena Bergström poster
NR

Helena Bergström is fearless in the spotlight, but anxiety and worry have accompanied the actor and director her entire life. Helena was only 26 when she met director Colin Nutley, who gave her the lead role in Black Jack, the film that floored Swedish cinema audiences. In a candid interview with Malou von Sivers, the couple talk about what it's like to grow and age together.

Malou möter Helena Bergström

2024

Resan till Piemonte poster
NR

The film follows four newly retired people who travel to Italy to help Eva sell an olive farm she inherited. But during their sunny stay, new thoughts arise about life, freedom and the dreams they have yet to realize. The trip becomes a chance to reevaluate what really matters when you reach the second half of life.

Resan till Piemonte

2026

Deadline poster
4.8

The Victoriastadium is totally destroyed in a bomb attack and Christina Furhage, head-responsible for the Olympic Games in Stockholm, dies with it. Why did someone destroy the stadium and why is Christina murdered? The police desperately seek for clues that will lead them to the perpetrator but without any luck. As the Olympic Games draws near the situation becomes more desperate. Annika Bengtzon, a reporter for Kvällsposten, se a connection that no one else sees and without understanding it she starts a carousel that in the end will threaten her own life.

Deadline

2001

Behind the camera

So Different poster
4.5

Single mother Lotta and her younger sister Sanna are both successful in their different jobs, and are living very different lives, but are attracted to men who are their opposites.

So Different

2009

Bröllop, begravning och dop - filmen poster
4.5

An independent sequel to the TV series. Here we follow the families Öhrn and Seger and take us through autumn and winter on our way to Christmas celebrations and to a New Year's Eve which inevitably means an end to the old and a beginning of something new… A film about love and death and everything in between.

Bröllop, begravning och dop - filmen

2021

Mending Hugo's Heart poster
6.0

"What a Damn Circus" - A young university student Hugo falls in love with promising violinist Agnes, but something happens that changes his life completely. Moving on, the story turns into a romantic drama-comedy with great portions of humour and warmth, as Hugo ends up at Circus Margôt and is drawn into that absorbing existence.

Mending Hugo's Heart

2017

Mending Hugo's Heart poster
6.0

"What a Damn Circus" - A young university student Hugo falls in love with promising violinist Agnes, but something happens that changes his life completely. Moving on, the story turns into a romantic drama-comedy with great portions of humour and warmth, as Hugo ends up at Circus Margôt and is drawn into that absorbing existence.

Mending Hugo's Heart

2017

Dancing Queens poster
5.9

The story of Dylan Pettersson, a 23-year-old girl from a small island in the Swedish archipelago with big dancing aspirations.

Dancing Queens

2021

Dancing Queens poster
5.9

The story of Dylan Pettersson, a 23-year-old girl from a small island in the Swedish archipelago with big dancing aspirations.

Dancing Queens

2021

A Holy Mess poster
5.2

A comedy about the new alternative family and how different family situations and relationships come to a head during the premier family weekend.

A Holy Mess

2015

A Holy Mess poster
5.2

A comedy about the new alternative family and how different family situations and relationships come to a head during the premier family weekend.

A Holy Mess

2015

Se upp för dårarna poster
5.3

Two girls from different backgrounds, one an immigrant from Turkey and the other a girl who needs to get out of her father's shadow, apply to the police academy, where they become close friends.

Se upp för dårarna

2007

Se upp för dårarna poster
5.3

Two girls from different backgrounds, one an immigrant from Turkey and the other a girl who needs to get out of her father's shadow, apply to the police academy, where they become close friends.

Se upp för dårarna

2007

Julie poster
3.8

It's Midsummer Eve and Julie sets her sights on Jean, Kristin's betrothed. What can Kristin do? Both she and Jean are employed by Julie's father. Julie gets her night with Jean. But at what cost?

Julie

2013

Julie poster
3.8

It's Midsummer Eve and Julie sets her sights on Jean, Kristin's betrothed. What can Kristin do? Both she and Jean are employed by Julie's father. Julie gets her night with Jean. But at what cost?

Julie

2013

No More F*cks To Give poster
6.7

Mia Skäringer mixes lightning-fast humor with music and honest monologues in an intimate and charged special performance. It is a show about being a woman, about owning oneself and dictating one's own terms.

No More F*cks To Give

2020