Alicia Vikander opens up about suffering 'painful' miscarriage before welcoming son with husband Michael Fassbender
Alicia Vikander met her now-husband, actor Michael Fassbender, on the set of the 2016 film The Light Between Oceans, in which they played a couple experiencing pregnancy loss. In a candid new interview with the Sunday Times, the Oscar-winning actress has revealed how their real-life romance mirrored their their fictional one.
“We have a child now, but it took us time,” the Swedish star, 33, told the publication of experiencing a miscarriage before welcoming their son, who is now 17 months old.
“[The miscarriage] was so extreme, painful to go through and, of course, it made me recall making that film," Vikander added. “That film has another meaning now.”
These days, she and Fassbender live in Lisbon with their son, who was just 3 months old when Vikander returned to work on her new HBO miniseries, Irma Vep.
"It was intense," she admitted of juggling a new baby with work. "Sometimes they came to the set just so he could see my face.”
To find a sense of work/life balance, the couple works to make sure there's always one parent with their child.
"We do every second job,” she explained. “One stays at home while the other works.”
Now, they've found a rhythm that works for the family of three.
“I have my tiny family with me and that becomes home wherever you are,” said Vikander.
Vikander, who won an Oscar for her star-making turn in 2016's The Danish Girl, also opened up about feeling “very lonely" as she found fame in her 20s.
“If I didn’t have my friends to call, it would have been difficult. I’ve seen what can happen to people in my industry," she noted. Later, at a time when she was supposed to be on top of the world, she felt a strong sense of personal disillusionment that contrasted with her professional accomplishments.
“But there was juxtaposition,” said Vikander. “When, in other people’s eyes, I was at my height of fame, I was the most sad. I kept telling myself, ‘Take it in. It is incredible.’ But I didn’t know what to do. There were all these first-class flights, five-star rooms. But I was always by myself. I was by myself.”
Vikander said she doesn't understand how some stars can hide the struggles they're experiencing off-screen in order to keep appearance up.
“Sometimes you go through things that are tough in life and if you have an office job you can step away for a bit. But there are times that myself or colleagues have been through something and, well, I can’t understand how they went on to the red carpet afterwards. To be met by people asking, ‘How are you doing?’ Given what they had just been through? Most people would not be able to step out of their house,” said Vikander.
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