Helena Mattsson is a Swedish-American actress living and working in Hollywood.

Life and career

Mattsson was born and raised in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden. She began acting at a young age, performing in plays, musicals and concerts. She studied acting at the highly selective

Södra Latin Södra Latin, officially Södra Latins gymnasium, ("Southern Latin" in Swedish) is an upper secondary school ("''gymnasieskola''"), situated in Södermalm, Stockholm. The current school building was inaugurated in 1891. History Södra Latin has a ...

upper secondary school in

Södermalm Södermalm, often shortened to just Söder, is a district and island in central Stockholm. Overview The district covers the large island of the same name (formerly called ''Åsön''). Although Södermalm usually is considered an island, wat ...

, which she credits with giving her the confidence to pursue her chosen career. Mattsson had early roles in ''

Wild Side Story ''Wild Side Story'' is a parody musical that originated in 1973 as a drag show on the gay scene of Miami Beach, soon developed there into an underground happening for mixed audiences, and up until 2004 was performed hundreds of times in Florida, ...

'' and other

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

s in Stockholm. She moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, as a teenager to attend theatre school. At the age of 19, she moved to Hollywood to audition for a TV series. Her planned short visit became permanent after she won a role the short-lived 2004 TV series ''Sweden, Ohio''. Mattsson's accent initially held her back: "When I started working, my thick Swedish accent lost me a lot of roles. A defining point in my career definitely came when I started to lose it. I was able to play more American roles at that point, and my career took a turn for the better." In 2007, she starred in '' Species: The Awakening'', where she portrayed Miranda, an alien/human hybrid. She also appeared in the films '' You and I'' and '' Surrogates''. Mattsson also appeared in the music video of

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simone Butler (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums) ...

's " Country Girl" in 2006. Her television credits include three episodes of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

series ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'' as Irina and in three episodes of ''

Nikita Nikita may refer to: * Nikita (given name) * Nikita, Crimea, a town in Crimea * Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore Film and television *''Little Nikita'', a 1988 film * ''La Femme Nikita'' (film), also known as ''Nikita'', a 19 ...

'' as Cassandra Ovechkin. She played Alexis Blume in the TV series '' 666 Park Avenue''. She appeared in a beaver costume in a

Nespresso Nestlé Nespresso S.A., trading as Nespresso, is an operating unit of the Nestlé Group, based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Nespresso machines brew espresso and coffee from coffee capsules (or ''pods'' in machines for home or professional use), ...

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

titled "Training Day" that also featured

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

and

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

in 2016. Her younger sister Sofia is also an actress.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mattsson, Helena 1984 births Swedish film actresses Swedish television actresses Actresses from Stockholm Swedish expatriates in the United States Actresses from Los Angeles Living people 21st-century American actresses 21st-century Swedish actresses Naturalized citizens of the United States