Irina Björklund is a Finnish actress.

Björklund was born in Danderyd, Stockholm County

Stockholm County

Stockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 but she quickly moved to Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 with her family. She has acted in movies and in television series. Some well known movies include Rukajärven tie

Rukajärven tie

Ambush is a 1999 Finnish war film directed by Olli Saarela. Literally "The Road to Rukajärvi", the film debuted on 22 January 1999 in Finland, after which it was released internationally. The film is based on a book written by Antti Tuuri and its leads are played by Peter Franzén as Lt. Eero...

(int. Ambush), Levottomat (int. Restless), Minä ja Morrison (int. Me and Morrison), and Vieraalla Maalla (int. Land of Love). Björklund is married to Finnish actor Peter Franzén

Peter Franzen

Peter Franzen is a retired English journalist, who was the editor of the Norwich-based regional newspaper the Eastern Daily Press, a position he occupied from 1993 until his retirement in 2009...

. In September 2007, Björklund gave birth to their first child, a boy.

Björklund moved to the United States in 1999. She currently lives in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 with her husband. She has also lived in France during her early years.

She fluently speaks Finnish, Swedish, French, English and also some Russian, and Spanish.. She studied in the Theatre Academy of Finland

Theatre Academy (Finland)

The Theatre Academy is located in Helsinki. It provides education in performing arts, including acting , directing, dramaturgy and script writing, dance, choreography, lighting design and sound design...

 from 1993 to 1996. She left the school when Svenska Teatern (Swedish theatre in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

) hired her.

In 1999, she was awarded the Jussi

Jussi

The Jussi Award is an accolade to recognize excellence of professionals in the Finnish film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony is held at the beginning of each year, and it is the most important film industry event in Finland.The first Jussi Awards ceremony was...

 prize as best leading actress for her role as Milla in the movie Minä ja Morrison.She made her breakthrough in the movie Rukajärven tie where she played Lotta

Lotta Svärd

Lotta Svärd was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. During the Finnish Civil War it was associated with the Suojeluskunta. After the war Lotta Svärd was founded as a separate organisation on September 9, 1920. The name comes from a poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg...

 Kaarina Vainikainen. She was awarded the Shooting Star prize in the Berlin Film Festival in 2004.

In September 2010, Björklund's career in the United States took a leap, when she had a minor role in The American

The American (2010 film)

The American is a 2010 American thriller film directed by Anton Corbijn and starring George Clooney, Thekla Reuten, Violante Placido, Irina Björklund, and Paolo Bonacelli. It is an adaptation of the 1990 novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth...

, alongside George Clooney

George Clooney

George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...

. She played the role of Clooney's lover, Ingrid.

Filmography

• The American
  The American (2010 film)
  The American is a 2010 American thriller film directed by Anton Corbijn and starring George Clooney, Thekla Reuten, Violante Placido, Irina Björklund, and Paolo Bonacelli. It is an adaptation of the 1990 novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth...
  
  (2010)
• The Butcher
  The Butcher (2009 film)
  The Butcher is a 2009 Action film directed by Jesse Johnson and starring Eric Roberts.-Plot:Merle Hench, nicknamed "The Butcher" is a henchman for gangster Murdoch , until Hench takes the fall for his boss...
  
  (2009)
• Kolme viisasta miestä / Three Wise Men (2008)
• Dustclouds
  Dustclouds
  Dustclouds is the second film by director Filip Jan Rymsza. It serves as a companion to his 2004 film Sandcastles. Dustclouds and Sandcastles travel in a ceaseless loop, forming a diptych titled Sunday Morning Sublime. Each film starts where the other leaves off and can be seen independently or...
  
  (2007)
• Perviy posle Boga (2005)
• Red Lightning (2005)
• Trouble with Sex (2005)
• Red Is the Color of (2004)
• Lost
  Lost (2004 film)
  Lost is a 2004 American thriller film starring Dean Cain. It was written and directed by first time filmmaker, Darren Lemke.-Plot:After orchestrating a robbery, bank Vice President Jeremy Stanton gets lost driving in the desert, en route to meeting his family with a deadline of eight hours...
  
  (2004)
• Kolmas aalto / The Third Wave
  The Third Wave (film)
  The Third Wave is a Swedish action movie from 2003 directed by Anders Nilsson and starring Jakob Eklund. It is the third film in the series about police officer Johan Falk , the first two being Zero Tolerance and Executive Protection...
  
  (2003)
• Honey Baby (2003)
• Vieraalla maalla / Land of Love (2003)
• Talismanen (2002) (TV series)
• Yorick (2002)
• Muodollisesti pätevä (1999) (TV series)
• Minä ja Morrison / Me and Morrison
  Me and Morrison
  Me and Morrison is a 2001 Finnish romantic drama film directed by Lenka Hellstedt. The film is based on the novel Minä ja Morrison by Katariina Souri and it is the second film in the Restless trilogy, preceded by Restless and followed by Addiction .- Cast :* Irina Björklund as Milla* Samuli...
  
  (2001)
• Dirlandaa (2000) (TV series)
• The Dummy (2000)
• Levottomat / Restless (2000)
• Jakkulista feministi (1999)
• Lapin kullan kimallus / Gold Fever in Lapland (1999)
• Rukajärven tie / Ambush (1999)
• Asphalto (1998)
• Vägsjälar (1998) (TV series)
• Ihanat naiset rannalla / Amazing Women by the Sea (1998)
• Svart, vitt, rött (1996)
• Maigret Suomessa (1996)
• Tie naisen sydämeen (1996)
• Ottaako sydämestä? (1995) (TV series)

External links

• Actors.fi - Irina Björklund