Since she burst on to the fashion scene in 2011, as the gender-free Swedish model the industry couldn’t get enough of – booking gigs for men’s campaigns including Tom Ford and being cast as a young Leonardo DiCaprio – Erika Linder’s life has undergone significant, self-motivated changes. Most notably, she's focusing less on the catwalk and more on the big screen, with a string of diverse acting projects including her film debut in Below Her Mouth and the upcoming neo-noir haute couture meets murder movie thriller Cover, in which she ironically plays a supermodel called Justine, struggling in the battle for ego over self-identity. It’s little surprise that the camera still loves Erika, and here she tells us about childhood dreams and pursuing her own path.
Did you grow up watching movies and ever actually think you would be in one?
I think story telling for me, in any capacity, was something I wanted to do. Whether through pictures, films, music or just playing as a kid, I always knew I wanted to be a performer from a very early age. I remember my grandma would put on Elvis Presley films, and I would think, that’s what I wanna do! The thought was always there, but to make it happen was surreal, although I think I always knew that there was going to come a time and a chance for me to prove myself.
Has it been difficult to break free of modelling and for people to consider you as an actor?
In the beginning, yes. I don’t necessarily have the same approach and view on it as I used to have. I promised myself when I started in the fashion industry doing men’s and women’s fashion, that I wanted to do it all because otherwise it would bore me. I don’t see myself as an actor or a model now. I just see myself as an artist, as just doing one thing out of the two would bore me. I want to constantly expand and dare to dream.
You’re not theatrically trained, so you’ve obviously had an organic approach to acting. Did nerves get the better of you at first?
No, when I did the auditioning process for Below Her Mouth, I wasn’t even considering acting at all. The script got sent to my agents and it all went from there. When I finally booked the part, the producers didn’t want me to take any acting classes, and it wasn’t until later I started working with a coach. I guess I have an organic approach to a lot of things, and it’s interesting to learn and to get the tools needed. I think you could do as much preparation as possible before you make a film, but when you’re finally on set, you just kind of let everything go with the flow and just respond.
“I don’t see myself as an actor or a model now. I just see myself as an artist.”
Like modelling, it’s such an uncertain business, were you emotionally ready when the opportunity came with the 2016 movie Below Her Mouth?
I was very ready. I think because it came out of nowhere, it made it so much easier. I don’t think you’re given the opportunity if you’re not ready for it. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. But true, it is an uncertain business and you’re not shooting the film until you’re physically on set. I’ve had films fall apart multiple times and it can be devastating. You have to be mad enough to believe in yourself and that you can do it, and that there’s no other option than “this”.
After that film, you then got a part in a TV series. Is that when the spark really ignited for you to then pursue it as a career?
I’m not sure if it really sparked anything in me to pursue an acting career, but I think what it did was to make me realise there was a whole other industry to play in. With it being shot in Portugal it opened my mind to the European market, which I find a little bit more up my alley. If anything, I felt creative after it, because everyone involved was filming it during the day, and would go and do a play right after, that same evening or night. It awoke a creativeness in me that I hadn’t seen before. Something that wasn’t driven by career or the next big thing but driven by love.
A lot of other actors I’ve spoken to say that they’ve learned a lot about their own flaws through becoming other characters. Is that something you can relate to so far?
Absolutely! Realising that my mistakes are opportunities to learn. Portraying the flaws is what makes for great acting, but it can be the most challenging. I think it’s hard for people to see and admit their own flaws. To share them with others.
It must be quite liberating to have the opportunity to be in this other body though, and not in your own reality, and just totally forget who you are for a second?
Yes. I felt it especially when I was shooting Blue Lisbon. I played a taoist character named Tommy and for the first time in my life, I practiced it so heavily that nothing phased me. I was just ok with everything that was going on around me. I can get anxious but didn’t on that set. I had a solid two weeks of feeling unbothered by everything around me, haha!
Looking ahead, what would be the dream role for you?
I find it hard to say what kind of dream role I want, but for now I think it’s my dream to play a role in something which a director that I admire sees me in. I would love to do a medieval character.
Well, your next movie project takes you back into fashion again, can you tell me more about it?
I have a couple of films on the radar for the near future, and the one I’m doing next is going to be the most fun, yet scary, but also the most challenging role I’ve played to date. It’s a story within the fashion world about a young woman who struggles for her existence and visibility, gradually losing her mind. It’s about self-denial, loss of identity and isolation.
On this new path of yours, is there an actor who inspires the journey, or speaks to your mindset?
I have always admired Tilda Swinton. Words can’t describe it. Other than that, I’m trying to create my own journey and follow my own path.
Interview by Kate Lawson
Photography by Amanda Demme