“I started seeing it as an asset”: Actor Amalia Holm on harnessing her bicultural identity in ‘Midsummer Night’

The mythical traditions surrounding the Swedish holiday Midsummer have long fascinated authors and moviemakers. Now, it's the focal point of the new Netflix mini-series Midsummer Night. The Shakespearean plot centres on a half-Swedish, half-Norwegian family and their complicated relationships during their holiday celebrations – where everyone seems interested in someone else than their partner.

29-year-old Amalia Holm plays the role of Hanne, the self-sabotaging daughter who is about to get married. “I've never played a character as unsympathetic as her. I’ve played murderers and terrorists, but they've all been framed to be some kind of moral hero in the end. Whereas Hanne just morally fucks up. She can't be certain that she deserves the love she's been given by her wonderful fiancé, so she cheats on him” Holm says.

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The one thing that she does have in common with her character? In a weird instance of life imitating art, Holm herself got engaged during the production. “I've been married on screen four times in the past three years. So life is definitely telling me that it's my turn”, she laughs. Born in Norway to a Norwegian father and Swedish mother, Holm's family decided to switch
countries when her father passed away. For a long time, Holm has been calling Stockholm her home, and this is where I meet her at a hotel bar.

“I definitely feel a little bit like I'm in-between. When I was a kid, I thought it was embarrassing when other kids would ask me to speak Norwegian in Sweden, for example. Because I felt like they asked me to mock me,” Holm says. “But then around my teenage years, I started seeing it as an asset instead. I think in Swedish, but I'm more in touch with my emotions in Norwegian. Which was fun for my latest project, Midsummer Night. The director asked ‘How is it so easy for you to get your tears going?’, and that's because when I'm in Norway, I feel naked because it's so nostalgic” she explains, adding that she’s excited to go back soon for the celebrations of the National Day on May 17th.

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Like in the series, Holm prefers the Swedish way of celebrating Midsummer. “I would say it is the most important Swedish holiday. I usually celebrate with friends and we go to someone's backyard or country house, preferably in the archipelago. Everyone helps out with the cooking and then we make up our own lyrics for the schnapps songs, I'm usually in charge of
that. And I would never do Midsummer without a flower wreath, preferably one that I've made from seasonal flowers that we've picked ourselves” she says.

Holm got her start in acting in an amateur theatre group when she was 14. But as her parents wouldn’t let her study acting in high school, life led her down a different path to a degree in social science. Though she has not had any time to use it. Her international breakthrough came four years ago with the American supernatural series Motherland: Fort Salem which garnered her an Instagram following of nearly 100,000 followers. “I feel like gaining a big following puts so much more pressure on the content I make, which kind of gave me a creative block. I also used to have a very clear sense of my style, but due to some personal issues, I lost that a few years ago and I'm still trying to get it back again. I was in a relationship where my partner was very frequently calling my clothes ugly and trying to change the way I dress. But I think I'm on my way back to my style and its playfulness,” Holm says.

Describing her style as “masculine with a young girly twist,” Holm lists Filippa K, Toteme, Laura Ashley, Weekday, and Tommy Hilfiger among her favourite fashion brands. Opting for vintage and second-hand whenever she can, Holm has also become a big fan of the Swedish up-cycling brand Gemme Collective which was created by one of her best friends Clara Mandel. The label recently collaborated with designer Saveja Awzel, which Holm also wore for her shoot with Vogue Scandinavia at Gondolen restaurant in Stockholm. “Her clothes just make me feel pretty, classy and cool in an effortless combination,” Holm says.

The year ahead is busy for Holm, who you’ll next get to see in the series Vikings: Valhalla, set to be released this summer.