Leap Of Faith

In life — and in fashion — ALICIA VIKANDER refuses to play it safe.

- Andrew Bevan 

I WANT TO BE HER, MOMMY!” shouts an elated little girl standing in a cluster of kids who have gathered spontaneously in Forsyth Park in Savannah, Georgia. With heads craned towards the sky, they are gobsmacked, rooted in place as if they’ve spotted a bona fide superhero. And in a way they have. On the crisp but sunny Saturday morning of her BAZAAR cover shoot, Alicia Vikander is literally floating on air, pirouetting with balletic grace in a Louis Vuitton gown 15 metres above the mossy green. The Swedish actor seems preternaturally at ease and visibly in control, often calling the shots — politely — to the stunt co-ordinators and photography crew from midair.

Remaining nonplussed in the face of extreme bodily risk is all in a day’s work for Vikander, who has made a career out of shape-shifting seamlessly into radically strong female characters in thoughtful indie films and commercial blockbusters alike. Onscreen and in person, the 30-year-old star exudes a cool, timeless charm that calls to mind a young Ingrid Bergman. She is as unassuming as she is captivating — a badass with delicate poise and a hushed, confident cadence.

Back on terra firma, Vikander, dressed in Goldsign jeans, a black Isabel Marant blouse and Jimmy Choo flats with her hair tied in a messy knot, is sitting in a cocktail bar across the street from the park. “In this industry, you must be willing to throw yourself out there, which I enjoy,” she says. She has just ordered a vodka martini, and kindly instructed the bartender to dump the vermouth after just a swish around the glass. “I’m good at hiding all those nerves inside. Something I’ve heard all my life is, ‘Oh, you seem so tough.’ I think one of the main things I do well is to not show that I’m shitting my pants.”