Following her role as Queen Caroline Mathilde in Nikolaj Arcel's acclaimed Danish costume drama A Royal Affair, Alicia Vikander is expected to become Sweden's next big international star. She will soon be seen as Kitty, in Joe Wright's adaptation of Anna Karenina, and as one of the leads in the big-budget fantasy film, The Seventh Son. She discusses her career so far.

Danish cinema doesn't often do costume dramas but the magnificent A Royal Affair - the true story of Queen Caroline's illicit romance with her husband's enlightened German physician, Johann Struensee - could change that. Its writer-director, Nicolaj Arcel (co-writer of the Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie), talks about breaking new ground, politics, women in history, and David Fincher.