Alicia Vikander has revealed she suffered a “painful” miscarriage before welcoming her first child with her husband Michael Fassbender.
The notoriously private couple, who tied the knot in Ibiza in 2017, welcomed a son together last year.
During an interview with The Times, the Tomb Raider star admitted: “We have a child now, but it took us time.”
The 33-year-old stars in the new Sky Atlantic TV show Irma Vep, playing a pop star who is forced to go back on stage shortly after suffering a miscarriage.
She also played a character who experienced two separate miscarriages in The Light Between Oceans, the movie where she met her husband in 2014.
The actress said that playing out these scenarios can “totally” help actors cope with such trauma.
She told the publication: “[The miscarriage] was so extreme, painful to go through and, of course, it made me recall making that film [The Light Between Oceans]. That film has another meaning now.”
The Swedish native, who lives in Lisbon with Michael, hopes being so open about her infertility struggle will help others.
The Oscar-winner explained: “I kind of stopped and thought, ‘Am I going to talk about this?’ But I think it’s universal and so many women go through similar things. And it’s tough.”
Alicia said celebrities are often told that the show must go on even when their personal lives are falling apart.
She explained: “Sometimes you go through things that are tough in life and if you have an office job you can step away for a bit.”
“But there are times that myself or colleagues have been through something and, well, I can’t understand how they went on to the red carpet afterwards. To be met by people asking, ‘How are you doing?’ Given what they had just been through? Most people would not be able to step out of their house.”
