Alicia Vikander Reflects on "Extreme, Painful" Miscarriage Before Welcoming Baby With Michael Fassbender

"We have a child now," Alicia Vikander, who welcomed a son with Michael Fassbender last year, told The Sunday Times, "but it took us time."

By Elyse Dupre Jul 25, 2022 12:59 PMTags
Watch: Michael Fassbender & Alicia Vikander Couple Up in New Flick

Alicia Vikander is looking back on her journey to motherhood.

The topic came up while discussing her new show, Irma Vep, in a July 24 interview with The Sunday Times. In an episode of the HBO series, one of the characters suffers a miscarriage, and as Vikander explains, she could relate to the loss firsthand. 

"We have a child now," the actress told the newspaper, referencing her 17-month-old son with husband Michael Fassbender, "but it took us time." 

Vikander, 33, and Fassbender, 45, met while working on the 2016 film The Light Between Oceans. In the movie, Vikander plays a character who suffers two miscarriages.

When asked if these movies can help both actors and audiences work through their own traumas, Vikander replied, "Totally. [The miscarriage] was so extreme, painful to go through and, of course, it made me recall making that film. That film has another meaning now."

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Alicia Vikander & Michael Fassbender: Romance Rewind

For as she reminded fans, even though Hollywood stars may sometimes seem like they have it all, life isn't always picture-perfect.

"Sometimes you go through things that are tough in life and if you have an office job you can step away for a bit," she told The Sunday Times. "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."

Samir Hussein/WireImage

Vikander confirmed in September 2021 that she and Fassbender welcomed a child. And in a May 2022 cover story for Harper's Bazaar U.K., the Tomb Raider alum opened up about their road to parenthood. As Vikander shared, becoming a mom wasn't something she had always envisioned for herself, noting, "I didn't think I even wanted children, actually, until I was 30." 

But after she had her miscarriage, she continued, she knew she wanted to become a mother. However, her journey wasn't easy. "For a while I didn't think that I could get pregnant," she told Harper's Bazaar U.K. Now that she has her son, Vikander added, she says she's changed "in every way. It's life. It's so profound."

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