--- name: "Pernilla August" canonical: "https://film.one/person/pernilla-august" fi1m_id: "pernilla-august" imdb_id: "nm0000278" tmdb_id: 33190 wikidata_id: "Q237255" roles: ["Actor"] born: "13 February 1958" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 66 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-18T11:47:22.844049+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Pernilla August ## Identity Pernilla August - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/pernilla-august - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** pernilla-august - **IMDb ID:** nm0000278 - **TMDB ID:** 33190 - **Wikidata ID:** Q237255 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pernilla_August, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q237255, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000278/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/33190 Actor. Born 13 February 1958 in Stockholm, Sverige. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 13 February 1958, Stockholm, Sverige - **Active:** 1982–2002 - **Also known as:** Pernilla Östergren, Mia Pernilla Hertzman-Ericson, Pernilla Wallgren, Пернилла Аугуст - **Frequently works with:** [Ewan McGregor](https://film.one/person/ewan-mcgregor.md), [George Lucas](https://film.one/person/george-lucas.md), [Natalie Portman](https://film.one/person/natalie-portman.md), [Rick McCallum](https://film.one/person/rick-mccallum.md) - **Cannes Film Festival:** 1 Cannes prize (1 won) - **Average Fi1m score:** 66, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 92 (1), 1990s 52 (1), 2000s 54 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 66 to 67 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 2 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Action 2, Adventure 2, Science Fiction 2, Drama 1, Fantasy 1, Mystery 1 - **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $1,703m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pernilla_August, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q237255, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000278/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/33190 ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones*](https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones.md) (54), [*Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace*](https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace.md) (52) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Pernilla August > A Bergman actor who spent two loud films standing quietly at the edge of them, and left more of a mark than the scripts intended. The Star Wars prequels are where most viewers met Pernilla August; the Swedish work is where to look for the rest. Anakin Skywalker goes looking for his mother in *Attack of the Clones* (2002), and for ten minutes the film stops shouting. Pernilla August plays Shmi Skywalker in both of George Lucas's first two prequels, and in both she is the quiet at the edge of the frame: a woman on Tatooine whom our review of *The Phantom Menace* (1999) did not find room to mention, which tells you how much the film gave her to do. That is the habit worth noticing. She is nearly always somebody's mother, and she listens better than most actors talk. The rest of the career happened in Swedish, and mostly with Ingmar Bergman. He noticed her while she was still a student and gave her Maj, the nanny in *Fanny and Alexander* (1982). Ten years later he wrote his own mother for her, Anna in *The Best Intentions* (1992), which Bille August directed, and it is the film most people name first. On stage at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, under Bergman, she went from Ophelia to Nora to Mary Stuart. Liv Ullmann directed her in *Private Confessions*. She has since directed a feature herself, *Beyond* (2010), and was Queen Kristina in *Young Royals* (2021). Against that, the two films most British viewers know her from are a thin showing, and she knew the risk. "I was so worried about taking the role in Episode I and acting in English for the first time," she said afterwards, and Lucas's films are not built to help a nervous actor. They are built around chases and explanations, and Shmi is neither. In *The Phantom Menace* she is a presence rather than a part. And yet the one stretch of *Attack of the Clones* that got past our guard belongs to her. We will not say what Anakin finds on Tatooine. We were more affected than we expected to be by a film that had spent the previous hour losing us, and the reasons are on the screen: Christensen given a scene without speeches, John Williams going quiet for once, and a character the two films have kept at the margins turning out to be the one the story has been circling. It only works because Shmi was there in the earlier film, unshowy and unhurried, for us to remember. That is a small achievement in a big machine, and it is hers. So the caveat is a simple one. If you have only seen her in a galaxy far, far away, you have seen two small parts by an actor Bergman worked with from her twenties to her forties. Go to *The Best Intentions*, or back to *Fanny and Alexander*, where she is given a whole film rather than the last ten minutes of somebody else's. ## Biography Pernilla August is a Swedish actress, director and screenwriter. Born Mia Pernilla Hertzman-Ericson on 13 February 1958 in Stockholm, she began acting as a child and trained professionally at the Statens scenskola from 1979. Her early film work includes a role in Ingmar Bergman's *Fanny and Alexander* (1982). She maintained a long collaboration with Bergman and won the Best Actress award at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in *The Best Intentions* (1992), written by Bergman and directed by Bille August. August is known internationally for playing Shmi Skywalker in *Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace* (1999) and *Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones* (2002), and voicing the character in an episode of *Star Wars: The Clone Wars* (2011). Her other credits include *Young Royals* (2021) as Queen Kristina and various Swedish and international films and television series. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones* (2002), Fi1m 54, as Shmi Skywalker — [page](https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones.md) - *Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace* (1999), Fi1m 52, as Shmi Skywalker — [page](https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace.md) - *Fanny and Alexander* (1982), Fi1m 92, as Maj — [page](https://film.one/film/fanny-and-alexander.md) ## Complete filmography (95) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *To Cook a Bear* (2025), series, as Madam Sjödahl - *The Dance Club* (2025), as Charlotte - *The Scarab Flies at Dusk* (2025), series, as Irma - *Jana - Marked For Life* (2024), series, as Margaretha Berzelius - *Midsummer Night* (2024), series, as Carina - *Ronja the Robber's Daughter* (2024), series, as Valdir - *Surprise* (2023), as Ingrid - *Blackwater* (2023), series, as Annie Raft (1991) - *Young Royals* (2021), series, as Queen Kristina - *The Ape Star* (2021), as Gorilla (voice) - *The Investigation* (2020), series, as Ingrid Wall - *The Last Journey Of The Vikings* (2020), series, as Voice · Narrator - *Bergman Revisited* (2019), Director - *Face to Face* (2019), series, as Maja - *Allt jag inte minns* (2019), series, as Gunilla - *Swoon* (2019), as Elin Lindgren - *Britt-Marie Was Here* (2019), as Britt-Marie - *Kursk* (2018), as Oksana - *Bergmans början: Ilska. Kärlek. Magknip.* (2018), as Karin Bergman - *Scenes in the Night* (2018), as Marianne · Director - *Bergman's Reliquarium* (2018), Actor - *Law of the Land* (2017), as Britta - *A Serious Game* (2016), Director - *White People* (2015), as Viktoria - *Glitch* (2015), series, as Nicola Heysen - *Gentlemen* (2014), as Greta - *The Legacy* (2014), series, Director - *The Last Sentence* (2012), as Maja Forssman - *Call Girl* (2012), as Dagmar Glans - *Hamilton: In the Interest of the Nation* (2012), as Sara Landhag - *Beyond* (2010), Director, Writer - *A Rational Solution* (2009), as Karin - *Miss Kicki* (2009), as Kicki - *Kenny Begins* (2009), as Rektorn - *Star Wars: The Clone Wars* (2008), series, as Shmi (voice) - *Performances* (2007), series, as Eva - *Those Who Whisper* (2006), series, as Anna Gustavsson - *Løven - Henrik Ibsen* (2006), Actor - *Search* (2006), as Madelene - *Mouth to Mouth* (2005), as Leyla - *Doxa* (2005), as Kristina - *Manslaughter* (2005), as Nina - *Blindgångare* (2005), Director - *Rancid* (2004), Actor - *Day and Night* (2004), as Eva - *Eiffel Tower* (2004), as Lena - *Terrorman* (2004), as (voice) - *Håkan Bråkan* (2003), series, as Världsrymdens ledare - *Daybreak* (2003), as Agnes - *Details* (2003), as Ann - *Heliga Birgitta* (2003), series, as Heliga Birgitta - *Everyone Loves Alice* (2002), Actor - *Karlsson on the Roof* (2002), as Mamma - *A Love Affair* (2002), as Anna - *Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones* (2002), as Shmi Skywalker — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones.md) - *I Am Dina* (2002), as Hjertrud, Dina's Mother - *Karlsson on the Roof* (2002), series, as Mamma - *Deadline* (2001), as Beata Ekesjö - *Hr. Boe & Co.’s Anxiety* (2001), Actor - *Gossip* (2000), as Molly Fischer - *Anna* (2000), as Anna Terlow - *The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: The Perils of Cupid* (2000), as Emilie - *The Birthday* (2000), as Tove - *Mary, Mother of Jesus* (1999), as Mary of Nazareth - *The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Tales of Innocence* (1999), as Mamma - *Where The Rainbow Ends* (1999), as Tove - *Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace* (1999), as Shmi Skywalker — Fi1m 52, [page](https://film.one/film/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace.md) - *In the Presence of a Clown* (1998), as Karin Bergman - *The Last Contract* (1998), as Nina Nyman - *The Glass-Blower's Children* (1998), as Sofia - *Kenny Starfighter* (1997), series, as Kennys Memorymatic (voice) - *The Last Yankee* (1997), Actor - *Private Confessions* (1996), as Anna - *Jerusalem* (1996), as Karin - *En nämndemans död* (1995), series, as Vanja Holm - *Death of a Juror* (1995), as Vanja Holm - *The Best Intentions* (1992), as Anna Bergman - *The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles* (1992), series, as Emilie, Mamma - *The Best Intentions* (1991), series, as Anna Bergman - *Vildanden* (1989), series, as Gina Ekdahl - *Den döende dandyn* (1989), as Thora Dardel - *The Egg* (1987), Actor - *The Serpent's Way* (1986), as Eva - *Den tragiska historien om Hamlet - Prins av Danmark* (1985), as Ofelia - *The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark* (1985), series, as Ofelia - *Fanny and Alexander* (1984), series, as Maj - *Hur ska det gå för Pettersson?* (1984), series, as Ingrid - *Alfred Nobel - Mr. Dynamite* (1983), Actor - *Hej du himlen!* (1983), Actor - *Mr. Sleeman Is Coming* (1983), as Anne-Marie - *Fanny and Alexander* (1982), as Maj — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/fanny-and-alexander.md) - *The Rooster* (1981), as Åsa Eriksson - *Linus eller Tegelhusets hemlighet* (1979), as Abigail - *Giliap* (1975), as Girl at Summer Hotel - *The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands*, Actor ## Gallery - ![Pernilla August](https://film.one/media/person/89015/gallery-c313b296d071.jpg) Pernilla August — Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Pernilla_August.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Filminstruktør og manuskriptforfatter Pernilla August, juryformann Helen Mirren og manuskriptforfatter Lolita Ray under offentliggjøringen av mottakerne av Nord](https://film.one/media/person/89015/gallery-7a00e9131ed3.jpg) Filminstruktør og manuskriptforfatter Pernilla August, juryformann Helen Mirren og manuskriptforfatter Lolita Ray under offentliggjøringen av mottakerne av Nord — Hasse Ferrold, CC BY 2.5 dk, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Filminstruktor_og_manuskriptforfatter_Pernilla_August%2C_juryformann_Helen_Mirren_og_manuskriptforfatter_Lolita_Ray_under_offentliggjoringen_av_mottakerne_av_Nordisk_rads_filmpris_2011._August_og_Ray_mottok_prisen_for_filmen_Svinalangorna.jpg/1280px-thumbnail.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Pernilla August, vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2011](https://film.one/media/person/89015/gallery-8354553bbe43.jpg) Pernilla August, vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2011 — Johannes Jansson, CC BY 2.5 dk, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Pernilla_August%2C_vinnare_av_Nordiska_radets_filmpris_2011.jpg/1280px-Pernilla_August%2C_vinnare_av_Nordiska_radets_filmpris_2011.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Pernilla August, vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2011](https://film.one/media/person/89015/gallery-6cf286f9ef0c.jpg) Pernilla August, vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2011 — Johannes Jansson, CC BY 2.5 dk, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Pernilla_August%2C_vinnare_av_Nordiska_radets_filmpris_2011_%281%29.jpg/1280px-Pernilla_August%2C_vinnare_av_Nordiska_radets_filmpris_2011_%281%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Pernilla August](https://film.one/media/person/89015/gallery-f1a992b673ec.jpg) Pernilla August — Image via TMDB - ![Pernilla August](https://film.one/media/person/89015/gallery-90e0572f3d08.jpg) Pernilla August — Image via TMDB - ![Pernilla August, vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2011](https://film.one/media/person/89015/gallery-453fbdb8feb1.jpg) Pernilla August, vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2011 — Johannes Jansson, CC BY 2.5 dk, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Pernilla_August%2C_vinnare_av_Nordiska_radets_filmpris_2011_%282%29.jpg/1280px-Pernilla_August%2C_vinnare_av_Nordiska_radets_filmpris_2011_%282%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Pernilla August, vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2011](https://film.one/media/person/89015/gallery-0a0e0bac08d7.jpg) Pernilla August, vinnare av Nordiska rådets filmpris 2011 — Johannes Jansson, CC BY 2.5 dk, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Pernilla_August%2C_vinnare_av_Nordiska_radets_filmpris_2011_%283%29.jpg/1280px-Pernilla_August%2C_vinnare_av_Nordiska_radets_filmpris_2011_%283%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) ## Awards ### Cannes Film Festival — 1 won - 1992: Best Actress (won), for *The Best Intentions* ### Other awards — 3 won, 1 nominated - Guldbagge Award for Best Director 2011: Guldbagge Award for Best Director (won), for *Beyond* - Swedish Academy's Theatre Award 2010: Swedish Academy's Theatre Award (won) - Litteris et Artibus 2002: Litteris et Artibus (won) - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress 1992: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress (nominated), for *The Best Intentions* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/pernilla-august