Linnea Larsdotter Mikkelä
- Actress
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Linnea was born in Smygehamn, the most southern point of Sweden as the
youngest of 3 sisters. Growing up in a musical family, with a singing
building technician/teacher, Gerd, as a mother, and a guitar playing
IT-consultant/politician, Lars, as her father, she started taking
violin and ballet lessons at age 3. When Linnea was 10, she was cast in
her first musical, the newly written piece "Pamela", and it was after
this joyful experience she decided to pursue a career within Musical
Theatre. The year after, when Linnea was 11, the three sisters formed a
folk music trio, working professionally as musicians in all kinds of
events in Sweden, but also on Swedish National Television. They still
play and perform together whenever they have the opportunity.
Through theater high school, Linnea continued to book parts in musicals, such as "Godspell" and "The Sound of Music", where she also took on the role of music director. During this time she met composer William Runnstroem and they began a close collaboration, with Linnea as one of his main performers. In 2003 the family was struck by the terrible news that Gerd had cancer, a battle she eventually lost in 2004. Linnea has tried to explain her grieving process as "Imagine that you have lost your legs, and now you have to learn how to crawl". During this time Linnea was already enrolled in her acting studies at the University of Malmoe, and studying set design and architecture at the Technical Univeristy of Lund. Coming out of a year she hardly remembers, Linnea came to realize that you can never know if you have a tomorrow, and again she put focus on her career on stage. 2006 she got accepted to a one-year Musical Theatre education at Forum Dance and Artist Academy, and before graduating she was offered a full-time contract as a singer for a company in Spain. Linnea ended up staying with the company for 2 seasons, performing 6 nights a week in shows such as "We Will Rock You", "Smokey Joe's Cafe", "Grease" to mention a few. Here she met her partner Johan Matton, and the year after they moved to Thailand to perform for a new company there for 7 months.
In November 2009, Linnea got to audition for the 2 year Musical Theatre conservatory for stage and screen at New York Film Academy, and got both accepted and offered a scholarship. In New York, Linnea keeps booking parts in film productions, shows as well as commercials.
Through theater high school, Linnea continued to book parts in musicals, such as "Godspell" and "The Sound of Music", where she also took on the role of music director. During this time she met composer William Runnstroem and they began a close collaboration, with Linnea as one of his main performers. In 2003 the family was struck by the terrible news that Gerd had cancer, a battle she eventually lost in 2004. Linnea has tried to explain her grieving process as "Imagine that you have lost your legs, and now you have to learn how to crawl". During this time Linnea was already enrolled in her acting studies at the University of Malmoe, and studying set design and architecture at the Technical Univeristy of Lund. Coming out of a year she hardly remembers, Linnea came to realize that you can never know if you have a tomorrow, and again she put focus on her career on stage. 2006 she got accepted to a one-year Musical Theatre education at Forum Dance and Artist Academy, and before graduating she was offered a full-time contract as a singer for a company in Spain. Linnea ended up staying with the company for 2 seasons, performing 6 nights a week in shows such as "We Will Rock You", "Smokey Joe's Cafe", "Grease" to mention a few. Here she met her partner Johan Matton, and the year after they moved to Thailand to perform for a new company there for 7 months.
In November 2009, Linnea got to audition for the 2 year Musical Theatre conservatory for stage and screen at New York Film Academy, and got both accepted and offered a scholarship. In New York, Linnea keeps booking parts in film productions, shows as well as commercials.