# Lasse Hallström

Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (Swedish:; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop group ABBA, but came to international attention with his 1985 feature film My Life as a Dog, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. He is also known for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), The Cider House Rules (1999), and Chocolat (2000).

## Early life and education

Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström was born on 2 June 1946 in Stockholm, Sweden. His father was a dentist and keen amateur videographer; his mother was the author and poet Karin Lyberg.
He attended Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm, where he made his first music video and 8 mm films.

## Career

In the late 1960s, Hallström worked as a director of short pop music clips at Sveriges Television.
He made his directorial debut in 1973, directing the comedy series Pappas pojkar for Swedish TV. He frequently collaborated with comic actors Magnus Härenstam and Brasse Brännström during his Swedish period.
Between 1974 and 1982, Hallström worked with the Swedish group ABBA on many of their music videos and also directed their 1977 film ABBA: The Movie. Almost all of ABBA's promotional films were directed and shot by Hallström, with only seven exceptions: "When I Kissed the Teacher" (1977); "Chiquitita" (1979), which was made by the BBC; "I Have a Dream" (1979); "On and On and On" (1980); "Lay All Your Love on Me" (1981); "The Day Before You Came" (1982), and "Under Attack" (1982), the latter two being directed by Kjell Sundvall and Kjell-Åke Andersson.
After the international success of My Life as a Dog (1985), Hallström started working in Hollywood. His first English-language film was Once Around, but his first notable English-language success was What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), starring Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Hallström made a number of successful film adaptations from novels. In 1999, The Cider House Rules was released. He followed that success the following year by directing Chocolat, starring Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, and Judi Dench, which was a critical and box-office success. His 2001 film The Shipping News was adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx and starred Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, and Cate Blanchett.
His 2011 film Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Paul Torday and starred Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.
His 2017 film, A Dog's Purpose, based on the 2010 novel of the same name, was billed as "a celebration of the special connection between humans and their dogs".
Hallström directed and executive produced the 2024 American-Icelandic Nordic Noir thriller television series The Darkness, starring his wife Lena Olin, who has collaborated with him on other films.

## Awards and nominations

* 1985: Nominated, as screenwriter and director, for My Life as a Dog
* 1993: What's Eating Gilbert Grape earned several nominations and a win for DiCaprio's performance
* 1999: Nomination, Academy Award for best director, for The Cider House Rules; also six additional Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, with Michael Caine winning the Best Supporting Actor award and John Irving winning Best Adapted Screenplay.
* 2000: Chocolat, nominations for Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Academy Awards including Academy Award for Best Picture. Binoche and Dench won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively at both the European Film Awards and the Screen Actors' Guild awards
* 2001: The Shipping News: Winner, Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival; Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for its lead and supporting actors
* 2011: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, nominated for three Golden Globe Awards in the Comedy or Musical category, including Best Motion Picture, Best Actor for McGregor, and Best Actress for Blunt; nominated for the European Film Awards People's Choice Award
* 2012: The Hypnotist selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards
Awards and nominations received by Hallström's films :
| Year | Title | Academy Awards | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | Golden Globe Awards |
| Year | Title | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins |
| 1985 | My Life as a Dog | 2 | | 1 | | 1 | 1 |
| 1993 | What's Eating Gilbert Grape | 1 | | | | 1 | |
| 1995 | Something to Talk About | | | | | 1 | |
| 1999 | The Cider House Rules | 7 | 2 | 1 | | 2 | |
| 2000 | Chocolat | 5 | | 8 | | 4 | |
| 2001 | The Shipping News | | | 2 | | 2 | |
| 2011 | Salmon Fishing in the Yemen | | | | | 3 | |
| 2014 | The Hundred-Foot Journey | | | | | 1 | |
| Total | Total | 15 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 1 |

## Personal life

Hallström married media personality and actress Malou Hallström [sv] in 1974. They divorced in 1981.
In 1990, he met actress Lena Olin, and they married on 18 March 1994. They have a daughter. In 2011 the couple were residing in Bedford, New York, and also had a home in the Stockholm Archipelago.
Hallström turned vegan in 2014.

## Videography

(The following is a complete list of all the ABBA music videos that were directed by Lasse Hallström.)
* 1974 – "Waterloo"
* 1974 – "Ring Ring"
* 1975 – "Mamma Mia"
* 1975 – "SOS"
* 1975 – "Bang-A-Boomerang"
* 1975 – "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"
* 1976 – "Fernando"
* 1976 – "Dancing Queen"
* 1976 – "Money, Money, Money"
* 1977 – "Knowing Me, Knowing You"
* 1977 – "That's Me"
* 1977 – "The Name of the Game"
* 1978 – "Take a Chance on Me"
* 1978 – "Eagle"
* 1978 – "One Man, One Woman"
* 1978 – "Thank You for the Music"
* 1978 – "Summer Night City"
* 1979 – "Does Your Mother Know"
* 1979 – "Voulez-Vous"
* 1979 – "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"
* 1979 – "Estoy Soñando"
* 1980 – "Conociéndome, Conociéndote"
* 1980 – "Gracias por la Música"
* 1980 – "The Winner Takes It All"
* 1980 – "Super Trouper"
* 1980 – "Happy New Year"
* 1980 – "Felicidad"
* 1981 – "When All Is Said and Done"
* 1981 – "One of Us"
* 1981 – "No Hay A Quien Culpar"
* 1982 – "Head over Heels"

## Filmography

* 1975 – A Guy and a Gal
* 1977 – ABBA: The Movie
* 1979 – Father to Be
* 1981 – Tuppen
* 1983 – Happy We
* 1985 – My Life as a Dog
* 1986 – The Children of Noisy Village
* 1987 – More About the Children of Noisy Village
* 1991 – Once Around
* 1993 – What's Eating Gilbert Grape
* 1995 – Something to Talk About
* 1999 – The Cider House Rules
* 2000 – Chocolat
* 2001 – The Shipping News
* 2005 – An Unfinished Life
* 2005 – Casanova
* 2006 – The Hoax
* 2009 – Hachi: A Dog's Tale
* 2010 – Dear John
* 2011 – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
* 2012 – The Hypnotist
* 2013 – Safe Haven
* 2014 – The Hundred-Foot Journey
* 2017 – A Dog's Purpose
* 2018 – The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
* 2022 – Hilma  [sv]
* 2024 – The Darkness (TV series)