Amanda Jansson (born 1990) is a Swedish actress, best known for her roles in the police procedural series Thin Blue Line (2021–present) and the Åland-based historical drama film Stormskerry Maja (2024). She has won accolades including the Jussi Award for Lead Actor of the Year, , and Best Actress at Series Mania.
Born and raised in Skärplinge in Uppsala County, she attended secondary school in Gävle before graduating from the Luleå Theatre Academy in 2016. After minor roles in several television programmes, she was cast in the third season of Vår tid är nu (2019) before getting her breakthrough role as Sara in Thin Blue Line, which received generally positive reviews from critics and won two Kristallen awards. She has also appeared in Riding in Darkness (2022) and My Brother (2025). In addition to her work in film and television, Jansson has appeared in a number of stage productions at theatres including Tribunalen, , and . She also made her debut as a musical artist in 2024 with the song "Ge mig ett svar", which was featured on the third season of Thin Blue Line.
Early life and education She was born in 1990 in Skärplinge, Uppsala County, Sweden. Her parents were both employed at Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant. She has a younger brother. Jansson first became interested in acting after seeing a production of Mio, My Son at the Royal Dramatic Theatre on a school trip in first grade. Her parents separated when she was 12. For upper secondary school, she commuted by bus to study drama at , a secondary school in Gävle over an hour away. While there, she appeared in their 2008 staging of Sara Kadefors's Hänga ut. Next, she was in their production of The Jungle Book. Kristian Ekenberg of Arbetarbladet praised Jansson's versatility across the three parts she played, writing that she "[changed] not only her clothes but also her face, body language and voice for each role". The following year, she had her first paid acting job in a youth play about sexual assault which was performed at local schools culminating in a show at Kafé Spegeln in Gävle. After graduating from Vasaskolan, Jansson worked at the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant. She then studied theatre at from 2011 to 2013. After being accepted to the Luleå Theatre Academy, she participated in a 2015 staging of Experimentet at Teater Tribunalen. Her maternal grandmother, with whom she had a close relationship, died of Alzheimer's disease in 2016. The same year, she graduated from the theatre academy.
Career Early stage and screen roles (2016–2020) She had a minor part in the Swedish–French crime series Midnattssol (2016). This was followed by a role in , a TV4 adaptation of Åsa Larsson's detective novels that premiered on 8 March 2017. In September, she appeared in Uppdrag Nelly Rapp, a children's theatre production of Martin Widmark's Trollkarlens bok in Örebro. She was then cast in the third season of the historical drama Vår tid är nu (2019), where she played a left-wing radical named Gunilla. Later that year, Jansson was in a production of David Byrne's play Secret Life of Humans, staged in Swedish with the title of Människans hemlighet at in Stockholm. She starred in the play alongside Charlie Gustafsson, a fellow alum of Vår tid är nu. In 2020, she appeared in . She was a member of the ensemble for Tårtljus at Playhouse. In a review of the production for Dagens Nyheter, Niklas Wahllöf cited Jansson's comic acting as a highlight.
Breakthrough and continued projects (2021–present) Her first lead role was in Thin Blue Line as Sara, a naïve Christian woman who moves from Umeå to work as a police officer in Malmö. She received the role in part due to her experience with Norrland dialects, but she also completed further training to capture her character's specific dialect. The first season premiered in January 2021 to strong viewership, with over a million people tuning in to view the programme. Overall, it received positive reception from critics, with an average rating of 3.9/5 on the Swedish review aggregator website Kritiker. It won Best TV Drama and Best Programme at Kristallen 2021. Nina Hampusson of Damernas Värld, Joakim Lowing of , and Mikael Forssell of Svenska Dagbladet all characterised Sara as her breakthrough role. She reprised the role in the next two seasons. The third was originally planned to be the last, but in September 2025 it was announced that she would be playing Sara again in a Christmas special, consisting of four episodes to be released in December 2026.
She appeared in Riding in Darkness, a 2022 limited series based on the real case of an Ekerö riding instructor who was convicted of sexually abusing teenage girls at his horse farm. Jansson played Frida, a victim of the riding instructor who denies what happened and continues to support him despite the abuse. Her performance and 's as Molly, the victim who dares to report him, were cited as standouts by in Dagens Nyheter; she wrote that they represented "two sides of the same trauma". In November 2023, Jansson was awarded the Culture Prize from Gefle Dagblad, in recognition of a "strong breakthrough in Swedish acting".
In Stormskerry Maja (2024), a Finnish historical drama film adapted from Anni Blomqvist's book series, Jansson played the titular lead. To prepare for the role, she learned to speak in an Åland dialect, milk cows, clean fish, and spin yarn. The film was a box office success in Finland; as of April 2024 it was the country's most-watched domestic film of the decade. It also received Finnish accolades; it was nominated for nine Jussi Awards and won six, including Jansson's Jussi Award for Lead Actor of the Year. Because of her work in Stormskerry Maja, she was nominated for Finland-Swede of the Year; the other two finalists were President Alexander Stubb and runner Nathalie Blomqvist. The film received a more mixed response in Sweden, although Jansson's performance was well-received, particularly by of Aftonbladet. Praising her emotional range, he felt her performance carried the film. That year, she made her debut as a musical artist (under the name of Ada) with "Ge mig ett svar". The song, which was produced in conjunction with and Martin Hederos, was featured on the third season of Thin Blue Line. She also received the , with the jury commending her work across stage and screen.
She starred in a stage adaptation of Karin Smirnoff's novel Jag for ner till bror at in Sundsvall. The 2024 production, adapted by Ivar Waldemarson and directed by , received positive reviews from critics. Praise was given to Jansson's performance, with Anna Hedelius of SVT Nyheter writing: "Most of all, Amanda Jansson shines, portraying Jana Kippo as strong, vulnerable, and broken, yet also whole". It was announced later that year that she would be reprising the role in a television adaptation of Jag for ner till bror. Released with an English title of My Brother, the series premiered on 26 December 2025. Jansson characterised Jana as her most difficult role to date. In a review for Dagens Nyheter, praised her performance and highlighted the dynamic between Jansson's character and her twin Bror, played by . She won Best Actress at Series Mania for My Brother and was nominated for a Kristallen for Best Actress.
Jansson hosted an episode of Sommar on 11 July 2026, where she reflected on her upbringing in the countryside and discussed experiencing performance anxiety as an actress. She has a lead role in the upcoming short film A Land, as a seasonal worker who finds love in Åland.
Personal life Jansson lives in Gävle as of 2025; she moved there from Stockholm in 2018 to spend more time with her family. She supports theatre initiatives for children in the less populated areas of Sweden. She also signed a petition advocating for more productions to be filmed in Gävleborg County.
Acting credits +KeyDenotes work that has not yet been released
Film YearTitleRole Notes 2024Stormskerry MajaMajaTBAAnnaShort film
Television YearTitleRoleNotes 2016Midnattssol20172019Vår tid är nuGunillaSeason 32020Television film2021–presentThin Blue LineSara2022Riding in DarknessFridaMiniseries2025My BrotherJana Kippo
Theatre YearTitleRoleVenueNotes 2015ExperimentetTeater Tribunalen2017Uppdrag Nelly Rapp2019Människans hemlighetAva2020TårtljusMultiplePlayhouse Teater2024Jag for ner till brorJana Kippo
Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryNominated workResult 2023Gefle Dagblad Culture Prize2024Finland-Swede of the Year 2025Jussi Awards Lead Actor of the YearStormskerry MajaSeptimius AwardsBest Actress2026Series ManiaBest ActressMy BrotherKristallenBest Actress
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