Nadia Björlin | |
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Bjorlin at the 16th Annual Movieguide Faith and Values Awards Gala in Beverly Hills, CA, February 12, 2008
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Born |
Nadia Alexandra Björlin August 2, 1980 Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. |
Occupation | Actress, singer, model |
Years active | 1999–present |
Spouse(s) | Grant Turnbull (m. 2015) |
Children | 1 |
Website | www |
Nadia Alexandra Bjorlin (born August 2, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and model.
Björlin was born on August 2, 1980 in Newport, Rhode Island. She is the second eldest child of Swedish composer and conductor Mats Ulf Stefan Björlin and Fary Bjorlin (née Dadashi), an Iranian interior designer.
Björlin is fluent in English, Swedish, and Persian and is also schooled in French, Italian, and Russian. She has an older brother Ulf Alexander Jr. and a younger brother Jean-Paul. She also has an older half-brother Kaj, and two older half-sisters Katja and Kamilla, from her mother's first marriage.
Bjorlin's family moved to her father's native country of Sweden while she was still an infant. She has described her childhood as "wonderful" with "loving parents and siblings to lean on", although Bjorlin recalls being "oblivious" to racial tensions going on in Sweden. Although she never attended school there, a few of her siblings did and she remembers them talking about how they "experienced some torment" from classmates due to being half-Iranian. Being born after the Revolution of Iran, Bjorlin says she "grew up in a time where Iranians were looked down upon in places of the world".
Bjorlin's family moved back and forth between the States and Sweden before she was 7 years old. They moved a few times because of her father's work, living in Stockholm, Los Angeles and Palm Beach Florida. For her education, she attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, where she was honored for her excellence in theatre, voice, music and dance. Along with her brothers Ulf and Jean Paul, Bjorlin attended the Palm Beach County School of the Arts (now Dreyfoos School of the Arts) for her first 2 years of high school. During her time there, Bjorlin sang with the Palm Beach Opera and in 1996, she competed in a large international vocal competition in Verona, Italy, where she was part of the choir who won the gold medal. While she was a junior in high school her family moved, this time to New York City. Bjorlin was able to attend the Professional Children's School, where she studied alongside other famous actors and actresses, including Julia Stiles, Gaby Hoffman, and Macaulay Culkin. In May 1999, Bjorlin won first place in the Metro Lyric Opera Competition, taking place in NYC. When she graduated from high school, she decided to shift her focus from singing to acting.