Liv Ullmann regrets turning down Ingmar Bergman’s ‘Fanny and Alexander’: ‘She never forgave me’

Liv Ullmann is opening up about her career regrets.

The ‘Persona’ actress reveals she was hesitant to turn down Ingmar Bergman’s 1982 family saga ‘Fanny and Alexander’ and that the author ‘never forgave her’ for turning down the screenplay he wrote for her . Ullmann and Bergman collaborated on ‘Persona’, ‘Scenes from a Wedding’ and ‘Cries and Whispers’, among many other films, and they also shared a daughter, Linn Ullmann. She died in 2007.

Ewa Fröling was instead chosen for the role of “Fanny and Alexander” which Bergman wrote especially for Ullmann.

“I told him I had already accepted another offer. He has never forgiven me,” Ullmann said Variety while promoting the documentary “Liv Ullmann – A Road Less Travelled”.

Ullmann was nominated for an Academy Award in 1977 for Bergman’s “Face to Face” and received an Honorary Academy Award in 2022.

She continued: “He kept writing me letters, addressed to ‘Dear Liv Ullmann’, it was very dramatic. We haven’t spoken for a year. Now, I regret not making that movie. Maybe it was a bad choice, but I thought I’d show him that I was independent.

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Ullmann added: “I know Max (von Sydow) has been struggling for a while. He turned down ‘Fanny and Alexander’, which (Bergman) wrote for both of them.

Ullmann recalled Bergman telling her they were “painfully connected” as partners.

“People are surprised to hear this: they all think I’m like Bergman. But the truth is, he was a child,” said Ullmann. “When I was directing ‘Faithless,’ he was only allowed onto the set on our last day. He hid under a blanket and lay there, until a The actress didn’t notice that she was shaking. She was laughing so much.

Swedish director Bergman drew on a number of disintegrated personal relationships, including his partnership with Ullmann, for the 1973 miniseries “Scenes from a Marriage,” later condensed into a film version and remade for HBO in 2021. Ullmann starred in the original series as an unhappily married divorce lawyer who becomes estranged from her psychology professor husband.

Ullmann said Another magazine in 2022 that takes “credit” for Bergman’s career, in part.

“I was in every movie he made after we met, except ‘Fanny and Alexander,’ which I said no to – he was very upset about that,” recalls Ullmann. “We didn’t speak for a year and then we saw the picture together. So I know the movies we made together were also partly me. When I received this Oscar, John Lithgow gave a beautiful speech and he said what you said: ‘Ingmar is a genius who has made all these films, but the question is, ‘What would it have been without Liv?’ liked it and everyone clapped, and it was really good. But you know what, ‘What I wanted have your last eleven films felt like without me?’ So I can take credit for it, I think.