{"id":122534,"date":"2026-01-06T19:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/122534\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:52:15","slug":"inga-ibsdotter-lilleaas-on-sentimental-value-oscar-buzz-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/122534\/","title":{"rendered":"Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas on ‘Sentimental Value,’ Oscar buzz and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the most moving scenes in Joachim Trier\u2019s \u201cSentimental Value\u201d<\/a> happens near the end. During an intense moment between sisters Nora (Renate Reinsve<\/a>) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), who have both had to reckon with the unexpected return of their estranged father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd), Agnes suddenly tells Nora, \u201cI love you.\u201d In a family in which such direct, vulnerable declarations are rare, Agnes\u2019 comment is both a shock and a catharsis.<\/p>\n

The line wasn\u2019t scripted or even discussed. Lilleaas was nervous about spontaneously saying it while filming. But it just came out.<\/p>\n

\u201c[In] Norwegian culture, we don\u2019t talk so much about what we\u2019re feeling,\u201d explains Lilleaas, who lives in Oslo but is sitting in the Chateau Marmont lounge on a rainy afternoon in mid-November. If the script had contained that \u201cI love you\u201d line, she says, \u201cIt would\u2019ve been like, \u2018What? I would never say that. That\u2019s too much.\u2019 But because it came out of a genuine feeling in the moment \u2014 I don\u2019t know how to describe it, but it was what I felt like I would want to say, and what I would want my own sister to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since its Cannes premiere, \u201cSentimental Value\u201d has been lauded for such scenes, which underline the subtle force of this intelligent tearjerker about a frayed family trying to repair itself. And the film\u2019s breakthrough performance belongs to the 36-year-old Lilleaas, who has worked steadily in Norway but not often garnered international attention.<\/p>\n

Touted as a possible supporting actress Oscar nominee, Lilleaas in person is reserved but thoughtful, someone who prefers observing the people around her rather than being in the spotlight. Fitting, then, that in \u201cSentimental Value\u201d she plays the quiet, levelheaded sister serving as the mediator between impulsive Nora and egotistical Gustav. Lilleaas has become quite adept at doing a lot while seemingly doing very little.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn acting school, some of the best characters I did were mute,\u201d she notes. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t express language, but they were very expressive. It was freeing to not have a voice. Agnes, she\u2019s present a lot of the time but doesn\u2019t necessarily have that many lines. To me, that\u2019s freedom \u2014 the [dialogue] very often comes in the way of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Inga <\/p>\n

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in \u201cSentimental Value.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Kasper Tuxen)<\/p>\n

Lilleaas hadn\u2019t met Trier before her audition, but they instantly bonded over the challenges of raising young kids. And she sparked to the script\u2019s examination of parents and children. Unlike restless Nora, Agnes is married with a son, able to view her deeply flawed dad from the vantage point of both a daughter and mother. Lilleaas shares her character\u2019s sympathy for the inability of different generations to connect.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of parents and children\u2019s relationships stop at a point,\u201d she says. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t evolve like a romantic relationship, [where] the mindset is to grow together. With families, it\u2019s \u2018You\u2019re the child, I\u2019m the parent.\u2019 But you have to grow together and accept each other. And that\u2019s difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spend time with Lilleaas and you\u2019ll notice she discusses acting in terms of human behavior rather than technique. In fact, she initially studied psychology. \u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in the [experience] of being alive,\u201d she says. \u201cTremendous grief is very painful, but you can only experience that if you have great love. I\u2019ve tried the more psychological approach of studying people, but it wasn\u2019t what I wanted. Acting is the perfect medium for me to explore life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other out-of-towners might be disappointed to arrive in sunny Southern California only to be greeted by storm clouds, but Lilleaas is sanguine about the situation. \u201cI could have been at the beach, but it\u2019s fine,\u201d she says, amused, looking out the nearby windows. \u201cI can go to the movies \u2014 it\u2019s perfect movie weather.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Inga \"Inga <\/p>\n

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. (Evelyn Freja \/ For The Times) <\/p>\n

Her measured response to both her Hollywood ascension and a rainy forecast speak to her generally unfussed demeanor. During our conversation, Lilleaas\u2019 candor and lack of vanity are striking. How often does a rising star talk about being happy when a filmmaker gives her fewer lines? Or fantasize about a life after acting?<\/p>\n

\u201cSome days I\u2019ll be like, \u2018I want to give it up. I want to have a small farm,\u2019\u201d she admits. \u201cWe lived on a farm and had horses and chickens when I grew up. I miss that. But at the same time, I need to be in an urban environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

She gives the matter more thought, sussing out her conflicted feelings. \u201cMaybe as I grow older and have children, I feel this need to go back to something that\u2019s familiar and safe,\u201d she suggests. \u201cI think that\u2019s why I\u2019m searching for small farms [online] \u2014 that\u2019s, like, a dream thing. I need some dreams that they\u2019re not reality \u2014 it\u2019s a way to escape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lilleaas may have decided against becoming a psychologist, but she\u2019s always interrogating her motivations. This desire for a farm is her latest self-exploration, clarifying for her that she loves her profession but not the superficial trappings that accompany it.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen years ago, this would maybe have been a dream, what\u2019s happening now,\u201d she says, gesturing at her swanky surroundings. \u201cBut you realize what you want to focus on and give value. I don\u2019t necessarily want to give this that much value. I appreciate it and everything, but I don\u2019t want to put my heart in it, because I know that it goes up and down and it\u2019s not constant. I put my heart in this movie. Everything that comes after that? My heart can\u2019t be in that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most moving scenes in Joachim Trier\u2019s \u201cSentimental Value\u201d happens near the end. During an intense…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64233,3409,1431,64236,55148,64235,48,52,51,1637,64232,21023,47,50,49,1741,40114,7087,27039,64234,315],"class_list":["post-122534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-agnes","tag-child","tag-family","tag-good-character","tag-gustav","tag-inga-ibsdotter-lilleaas","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-life","tag-lilleaas","tag-line","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-lot","tag-nora","tag-parent","tag-sentimental-value","tag-small-farm","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}