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Laura Birn was born on 25 April 1981 in Helsinki, Finland. She is an actress and writer, known for Void (2018), The Crow (2024) and A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014).

Pihla Viitala was born on 30 September 1982 in Helsinki, Finland. She is an actress and director, known for Latin Lover (2015), Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) and Star Boys (2017). She was previously married to Kerkko Koskinen.

Born in 15 March 1959 as Renny Lauri Mauritz Harjola, he is the most successful Finnish film director in the history of Hollywood.

Harlin started his career in film business in the beginning of 1980s when he was directing commercials and company films for companies like Shell. Later he worked as a buyer for Finnish film distributor and met Finnish Markus Selin in Los Angeles. They became friends and started writing a screenplay called "Arctic Heat". The project started fast and soon they had Chuck Norris signed on leading role for the film. But with money problems shooting schedule didn't hold and Norris left the project, but Selin and Harlin got Mike Norris for the leading role. They wrote new script, Born American (1986), and got financial help from USA. In the year 1986 Born American (1986) was finished and the most expensive Finnish film ever opened in USA in over 1,000 theaters and reached no 9.

The film wasn't successful in Finland, where it was banned. Harlin moved to Los Angeles and got a job from Halloween (1978) producer Irwin Yablans who offered him script of "Prison" to film. Film was made with low budget and distributed with only 42 copies. In the same year 1988 he got a job from New Line Cinema to direct A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) after meeting producer Robert Shaye numerous times, who at the first didn't want Harlin to direct the film. It became the highest-grossing film in the series, though its budget was seven times greater than the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" film.

20th Century Fox wanted Harlin to direct the Andrew Dice Clay rock'n roll comedy The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) and also a sequel to Die Hard (1988). Harlin made the both, but only Die Hard 2 (1990) was commercially successful, with over 239 million dollar worldwide gross. Next he directed Cliffhanger (1993) with Sylvester Stallone which made $255 million worldwide and was nominated for 3 Oscar's. Before Cliffhanger (1993) Harlin was hired to direct "Alien³" but he left the project because of creative differences.

His next film Cutthroat Island (1995) was a pirate film made with $100 million budget. Unfortunately it came out without good promotion and flopped badly. It made only $10 million in USA and for a time became the biggest flop in Hollywood history. But for Harlin, it wasn't a total loss.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) was a critical success, but was a box office flop, grossing only $30 million domestically with a $65 million budget.

In year 1998, Warner Bros. wanted a summer blockbuster for the year 1999 and Renny Harlin was the right name to direct. Deep Blue Sea (1999) came to theaters after costing 60 million dollars to film and made $160 million worldwide. The film never hit the top spot in the USA but still grossed $73 millions in the USA alone.

Harlin was hired to direct Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) after John Frankenheimer left the job and died shortly after it, and Paul Schrader was fired. Producers knew that Harlin could made a blockbuster even with the weak script, and so he did. With $50 million budget the film opened in number 1 and grossed $80 million worldwide.

Probably most liked Harlin's film Mindhunters (2004) was released in 2004 after years post-production. It was released in USA in 2005 in over 1,000 theaters but it only reached 10th place. In 9 weeks it grossed only $4 million dollars.

The Covenant (2006) was released in 2006. With non-famous (but attractive) actors, the film hit the top in its opening weekend and became a successful film. With a $20 million budget, it grossed $37 million worldwide and DVD sale brought $20 million more.

Peter Franzén is one of Finland's most accomplished actors and has had a successful career both nationally and internationally. He was born in Northern Finland, Kemi, close to the Arctic Circle in Lapland. Peter has been true to his craft as an actor for almost 30 years and he has worked in over 50 movies earning him three Jussi Awards (Finland's national film prize) and a total of seven nominations, also international Awards.

His film credits include for example: "The Gunman" opposite Sean Penn and Javier Bardem, Finnish controversial films "Heart of a Lion" and "Open Up To Me", which was nominated for the Nordic Council Film prize. Another Feature film "Purge" was Finland's official selection for the Academy Awards. Peter's most recent feature film is "Meander" (France 2020.)

TV-credits: Franzén enjoyed tremendously working in the "Vikings"-series (2016-2019, History Channel, HBO), portraying king Harald Finehair. "Working and living and in Ireland has been one of the absolute highlights of my career." His latest TV-work includes the new series "Wheel of Time" (2019-2020 Sony Pictures Television, Amazon Studios)

In 2013 Franzén made his feature directorial debut with his film "Above Dark Waters." The film opened in his native Finland and is based on a semi-autobiographical 2010 novel of the same name. Peter also adapted and wrote the Screenplay. The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the Golden Globes, in 2013.

Franzén recently published his third Novel, "The Broken Wheel Ranch" (Särkyneen pyörän karjatila). He lives in France.

Krista Kosonen was born on 28 May 1983 in Espoo, Finland. She is an actress and writer, known for Blade Runner 2049 (2017), The Midwife (2015) and Miami (2017). She has been married to Antti J. Jokinen since May 2018. They have one child.

Aki Kaurismäki did a wide variety of jobs including postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (in homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965)) with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki, also a film-maker. Both Aki and Mika are prolific film-makers, and together have been responsible for one-fifth of the total output of the Finnish film industry since the early 1980s, though Aki's work has found more favour abroad. His films are very short (he says a film should never run longer than 90 minutes, and many of his films are nearer 70), eccentric parodies of various genres (road movies, film noir, rock musicals), populated by lugubrious hard-drinking Finns and set to eclectic soundtracks, typically based around '50s rock'n'roll.

In the 1990s he has made films in Britain (I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)) and France (The Bohemian Life (1992)).

Finnish-American actress and dancer Taina Elisabeth Elg was born in 1930 in Helsinki but later her family moved and lived in and around Finland, including Turku. Taina's mother was a Russian immigrant, pianist Helena Doroumova, and her father was pianist Åke Elg (a.k.a. Åke Ludwig). Her home later became a target during the Finnish-Soviet wars between 1939 and 1944 and when it became part of the Soviet Union, the family was forced to leave. After WWII they evacuated from Viipuri and returned to Helsinki.

At a very young age Taina trained in both ballet and acting. When the family returned to Helsinki, Taina continued with her dance and acting training and eventually she was invited to join the Finnish National Ballet. She appeared in a few homeland movies as early as age 10 and found a couple of obscure film roles as a teenager, one in which she danced. Her international reputation began to grow when she joined the famed Sadler's Wells ballet dance company (The Royal Ballet) in London and then the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, in Paris. A serious injury forced her to rethink her dancing career.

Fortunately, Elg was discovered in London by American film producer Edwin H. Knopf and, on the heels of the spectacular Hollywood success fellow Scandinavian Anita Ekberg was having, MGM decided to sign Elg to a customary seven-year Hollywood contract. She made her American debut for MGM with the secondary role of Elissa in the Lana Turner biblical costumer The Prodigal (1955). The following year MGM utilized her acting talents in their films Diane (1956), again starring Turner, and Gaby (1956) with Leslie Caron.

For the aforementioned work she was honored with a Golden Globe award for female "foreign newcomer". She was subsequently handed her best all-around opportunity by MGM to display her sublime dancing, sexy figure and comedic acting skills when asked to portray Angèle Ducros in Cole Porter's musical Les Girls (1957) opposite Gene Kelly and alongside fellow dazzlers Mitzi Gaynor and Kay Kendall. Receiving her second consecutive Golden Globe (tying with Kendall) for "Best Actress" in a musical, Les Girls (1957) also won the Golden Globe for "Best Picture - Musical" and an Oscar for its costume design.

More films came her way with Imitation General (1958) starring Glenn Ford and Red Buttons; the remake of the classic The 39 Steps (1959) opposite Kenneth More; the African adventure Watusi (1959) with George Montgomery and David Farrar and the war story Mission of Danger (1960), which was actually culled from a few TV episodes. None, however, could match the quality of Les Girls (1957). Elg's Hollywood film career went into a steep decline at this juncture and she began focusing on TV projects, foreign films and especially theatre roles. Appearing on stage in such 1960s productions as "Redhead," "Silk Stockings", "Irma La Douce", "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music", and "There's a Girl in My Soup", she finally made her Broadway debut with the musical "Look to the Lilies" in 1970, which was based on the Oscar-winning film Lilies of the Field (1963). She never found a strong footing again in films and has appeared in less than a handful since. Other than the 1961 Italian spectacle The Bacchantes (1961), she showed up in the musclebound Arnold Schwarzenegger's vehicle Hercules in New York (1970), Liebestraum (1991), and the Barbra Streisand feature The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).

Her love for the stage was obvious and she remained as colorful than ever gracing such musicals as Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" (1973) in which she sang the haunting "Send in the Clowns." She also returned to Broadway in later years with the musicals "Where's Charley?", for which she earned a Tony nomination, "Nine" and "Cabaret". She appeared in the national tour of the musical "Titanic" in 1998-1999. On the non-musical stage she had strong roles in "Uncle Vanya", "I Hate Hamlet", "O Pioneers!", and, more recently, "Requiem for William" and Memory of a Summer" (both 2003).

In 2004, the actress received a special honor from her native Finland, when she was knight by the Order of the Lion of Finland. She is a naturalized American citizen. Jazz guitarist Raoul Björkenheim is Taina's son from her first marriage (1953-1958) to Carl "Poku" Björkenheim. In 1985, she married Rocco Caporale, an Italian educator and professor of sociology. The couple lived in New York City until his death in 2008.

Oona Airola is a Finnish actress and singer. She has a Master of Arts degree in acting from the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, graduated 2015. She has both acted in theatre and movies. Her first and latest long Film is Cannes, Un certain regard 2016 winner "The happiest day in the life of Olli Mäki" by Juho Kuosmanen. Airola is playing the main femalerole as boxer Olli Mäkis fiancee Raija Jänkä. Her second long¨"Sorceress" will be published on (2017). The movie is written and directed by Naama Kates.

Oona Airola composes, writes the lyrics and sings in Lada Nuevo and Ykspihlajan Kino Orkesteri. Lada Nuevo, the orchestra of 11 members is founded by Airola. In Ykspihlajan Kino-orkesteri Airola works as a singer. Together with Ykspihlajan Kino-Orkesteri Airola has composed also music to Juho Kuosmanen's films.(silent film "Romu-Mattila ja kaunis nainen" 2012 & "The Happiest day in the life of Olli Mäki" 2016)

Oona Airola is born in northern west coast Finland, Kokkola. She is a third sibling in the family of five children. Four daughters and one brother. Her mother is journalist Outi Airola and father Tuomas Airola a cellist. (Also actor in Juho Kuosmanen's Painting sellers and violinplayer in Ykspihlajan Kino-orkesteri.)

Oona Airola's passion beside music and theatre has always been horses. She has had own horses and done horseback riding mainly by show-jumping and hurdle. Airola works as an freelancer actress/musician mainly in Helsinki.

Ilkka Villi is an actor best known for his roles in television series such as Bordertown (Sorjonen) and Invisible Heroes - and for the title role in the cult video game Alan Wake.

Villi was born in Helsinki, Finland, but lived a big part of his early years in different countries in Europe and The Americas. Villi speaks multiple languages and has acted in Finnish, English, Spanish, German and Swedish.

Jouko Ahola was born on 1 December 1970 in Hämeenlinna, Finland. He is an actor, known for Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Vikings (2013) and Mal día para pescar (2009).

Joonas Suotamo was born on 3 October 1986 in Espoo, Finland. He is an actor, known for Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). He is married to Milla Pohjasvaara.

George Gaynes was born in Helsinki in May, 1917, which was then the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Grand Duchy was part of the Russian Empire, which was in a state of collapse at the time of Gaynes' birth. The Emperor Nicholas II of Russia had abdicated the throne on March 15, two months prior to Gaynes' birth, and the Empire was in the process of splintering.

His family left the country, and George was primarily raised in France, England, and Switzerland. Neither of his parents was Finnish. His father Gerrit Jongejans was a Dutch businessman, and his mother Iya Grigorievna de Gay was a Russian artist. George attended college in the vicinity of Lausanne, Switzerland and graduated in 1937. He then attended a music school in Milan, Italy for about a year.

In 1940, George Gaynes was living in France, during the time of the Battle of France in World War II. The Battle ended in defeat for the French Third Republic and the country was occupied by Nazi Germany. George attempted to flee the occupation authorities, by crossing the Pyrenees mountains into neutral Spain. He was arrested by the Spanish authorities for illegally crossing the border, but was soon released.

In 1943, George joined the Royal Netherlands Navy. With the Netherlands under German occupation, the headquarters of the Navy had moved to London, in the United Kingdom. George had no previous military experience, but he was noticed for multilingual skills. He fluently spoke Dutch, English, French, Italian and Russian. He was soon detached to the (British) Royal Navy to serve as a translator.

During his naval service in World War II, George took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Battle of Anzio in the Italian Campaign, and the Adriatic Campaign. The War ended in 1945 and George was honorably discharged in July, 1946. His highest military rank was that of a sergeant.

In 1946, George briefly returned to living in France. He was approached by an American theater director with the offer to play a part in a musical. He took the offer and moved to New York City, where he started appearing in Broadway musicals. He applied for American citizenship and officially became a citizen in 1948.

From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, George Gaynes was primarily a theatrical actor. His roles included various musicals, dramas, and comedies. One of his better-known roles was that of Henry Higgins in the theatrical version of ''My Fair Lady'', which went on a successful tour in 1964.

In the early 1960s, George started appearing as a character actor in various television series. He was also offered a number of film roles. His career unexpectedly took off in the 1980s, with a major part in the television series Punky Brewster (1985) and another one in the then-popular film series "Police Academy" from 1984 to 1994. In Police Academy (1984), his role was that of Commandant Eric Lassard, the titular leader of the Academy. He played the role in all 7 films of the series, though he only had a featured part in the fifth film. This was probably his most memorable role and gained him celebrity recognition for the first time.

In the 1990s, his career slowed down again, with only a few film appearances. He only played in a single film through the 2000s, Just Married (2003), and then retired. He was 86-years-old and could no longer play physically demanding roles. He spend 13 years in retirement before he died of natural causes in 2016.

Sam Lake was born on 28 March 1970 in Finland. He is a writer and director, known for Alan Wake II (2023), Max Payne (2008) and Control (2019).

Jalmari Helander was born on 21 July 1976 in Helsinki, Finland. He is a director and writer, known for Rare Exports (2010), Sisu (2022) and Big Game (2014).

Jasper Pääkkönen is an actor, fly fisherman, environmentalist and an entrepreneur. His most recent work include the role of Felix in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman and Halfdan the Black in the hit TV series Vikings. In his home country Finland, according to newspaper Ilta Sanomat, he is "the most profitable film actor in Finland" for having starred in many of Finland's biggest box office hits during his career. For his role Harri in Dome Karukoski's Heart of a Lion (Leijonasydän) he won the Finnish Jussi award (local Oscar). Many of Pääkkönen's films have made #1 in the Finnish B.O., including Pahat Pojat (Bad Boys - a true story), Matti, Frozen Land and Lapland Odyssey. Apart from his work in film, he is know as the cult outdoor brand Patagonia's ambassador. The architectural spa Löyly, which he built and owns in Helsinki, was named one of World's 100 Greatest Places by Time Magazine. In his free time he travels the world fly fishing as the cult outdoor brand Patagonia's brand ambassador.

Anna Eriksson was born April 22, 1977 in Rauma, Finland. Because of her fathers job, Anna spent most of her childhood and teenage years traveling around the world. The family lived in India, Tanzania and Saudi-Arabia.

Anna studied music from early on, concentrating in singing. After graduating college she recorded her first album which instantly became a huge success in Finland. She has recorded ten albums, writing and producing the last four of them herself.

Anna has won many awards, including two Emma prizes (the Finnish Grammy), and from her 2012 album MANA, she received the Teosto prize, that is one of the biggest art prizes in the Nordic countries. It was established by the Finnish Composers' Copyright Society Teosto. In 2013 Anna put her musical career on hold and began working on her film M.

" This work has been a true challenge and an obsession. Making films that are unique pieces of art is what I want to do in the future. I have found a medium that challenges me to the limit and gives me a chance to work with all of my passions; writing, visuality and music, but most importantly, emotion."

Jussi Vatanen was born on 30 January 1978 in Sonkajärvi, Finland. He is an actor and writer, known for Fallen Leaves (2023), The Unknown Soldier (2017) and The Man Who Died (2022).

Eero Milonoff was born on 1 May 1980 in Helsinki, Finland. He is an actor, known for Border (2018), Ganes (2007) and The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki (2016).

Kari Väänänen was born on 17 September 1953 in Ivalo, Finland. He is an actor and writer, known for Taivaan tulet (2007), Night on Earth (1991) and Lakeuden kutsu (2000). He is married to Terhi Väänänen. They have one child. He was previously married to Sanna Fransman and Susanna Roine.

Anna Falchi was born on 22 April 1972 in Tampere, Finland. She is an actress and producer, known for Cemetery Man (1994), C'è Kim Novak al telefono (1994) and S.P.Q.R. 2000 e 1/2 anni fa (1994). She was previously married to Stefano Ricucci.

Ville Virtanen was born on 19 August 1961 in Espoo, Finland. He is an actor and director, known for Sauna (2008), Bad Family (2010) and Karjalan kunnailla (2007). He is married to Birthe Wingren. He was previously married to Eija Vilpas.

Tommi Korpela was born on 23 August 1968 in Helsinki, Finland. He is an actor and writer, known for Rare Exports (2010), Distractions (2015) and Putoavia enkeleitä (2008). He is married to Elina Knihtilä. They have one child.

Mikko Leppilampi was born on 22 September 1978 in Pälkäne, Finland. He is an actor and writer, known for Pearls and Pigs (2003), Downshiftaajat (2015) and The Girls of April (2011). He was previously married to Emilia Vuorisalmi.

Inka Kallén was born on 30 September 1981 in Tuusula, Finland. She is an actress and writer, known for The Wait (2021), All the Sins (2019) and Arctic Circle (2018).

Aku Louhimies is an award-winning director and screenwriter. His highly acclaimed, commercially successful films have established him as one of the most preeminent directors of Scandinavian cinema today.

Accomplished in both film and television, Louhimies' works have consistently garnered attention and praise, not least on the international film festival scene. Of his twelve feature films, his works include Omerta 6/12 and the award winning and world's first carbon negative film Wait, both (2021), the box-office record breaking Unknown Soldier (2017) and the European Film Award nominees 8-Ball (2013) and Frozen Land (2012). The latest TV- series include The Inheritance (2023), The Rig (2020) and to be released (2024) Conflict.

Louhimies graduated from Billings West High School in Montana, U.S. returned to Finland to study history at the University of Helsinki, continuing on to Aalto University with a degree in film directing.

He is fluent in English, Finnish, Swedish, and Spanish.

Louhimies attributes his discipline and a strong work ethic to his military background, having served as platoon leader of the Finnish Defence Forces. He is still an active reserve officer.

Louhimies was born in Helsinki, Finland to an artistic household; his father was an architect and his mother one of the first female commercial directors in Finland. Louhimies considers Montana his home state and has strong connections there. A dedicated father of five, Louhimies is passionate about using the medium for socially and environmentally constructive purposes. He is also a well-known public speaker and headed the Finnish Directors Guild for several years.