Gunilla Backman

Gunilla Backman's recent West End credits include playing the role of Ellen in Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Gunilla was born in Stockholm, Sweden. She studied at the Adolf Fredrik music school in Stockholm and has had 13 years of classical ballet training with the Swedish Opera and the Cullberg Ballet Company. In 1982 she played her first role on stage as Leisl in The Sound of Music at the Folkan Theatre in Stockholm. Numerous roles followed until 1990 when she was cast as Cosette in Cameron Mackintosh's Swedish production of Les Misérables at the Circus Theatre. This was followed by a National tour of the Swedish National Theatre's production of West Side Story, where she played the role of Maria. Other work with the National Theatre and the Royal Dramatic Theatre include Elvira Madigan and the Winter's Tale, directed by Ingemar Bergman. Gunilla moved to Germany in 1996 to play in Sunset Boulevard followed by a return to Les Misérables, in Duisburg, this time playing the role of Fantine.

Gunilla has dubbed numerous musical film scores into Swedish including Don Bluth's Thumbelina when she sang the title role. She was a member of the pop duo Katz with whom she released an album in Scandanavia and toured Sweden and Europe, participating in festivals and T.V. shows. Other recordings include the original Swedish cast album of Les Misérables.