She gained wider recognition in 2012 for playing Kitty in Joe Wright's period drama Anna Karenina and Queen Caroline Mathilde in the Danish film A Royal Affair.

[13] At age 16, she almost left school to commit fully to the television series she worked on with director Tomas Alfredson, realising her passion for acting.

[16] Vikander started her acting career at age seven, starring in a production of Kristina från Duvemåla at The Göteborg Opera, which was written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson from ABBA, performing in the play for three and a half years.

In 1997 she participated in the TV4 children's singing show Småstjärnorna; she performed the Helen Sjöholms song, "Du måste finnas".

With this role, Vikander won the Rising Star Award in 2010 at the Stockholm International Film Festival,[20] the Shooting Star Award at the Berlin International Film Festival[10] She became represented by Tavistock Wood management in the UK, and shortly afterwards she also signed with United Talent Agency in the US.

In 2012, Vikander gained international attention for playing the key role of Kitty in the English-language film adaptation of Anna Karenina, starring Keira Knightley.

[22] That year, she added Danish to her repertoire while co-starring as Queen Caroline Mathilde in the Nikolaj Arcel feature film A Royal Affair.

[38][39][40][41][42] She garnered critical acclaim and wide recognition for her starring role as Artificial intelligence Ava[43] in Alex Garland's directorial debut Ex Machina, for which she received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

[37] She had the leading role of pacifist Vera Brittain in Testament of Youth alongside Kit Harington and Emily Watson.

Vikander starred opposite Eva Green and Charlotte Rampling as sisters in conflict travelling through Europe toward a mystery destination.

[51][52] Vikander then appeared in the adaptation of the novel The Light Between Oceans (2016), directed by Derek Cianfrance, with Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz.

[55][56] In 2019, Vikander starred in the short film I Am Easy to Find directed by Mike Mills, which was part of the eighth album of the same name by The National.

[57] That same year, Vikander starred in the psychological thriller Earthquake Bird opposite Riley Keough directed by Wash Westmoreland for Netflix.

[60][61] Vikander next starred opposite Dev Patel in the medieval fantasy The Green Knight directed by David Lowery which was released by A24.

There's a change happening, and I want to be part of that, [because] you see something like The Hunger Games or Insurgent proving that a female role can carry a successful blockbuster, and that means something.

[67]On 10 November 2017, Vikander was one of 584 women who called for the Swedish film and theatre industries to address what they claimed was a culture of sexual misconduct.

[69][70] The letter contained numerous accounts of sexual harassment, assault and rape suffered by women in the Swedish industry, all recounted anonymously.