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Lasse Hallstrom's most recent film is An Unfinished Life. In 2002 Hallström earned a Golden Berlin Bear nomination for The Shipping News, which starred Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore, and was based on E. Annie Proulx's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Hallström's acclaimed adaptation of Joanna Harris' Chocolat, starring Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp and Judi Dench, earned five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Hallström received a second Oscar nomination for Best Director for his work on The Cider House Rules, starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron and Michael Caine.

The Swedish director first came to the attention of American audiences in 1985 with the release of My Life As A Dog, for which Hallström received Academy Award nominations for both Best Director and Best Screenplay. The picture won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in addition to being cited as Best Foreign Film by The New York Film Critics, among other accolades. Next up for Hallström was Once Around, a romantic comedy starring Holly Hunter as a repressed Boston woman who is swept off her feet by an obnoxious salesman/millionaire played by Richard Dreyfuss. In 1993, Hallström directed What's Eating Gilbert Grape, the offbeat tale of a young man who holds the troubled Grape family together. The film brought recognition to a young Leonardo DiCaprio, who earned an Oscar nomination for his role as the autistic younger brother of Johnny Depp. Something to Talk About followed, starring Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid, Gena Rowlands, Robert Duvall and Kyra Sedgewick in a story of two generations of a tumultuous Southern family.

Hallström began his career in his native Sweden, working in television on shorts such as Shall We Go To My Place Or To Your Place Or Each Go Home Alone? In addition, he directed music videos, most notably for the famed Swedish band ABBA. In 1997, he directed and edited ABBA: The Movie. He subsequently wrote and directed several films in his homeland, including the dramatic comedies A Lover And His Lass, Father To Be, Happy We and The Children Of Bullerby Village, based on the books by Astrid Lindgren.