Oona Airola (born 13 July 1988) is a Finnish actress and singer. She has won two Jussi Awards for her film roles: Best Supporting Actress for The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (2016) and Best Leading Actress for Land of Hope (2018). She also won the Dragon Award for Best Acting at the Gothenburg Film Festival for her performance in The Missile (2024). She has also had main roles in television series, including Hotel Swan Helsinki (2020–2021) and Helsinki Syndrome (2022–2024).
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Early life and education
She was born on 13 July 1988. She is from Kokkola, Finland. Her mother Outi Airola is a journalist, and she has four siblings, including fellow actress Anna Airola and musician Aaro Airola. Her father was a cellist. When she was eight years old, she sustained a serious leg injury while horseback riding. Her parents divorced when she was in high school. She studied at the Helsinki Theatre Academy after being accepted at the age of 22.
Career
Airola made her feature film debut in Juho Kuosmanen's 2016 biographical drama The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki. She played Olli Mäki's girlfriend Raija, and won a Jussi Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. In February 2018, she played a member of the Female Red Guards at KOM-teatteri, in a production based on a novel by Anneli Kanto and directed by Lauri Maijala.
She won a Jussi for Best Leading Actress for Land of Hope (2018). In December, she appeared in the series Meidän pitää puhua. Each episode was based on a different break-up story submitted to Yle; Airola played all of the lead roles (a total of five different women). She played the protagonist's best friend Kinky in Aurora (2019). She was nominated for another Best Supporting Actress Jussi Award for Aurora. She released her debut single "Brahenkenttä" the same year. In January 2020, she played Cathy in a production of Humiseva harju at Helsinki City Theatre. She played Lena in a Helsinki City Theatre production of the Swedish musical Så som i himmelen, staged in Finnish as Niin kuin taivaassalen.
She played the lead role in the mystery series Hotel Swan Helsinki (2020–2021). In Makkari (2020), she and Johannes Holopainen played a couple named Venla and Jaakko, whose relationship was the focus of the second episode. She also appeared in Rahti (2021) as a human rights lawyer named Maria. Also in 2021, she and her sister Anna played twins on an outdoors excursion in the short film Souturetki. She had a supporting role in Girl Picture (2022), which had its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2024, she won the Dragon Award for Best Acting at the Gothenburg Film Festival for her performance in The Missile. She played Maarit Hurmerinta in a 2024 Yle Radio audio drama. She played Kaija Koo in Kaunis rietas onnellinen (2026).
Personal life
She has one child with Leo Sjöman (formerly Honkonen). They separated in 2025.
