“This last year has felt like one chapter ending and another beginning,” says 22-year-old Swedish actor Edvin Ryding on the set of his British Vogue shoot, knee-to-knee on the squat studio sofas and ensconced in a cream Eytys trench.“You have to dream big, live bigger – is what I’ve been told!”

The chapter that closed? His time playing Prince Wilhelm on Netflix’s Young Royals, the fictional series about Swedish royalty that garnered a passionate, global fandom and proved to be his breakout role. (It’s also where he met his girlfriend, fellow actor Felicia Maxime Truedsson – together they have been declared one of Scandinavia’s hottest It couples.) The chapter coming? His turn as a soldier in one of this summer’s most anticipated releases, 28 Years Later, the horror epic threequel from Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, which sets him among a cast including Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes.

Acting since he was five (his first role was in another horror, the 2009 Swedish miniseries Mannen under trappan), Ryding arrived on location worried about the level up – the first film came out the year before he was born – but he needn’t have been too concerned. “I could be wide-eyed and approach it like a little kid,” he says, “then I realised I’m 17 years in – here I am. I know what I’m doing.” Predictably tight-lipped about the plot, Ryding thinks there’s something “comforting” about “seeing worst-case scenarios” played out. “Maybe it’s weird, but I want people to find some hope in it.”

With major streaming projects, Swedish thrillers and a world-spanning franchise ticked off, he’s flexing other creative muscles. One ongoing challenge? “Personal style is so fun to explore, but it’s frustrating when I can’t find it!” Ryding says, laughing modestly of his pored-over fashion choices online. Not that you’d notice from his everyday wardrobe of Acne Studios and Eytys, his appearance on Valentino’s front row or his recent Oscars red carpet debut in a regal-inspired ensemble, with which he wanted to spotlight young menswear designers Xander Zhou and Sean Suen as well as Swedish brands Our Legacy and Tiger of Sweden.

“Style is another form of storytelling for me. I can do more of that with my hair out of contract,” he says, grinning and pointing to his bleached blond spikes. Now Ryding, warm and open, a self-confessed “musical theatre nerd” who feels most at home journalling (he wrote multiple letters to himself in character as Wilhelm and will continue to do it with future roles – “It keeps my imagination flowing”), is ready for his next part. And then the one after that. “I feel like I’m on my way.”

Cover look: cotton/linen sweater, jeans, and eyelet socks, Valentino. Leather shoes, embossed leather belt, and necklace, Valentino Garavani. Hair: Selasie Ackuaku. Grooming: Francesca Daniella. Nails: Naima Coleman.