Her first big break was at the age of four, when she acted alongside her mother in the TV-play Den längsta dagen (The Longest Day). She attended the Adolf Fredrik's Music School and was also part of the Saltsjöbaden theatre. In the face of stiff competition she got the title role in the musical Annie at Folkan in Stockholm. After a small role in Lilla prinsen (The Little Prince) at Saltsjöbaden's theatre and an equally small part in Ingmar Bergman's film Fanny and Alexander. In 1982 she joined the cast of the Swedish production of The Sound of Music, in which she played the daughter Louise. At Folkan she also had parts in Karlsson på taket, Mio, min Mio, Snövit (Snow White) and Ringens hemlighet. After having played Annika in the musical version of Pippi Longstocking at Folket in Stockholm, in 1983 she received good reviews when she replaced Siw Malmkvist in the role of Pippi for the two final performances, and appeared in an episode of Nygammalt in 1983, and an episode of Razzel in October 1984, where she performed her debut single, Nu har det tänt. She has also acted in film and TV productions such as Bo Widerberg's 1986 production of Ormens väg på hälleberget in 1986, and Snoken in 1995. Pernilla has also performed in a number of comedies at various private theatres in Stockholm, such as Parneviks cirkusparty, Spanska flugan and Bubbel trubbel. She has twice been nominated for the theatre-awardGuldmasken—first for her role in Charleys tant at the Intiman theatre, and secondly for her part in "Kärlek & lavemang" at Fredriksdalsteatern in Helsingborg. She has had even more musical roles in Annie Get Your Gun, Grease, The Wizard of Oz, Cats and Nils Karlsson Pyssling.[citation needed] She has portrayed Pippi Longstocking several times, also as an adult. On 29 September 2007, The Sound of Music premièred at the Göta Lejon theatre in Stockholm, where Pernilla played alongside a cast including Tommy Nilsson. It ran for nine months, including a month-long tour across Sweden. The last performance ran in Örebro on 16 May 2008.