Honestly, if you watched the Netflix reboot of Lost in Space, you probably spent half your time wondering if the Robinson family would ever catch a break and the other half laughing at Penny's sarcasm. Playing the middle child is a specific kind of hell, but Mina Sundwall turned it into an art form. She wasn't just the "witty one" in a family of genius scientists. She was the anchor.
People always talk about the Robot or Will's connection to alien tech. But Mina Sundwall in Lost in Space represented something much more grounded: the struggle of being completely ordinary in an extraordinary world.
The Audition That Almost Didn't Happen
Mina wasn't some Hollywood veteran when she landed the role of Penny Robinson. She was a 15-year-old from New York City who grew up taking the subway and dreaming of telling stories. Fun fact: her first "acting" gig was actually at eight months old. She played a kidnapped baby. Talk about a dramatic start.
When the Lost in Space script landed in her lap, she didn't see a sci-fi epic. She saw a girl reading Moby Dick on a glacier. That was the audition scene—Penny and Judy trapped on the ice, Penny reading classic literature because she refused to bring "trashy" books to a new world. Sundwall has mentioned in interviews that this scene sold her on the character. It wasn't about the spaceships; it was about a girl who valued authenticity over utility.
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Why Penny Robinson Was the Secret Weapon
In a family where the mom is an aerospace engineer, the dad is a Navy SEAL, the older sister is a doctor, and the younger brother is an intuitive tech prodigy, where do you fit?
Penny was the writer. The communicator.
The "Non-Science" Problem
Users often search for why Penny seemed "useless" compared to the others. That’s a total misconception. While Maureen was busy calculating orbital trajectories, Penny was the one tracking the emotional health of the crew. She was the family's pulse.
Sundwall played this with a specific kind of "sass" that she admits is a bit more intense than her real-life personality. She brought a cynical, David Foster Wallace-esque energy to a show that could have easily become too saccharine.
- Season 1: She's the rebellious teen, dodging chores and trying to find her footing.
- Season 2: She starts to own her role as the historian, the one documenting their journey.
- Season 3: We see a massive jump in maturity. She becomes a leader in her own right, especially when the "kids" have to fend for themselves.
Behind the Scenes: Glaciers and Soggy Spacesuits
Filming Lost in Space wasn't exactly a vacation in a studio. The cast spent a huge amount of time in Iceland and Vancouver.
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Imagine being 17, trying to study for your high school exams while sitting on top of a literal glacier in a spacesuit. That was Mina's reality. She’s talked about the "misery" of the first day of filming—the cast was strapped into the Jupiter chairs for the crash sequence. The chairs were shaking violently, it was freezing, and nobody really knew each other yet.
"We rejoiced in the misery," she once said. That’s how the Robinson bond actually formed. They weren't just acting like a family; they were trauma-bonding over technical difficulties and wet gear.
One of the wildest stories involves a scene near a waterfall in Iceland. The spacesuits weren't waterproof. If water hit the mics, they'd die. Because they couldn't hear each other over the roar of the water, the Assistant Director had to crouch out of frame and literally squeeze their legs to tell them when it was their turn to speak.
The Evolution of Mina Sundwall
By the time the show wrapped in 2021, Mina had grown up on screen. You can see the shift from the high-pitched sarcasm of season one to the more resonant, confident voice in the finale.
But what happened after the Robinsons finally found home?
Mina didn't just stick to sci-fi. She’s leaned into heavy, grounded drama. Her role in the 2023 film The Graduates is a complete 180 from Penny. She plays a student navigating the aftermath of school gun violence. To prepare, she actually sat in grief circles and spoke with survivors. It shows a level of depth that you don't always see from "teen stars."
Recent Work and Future Moves (2024-2025)
If you've been following her lately, she’s been busy. She voiced Thrúd in God of War: Ragnarök, which gave her a whole new fanbase in the gaming world. More recently, she's moved into the "true crime" dramatization space.
- Murdaugh: Death in the Family: Mina was cast as Brooklynn White in the Hulu miniseries about the Murdaugh murders.
- Directing: She’s been vocal about wanting to step behind the camera. She's already directed a short film and seems to be moving toward a career that balances acting with production.
What Most People Get Wrong
There’s a weird segment of the internet that thinks Mina Sundwall is actually a scientist or an "IT girl" in real life because of her association with NASA.
While she does have an Exceptional Public Achievement Medal from NASA, she’s the first to admit she's terrible at biology. The medal was for her work as a spokesperson, inspiring interest in space exploration through her role as Penny. She’s a psychology major in college, not an astrophysicist.
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She also doesn't actually want to go to space.
"I'm very scared of it," she told PureWow. She’s not a fan of the dark or the feeling of being isolated. She’d only go if it were as common as a plane ride—and even then, only if she could go with someone like Neil Armstrong.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Aspiring Actors
If you’re looking to follow Mina’s career or perhaps get into the industry yourself, here are a few takeaways from her journey:
- Embrace Being the "Outlier": Penny Robinson’s strength was that she wasn't like her family. If you're the "non-science" person in a "science" environment, find your own lane. Communications and storytelling are just as vital as engineering.
- Multiculturalism is a Superpower: Mina is half-Swedish and half-Italian. She speaks Spanish, French, and Swedish. This has opened doors for her in international cinema and is something she encourages other young people to pursue.
- Don't Fear the Pivot: Moving from a massive Netflix sci-fi hit to indie films about grief or voice acting for AAA games isn't "losing momentum." It's building a sustainable career.
- Watch "The Graduates": If you only know her as Penny, watch her performance in The Graduates. It’s a masterclass in subtlety and shows exactly why she’s being cast in more mature, demanding roles in 2025.
Mina Sundwall managed to survive being "lost in space" only to find a very clear path for herself in the real world. Whether she’s directing, acting in true-crime thrillers, or advocating for international youth travel, she’s proven that being the "middle child" was just the beginning.
Keep an eye on her upcoming projects in 2026, as she’s expected to announce her first full-length directorial project soon. Check out her performance in Murdaugh: Death in the Family to see how much she's evolved since her days on the Jupiter 2.