Atlantica - 01.03.2002, Qupperneq 21

A T L A N T I C A 19
Las Vegas – just about every location that
she has travelled to for a film, she finds
some place to roll the dice. Heck, she even
gambled her gold krónur in the video poker
machines on a weekend trip to Reykjavík.
But gambling is just a harmless vice, she
tells me. And everyone needs at least one.
One vice that doesn’t whet her appetite is
drinking. Unfortunately, this distaste for
alcohol makes de Fougerolles feel even
more like an outsider in this small Icelandic
town, as it’s basically a tradition amongst
Icelanders to throw a few too many back on
the weekends.
“I’m not drinking, so it’s really hard to fit
in. I love to party when I can dance. And I
tried last Friday, but at 1:00 a.m. they [hadn’t
even started yet]. They told me it started at
1:30 a.m., but that’s when I’m sleeping. I
couldn’t wait so long [for the party] to start,”
she says, amused by her inability to stay up
late and hang with the crew.
De Fougerolles won’t reveal the misad-
ventures that led her to lose her taste for
alcohol, but like only an actress could
describe so animatedly, she lets on that she
had “some bad champagne and I was throw-
ing up. Ahhh, it was so awful. I’m not drink-
ing champagne anymore.”
This adventure in Neskaupstadur has not
been awful. Like I said, de Fougerolles is just
about the happiest person I’ve ever met who
was suffering from a self-described case of
the doldrums. She has the refreshing ability
to make fun of herself and is, as in the words
of the poet William Stafford, ‘willingly falli-
ble’. If being pretentious is London, then de
Fougerolles is Tokyo. She does not take her-
self seriously. Just listen to this amazing
blunder which she reveals without hesita-
tion even though my tape recorder is still
recording.
“When I arrived [at the Reykjavík airport],
I couldn’t understand anyone’s English. I
asked a few times if this was the right flight.
So I actually got on the wrong plane and
flew to Akureyri. I said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to
cry.’ I ended up flying all over the country.
When I finally arrived in Neskaupstadur, they
all laughed at me.”
Hélène de Fougerolles recalls this faux
pas with an uncanny ability to mock herself.
It’s an endearing quality. Her sarcastic wit
makes me want to run to the video store and
rent all her movies. Then, with the grace and
sincerity of a movie star, she adds: “This
gave me the chance to fly all over Iceland
and to see its beauty. I think it’s one of the
most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.”
Edward Weinman is a staff writer.
“I’ve been here for two
months, but it feels more like
two years ... There’s so much
nothing to do here.”
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