Iceland review - 2013, Side 19

ICELAND REVIEW 17
FLYINg HIgH
Skydiver, store owner, surfer, pilot, model, actress… These are only
a few of María Birta Bjarnadóttir’s many identities.
Young actress, adventurer and businesswoman
María Birta Bjarnadóttir has made a name for
herself in the Icelandic film scene in spite of
only recently having taken up acting. Her first
role was in teen drama Jitters (Órói) in 2010 and she has since played
in two other films: dark thriller Black’s Game (Svartur á leik) and
drama XL. At the 2013 Eddas, the Icelandic Film and Television
Awards, María Birta was named Best Actress in a Supporting Role
for her portrayal of drug trafficker Dagný in Black’s Game. “I think
people could tell that I wasn’t expecting it at all,” the 25-year-old
says when we meet over a cup of coffee near her clothing store
Manía on Laugavegur, Reykjavík’s main shopping street.
ACtINg AMBItIoNS
“I absolutely want to make a career out of acting. People disagree
on whether I should study it—I’ve never been to acting school—
but Ólafur Darri [Ólafsson, her co-star in XL] says I shouldn’t. In
his opinion, I wouldn’t benefit much from going to school given
the experience I have. I should rather study specific fields like cold
reading,” María Birta says of a technique where actors read out
loud from a script without any rehearsal in advance. “I’d love to
learn the perfect southern accent,” she adds.
María Birta has been praised for her talent but one critic point-
ed out that she should now focus on roles that don’t require her to
take off her clothes. “I have a very feminine body; I can understand
why I’ve been picked for such parts. There are actors who get
stuck always playing the same character, always the bad guy, always
the drug addict. Of course I dream of playing more versatile roles.
I’d love to play a man but I don’t know if that’s realistic.” María
BY Eygló Svala arnarSdóTTir PHOTO BY PÁll STEfÁnSSon
Birta says she doesn’t mind nudity as long as it’s relevant to the story-
line. “Dagný was that kind of girl. She was up for it,” the actress says
of her character in Black’s Game. “The film is based on real events and
they wanted to make it as authentic as possible,” she says, adding that
taking part in sex scenes wasn’t an easy decision. “I refused at first. I
didn’t want to undress for Jitters and I wanted to back out of Black’s
Game when they finally told me how much nudity there would be.
Two weeks before shooting I told them, ‘I won’t do it, you have to
find a different actress.’ I now get to approve everything beforehand,
all posters, all trailers.”
LovINg tHe CAMerA
María Birta was working as a model before she moved into acting,
being registered with model agency Eskimo and having played in a
number of commercials. “Baldvin Z, the director of Jitters, was look-
ing for someone to portray the character of Júdit and went through
the pictures of everyone at Eskimo. He looked into my eyes and then
noticed that I had shaved half of my hair off—I had really long and
thick hair at the time—and thought I was the right match, the rock
’n’ roll type,” María Birta recalls. “Of course he didn’t know at that
point whether I could act. He invited me for an audition—I love
going to auditions—then he asked me to come back and offered me
the part.
“My stepfather is an actor, so I’ve always been around acting,”
María Birta says of Pálmi gestsson, one of Iceland’s leading actors.
“I think what also helped my acting career is that I feel comfortable
in front of the camera. My dad is a hobby photographer so I grew
up with a camera in my face. He’s photographed every moment of
my life.”