Top Actress

In the June 2016 issue of Viking, we talked with Norwegian actress Ellen Dorrit Petersen. Hailing from Tau, Norway, she studied performing arts at the Oslo National Academy of Arts and started her acting career on stage at theaters in Stavanger and Oslo. She’s appeared in Norwegian films such as “Troubled Water,” “King of Devil’s Island” and “Blind.” Later this year, the award-winning actress is set to star in the Norwegian legal drama “Aber Bergen.” Here’s more from the interview.

Q: “Blind” was an international success in 2014. How has your career changed since then? 

A: Slightly. Even though I still stand at the bottom of the international stairs, I have been given a lot of opportunities to compete for international productions that I did not have two years ago. And for every no I get, I am closer to my next yes.

Q: Where are some places in Norway that you would recommend travelers visit? 

A: The Pulpit Rock is Norway’s most famous mountain. More than 200,000 tourists take the two-hour walk every summer. I used to work at the hostel at the starting point of the hike when I was a teenager. I would recommend Ålesund, Bergen and of course the north; Tromsø and Lofoten.

Q: What is one of your favorite memories from growing up in Tau, Norway?

A: Looking back at my childhood, it all seems like sunshine and green grass. Thinking thoroughly though, it was a long yearning for something bigger. Tau is a small community, and we lived far outside the center of it. In my little village, I remember counting 67 people when I was 12 years old. I spent a lot of time on my own or with my animals. My father was a biology teacher and filled our house and garden with birds and small animals. From the age of 10, my friend and I slept every sunny day of the summer in a tent in the garden, and one of my strongest memories is waking up to the morning sounds of our peacocks, pheasants and parrots.