Press

María Ellingsen was born in Reykjavík and is of Icelandic, Faroese and Norwegian descent. She speaks Icelandic, Faroese, Danish and English. She worked as a journalist at Morgunblaðið from 1982 to 1984 before moving to New York, where she graduated with a BA from the Experimental Theater Wing at New York University in 1988. There she trained in physical expression, voice and improvisation in the spirit of Grotowski, Viewpoints with Mary Overlie, and acting for film.

Back in Iceland she played roles at the National Theatre, before the part of the East German Katarina in the television series Santa Barbara took her to Hollywood. Film roles followed, including New Age (Warner Brothers), Mighty Ducks 2 (Disney) and Deadly Currents (Showtime). The film Agnes brought her home again, and for the title role she was named best actress at the Verona film festival. She has since played many roles on stage, television and film, most recently in Baltasar Kormákur’s Touch (Snerting) and the series Reykjavík 112.

With her independent theatre company Annað Svið, María has staged works such as The Swan, Salka Valka – a Love Story and Nobody Meets Anybody. She made her directing debut with Úlfhamssaga, nominated for seven Gríma awards, and followed it with MammaMamma and The Journey of the Phoenix, which premiered at the Reykjavík Arts Festival in 2011 and toured the Nordic countries. As a director she often devises work from scratch with the company, letting the piece grow out of the shared process.

María also teaches presence, public speaking and media skills, working with companies and individuals to communicate their ideas with confidence.