Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir (born December 1976) is an Icelandic actress. She has had major roles in a number of Icelandic films and TV series, and in 2013 won the Edda Award for Best Leading Actress for '.

Early life and education

Sara was born and grew up on the family farm in

Skeiða- og Gnúpverjahreppur Skeiða- og Gnúpverjahreppur (, ) is a small municipality in south-central Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North A ...

. She attended

Fjölbrautaskólinn í Breiðholti Fjölbrautaskólinn í Breiðholti (The polytechnic school in Breiðholt Breiðholt () is a southeastern district of Reykjavík, Iceland. It includes three neighbourhoods: ''Neðra-Breiðholt'' (Bakkar , Mjódd and Stekkir ), ''Efra-Breiðhol ...

from the age of 16, in the media track, and after a half year in France studying French, enrolled at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

to study psychology. After her first film role, she returned to France, living in Paris, and then studied acting in Iceland at the

Iceland University of the Arts Iceland University of the Arts ( ) is an Icelandic institution of higher art education, located in Reykjavík, which offers the only university-level degrees in the arts in Iceland.Lisa Z. ValdimarsdottirIceland Academy of the Arts, Department of ...

, graduating in 2005.

Career

Her first acting role was as the female lead, Þurildur, in

Hrafn Gunnlaugsson Hrafn Gunnlaugsson (born 17 June 1948) is an Icelandic film director. He is the brother of mathematician Þorvaldur Gunnlaugsson and the lawyer Snædís Gunnlaugsdóttir and the actress Tinna Gunnlaugsdóttir. He is mostly known for his series o ...

's ' (2000), for which she auditioned successfully in 1997 when she was 19 and in her first year of university, with no training in acting; she later told an interviewer she had been too shy to join her school's drama club. Her performance won a Best Actress award at the

Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, formerly known as Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Inaugurated in 1997, the fe ...

. While studying acting, she had supporting roles in two further films, ''

Kaldaljós ''Cold Light'' () is a 2004 Icelandic film directed by Hilmar Oddsson. Cast Release ''Cold Light'' premiered in Iceland on 1 January 2004. It was released on 26 September 2005. Awards It was Iceland's submission to the 77th Academy Awards ...

'' and the short ''Hver er Barði?'' (''Who is Bardi?'') (both 2004). On graduation, she was offered a place in a theatre company in

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

, but took time off to have her first child. She resumed work with an independent theatre company, and in following years worked in a variety of acting jobs, including for the

Reykjavík City Theatre The Reykjavík City Theatre (RCT) ( ) is a theatre in Reykjavík, Iceland. History In 1989, after ninety years of performing in a small wooden building in the city centre, the company inaugurated a new theatre building adjacent to the Kringla ...

, while also working as a

flight attendant A flight attendant is a member of the aircrew whose primary responsibility is ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin of an aircraft across all stages of flight. Their secondary duty is to see to the comfort of passengers. Flight attenda ...

for

Flugfélag Íslands Air Iceland Connect, formerly Air Iceland (, ) was a regional airline with its head office at Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, Iceland. It operated scheduled services under the brand of its parent company, Icelandair, to domestic destinations a ...

. In 2007 Sara had a supporting role in the TV series ''

Næturvaktin ''Næturvaktin'' () is an Icelandic television series. It is the first in a trilogy, its sequels being ''Dagvaktin'' () and ''Fangavaktin'' (). The series was first shown in 2007 on Stöð 2, on Sundays from 16 September to 9 December. In th ...

''; her breakthrough role was as the journalist Lára in the TV series ''Pressa'', beginning in December the same year. ''Pressa'' was very successful, and in 2013 she won the

Edda Award The Edda Award is an accolade bestowed annually by the Icelandic Film and Television Academy, and is the most prominent film and television award in Iceland, awarded annually in February. The ''Edda'' has awarded for outstanding work in various cat ...

for Best Leading Actress for the third season. Caring for her children during her daughter's illness caused a three-year hiatus in her career. Her work since then has included, in film, leading parts in

Óskar Þór Axelsson Óskar Þór Axelsson (born 28 June 1973) is an Icelandic film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the 2012 crime film '' Black's Game'' and the 2017 mystery-horror '' I Remember You''. Early life and education Óskar was born and ...

's '' Ég man þig'' (2017), based on a novel by

Yrsa Sigurðardóttir Vilborg Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (born in 1963) is an Icelandic writer of both crime novels and children's fiction. She has been writing since 1998. Her début crime novel was translated into English by Bernard Scudder. The central character in ...

, the 2019 Swedish-Icelandic co-production ''Pity the Lovers'', and 's '' Þorpið í bakgarðinum'' (''Backyard Village'', 2021), and a supporting role in '' Hvítur, hvítur dagur'' (2019). On TV, she appeared in the 2016 comedy series ' (''The Mayor'') and had a supporting role in the 2017 series ''

Stella Blómkvist ''Stella Blómkvist'' is an Icelandic crime television series which was first broadcast in 2017. It is produced by the Icelandic company Sagafilm. The show is loosely based on books of the same title by an anonymous Icelandic writer. The series wa ...

'', which became a major role in the 2021 season. In 2024 Sara produced her first short documentary, ''Turninn,'' about the tower which her father built on his land. The documentary premiered at the Skjaldborg Documentary Festival

Personal life

Sara has a daughter and a son. She did not attend the Edda Awards ceremony when she won because her son was a newborn.

Filmography

Awards

* 2000: Best Actress

* 2013: Edda Award for Best Leading Actress, ''Pressa''

References

External links

Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir
at Móðurskipið * Living people 1976 births Sara Dogg Asgeirsdottir {{DEFAULTSORT:Ásgeirsdóttir, Sara Dögg