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Ad

I got a call from an acquaintance in March asking if I'd mind acting in a commercial for the Keflavík Airport. The casting call was for an American speaking woman, and I happened to be the first person that came to mind. I tried to help look around for someone else, but ultimately the director chose me.

So one evening in late March we filmed the ad and did a photo shoot at the Blue Lagoon. They dolled me up, almost ridiculously so for a person taking a dip in a glorified hot tub, and for three hours or so I spoke my lines with American verve and smiled with my eyes in best Tyra Banks fashion. (This shot was taken towards the end when I was almost smiled out.) I'm not quite sure what the director was thinking, having me all prettied up, especially as my character (Anna Wright :) was supposed to be on a quick layover on the way to Europe (do we US born and bred wear this much makeup for red-eye flights over the Atlantic? Umm, no.) There are four other ads in the series with other international characters, and I think the whole thing is supposed to be a bit tongue in cheek.

I had a blast, regardless, of course got nicely compensated, and now have the honor of having my photo (looking kind of like I'm wearing an evening gown and have been photoshopped into the Blue Lagoon:p ) and commercial spread throughout our international airport, as well as in magazines like Altantica and Iceland Review. The best part is how the gig came about: via one more sweet connection in our pretty little city.

7 comments:

Holly said...

ah, what fun!

Fred Miller said...

Wow, am I smiling! I've already held back six expressions of my admiration because they don't do you justice. And I'm not as big a creep as they would sound. Really. Thanks for posting this. Makes me want to call Keflavik.

Iceland Eyes said...

The funny thing about this photo is that the more I look at it the less it seems to be me. Soon, I think, the girl in the picture will just be an American named Anna Wright, and not Maria Alva at all : )

Jakarta said...

cool design!

Gerald (SK14) said...

The smile does look a little bit forced but after three hours of filming it would do.

Well done.

Valgerður said...

Vá ég hefði ekki þekkt þig á þessarri mynd, mjög ólíkt þér. Þetta er alveg sæt kona á myndinni en ekki eins sæt og Maria sem ég þekki ;)

Iceland Eyes said...

Yeah, it's an odd choice of photos...the photographer took hundreds in different poses and was really happy with a lot of them, but this one won out. And of course all the makeup...i never wear that much!

Thanks, though, for the sweet compliment : )