Aldís Amah Hamilton is an actress of Icelandic and African-American descent. She is fluent in both Icelandic and English. Hailing from a family of artists, she dabbled in dance and singing before eventually settling on acting.
She got her first acting opportunity at the age of ten when she was chosen to perform in a commercial for the television network Showtime. Her next major acting opportunity came at the age of 15, when she was cast as Maria in her school production of West Side Story. The production garnered a fair bit of media attention and received glowing reviews, playing to an audience of several hundred people over a handful of evenings. Aldís received coaching from professional singers to prepare for the role, and afterward continued her vocal training with private tutors.
In 2013 Aldís was admitted into the prestigious acting programme at the Iceland Academy for the Arts (previously the National Theatre School), graduating in the spring of 2016.
Prior to graduating from the Academy in 2016, Aldís began shooting the series Prisoners (Fangar), in which she played the role of Natalie. She made her stage debut at the National Theatre of Iceland that same year, playing Desdemona in Othello, a production by Iceland’s renowned BlackPort ensemble. She went on to perform in two other productions at the National Theatre during the 2016-2017 season.
Aldís’s film and television roles include Dísa in the Netflix co-production Valhalla Murders; Sandra in Vultures; Eyja in the Netflix Original Series Katla, directed by Baltasar Kormákur; Hanna in The Euro-Garden and Rósa in Fractures. Her most recent project was the TV series Black Sands, directed by Baldvin Z. Aldís both played the lead role of Aníta and co-authored the series along with Baldvin Z and Ragnar Jónsson. The second season is currently in production where Aldís will once again reprise her role as Aníta Elínardóttir.
Alongside her film work she is also the leading role in the upcoming adventure video game Echoes of the End, created by Icelandic company Myrkur Games, which is scheduled for release in early 2025.
Aldís has performed in numerous television commercials, including spots for Burt’s Bees, Icelandair, and Showtime. She is the Icelandic voiceover artist for the character General Mayhem in the film Lego: The Movie 2, for Namari in the Disney film Raya and the Last Dragon and Dolores in the Disney film Encanto, which also gave her a chance to showcase her singing skills. She’ll be voicing Izzy in the film Lightyear in the spring of 2022.
Aldís is the first person of color to headline a TV series in Iceland, the first person of color to co-write a television series, and the first person of Black heritage to be admitted to the acting programme at Iceland’s Academy of the Arts. She made history when she became the first woman of color chosen by Iceland’s prime minister to embody Iceland’s Fjallkona, or Lady of the Mountain. The Fjallkona is a symbol of the Republic of Iceland and is a highly prestigious role enacted by an actress each year on Iceland’s National Day. As per tradition, she recited a poem before an audience of national leaders and diplomats, that was broadcast live to the entire nation.
Aldís is proud of the progress being made to show the diversity of Iceland’s population, and considers herself privileged to be an active participant in that movement.
