Filming of the TV series True Detective: Night Country, which has taken place in Iceland, will soon end. Jodie Foster stars in the show: she enjoys being here and says she’d love to return.

Jodie Foster plays police chief Elizabeth Danvers in the series True Detective: Night Country, which is filmed in Iceland.

Filming of the TV series True Detective: Night Country has been going on this winter here in Iceland, and it will soon end. This is one of the most extensive film projects ever undertaken in this country, and the American actress Jodie Foster plays the lead role. Kali Reis, her co-star, is still taking her first steps in film; this is only the third project in her career that started two years ago.

Ólöf Rún Skúladóttir got a peek behind the scenes at the filming locations, and talked to Jodie Foster, Kali Reis and others involved in the show, for Landinn on RÚV.

Jodie Foster would love to return

“I’ve enjoyed every minute here,” says Jodie Foster. For the first few months she was in Reykjavík, which in Foster’s opinion is the perfect city. “The right size, everything is close, it’s beautiful, it’s by the sea. The weather was perfect as the scenes were shot indoors. It neither snowed nor snowed until they needed the snow, which came in handy.”

From there the team moved to Akureyri and Dalvík, where Foster says that the nature was extremely beautiful. She was also particularly impressed by the food and the people. “I would love to come back,” she adds.

This is one of the most extensive film projects ever undertaken in this country. Foster says the shooting time is comparable to shooting three movies.

Actor – and boxer – Kali Reis only started acting two years ago and is grateful for such a great opportunity. “First of all, being an Aboriginal woman and being able to tell her story,” she says. “And then to have Jodie Foster as a co-star, a person who is a legend in the business.” She says it’s an honour to be involved in a project of this size, and the cast and crew have shown her great support. “It’s just been amazing.

Kali says that it was a wonderful experience to be in Iceland with a great team. It made the cold, difficult nights and icy feet a little more tolerable!

Kali is a two-time boxing world champion and says she sees many parallels between acting and her sport: preparation, effort and time. Her background in sports has therefore helped her considerably.

The series is produced by the American television network HBO, which has a lot of experience filming in this country. Icelandic nature famously played a key role in the series Game of Thrones, which is also produced by the company

“With the increased tax refunds, HBO was the first company to say, let’s see if we can do a full series here,” says executive producer Mari-Jo Winkler. The benefits are great from being in one place, both financially and from an environmental perspective. “When you start filming in more places, the flights double and the carbon emissions double.”

Winkler says that the Icelandic film crew is always aware of problems and that is a great benefit. “Having a crew that is used to the forces of nature,” she says. “I think the Icelandic film crew really know how to solve problems.”

The series is set in Alaska, USA. Jodie Foster stars as Elizabeth Danvers, police chief in the town of Ennis. She is pessimistic and doesn’t like to show emotions, doesn’t care about others and is busy with herself. “She’s got a tough personality,” says Foster. “But she’s a great detective. We don’t doubt that [as the audience]. But she’s a little isolated. Elizabeth Danvers had a tragedy in her forties and never properly recovered from it.. She’s just mean to everyone and she accepts that no one likes her.”

The movie business has changed a lot since Jodie Foster started acting in 1966, when she was just three years old. There were no women on set then. This gradually changed and women got jobs as technicians. “Now women have become directors,” she says. It’s a big change from what used to happen in mainstream filmmaking in the US.

“It’s a huge improvement for everyone, really,” Foster says, recalling only seeing a lot of men on sets as a child. “I didn’t think it was a happy place,” she says. “But now it feels like the real thing.”

Jodie Foster has won an Oscar twice as well as an Emmy and a Golden Globe. However, she still wants to improve. “That’s why I enjoy the film business so much, because we learn so much.”

What fascinates her the most about her job is that every time she creates a show or a film, she gets to learn about that part of society and immerse herself in research work. “I guess I just want to learn more.”

But what advice does Jodie Foster have in hand for those who are going to make acting and film making a life’s work? “I guess being yourself,” she says. A lot of people spend a lot of time trying to create a personality, create the game. “But the most sincere game is always the best.”

RÚV’s Landinn got a peek behind the scenes during filming of True Detective: Night Country. You can watch the feature in its entirety, in Icelandic but with English interviews, in the player above.