Building a Creative Career From Copenhagen: What’s Possible?

A creative life lived between film sets and forest paths.

There are days when I walk through the forest just north of Copenhagen and wonder how this quiet, bird-heavy air fits into the same life that once involved racing through central London to make it to an audition.

Or that time I stayed in a run-down hostel in LA — one that called itself “zen-like” but failed to mention the broken door lock, or the roommate who always slept in denim jeans with a bottle of something strong tucked into the corner of his bunk (yes, really).

These are the sorts of scenes that make up my version of a creative career. Not glamorous exactly. Not linear either. But real. Mine.

When people ask where I’m based, I usually say Copenhagen. But the truth is more layered. I’ve worked on film sets in Vancouver, taken classes in Los Angeles, lived in London for some years, and at one point could probably name the best almond croissant within a one-mile radius of every postcode in Zone 2. I’m Danish — fully — but my working life has most often played out in English or a different accent, in other cities, with other kinds of light.

Now, I live in an apartment by the sea that feels like a cross between a library, a tea room, and the set of a 1950s Danish film (a category I'm very much a fan of). It’s filled with birdsong, vintage lamps, and usually a ceramic cup of half-finished tea. From here, I record voiceover clips, draw illustrations rooted in memory and mid-century tones, and tape auditions for roles in cities I may or may not ever actually visit. Some weeks feel like I’m doing three different careers from a desk the size of a chessboard.

But here’s the odd thing: it works.

There’s something about being slightly outside of it all — outside the hub, the crowd, the industry dinners — that lets you shape the work differently.

That goes for illustration, too. I didn’t go to art school. I didn’t grow up thinking I’d be an illustrator, or an actress even, until I hit my teens. But I’ve followed the work that kept showing up — scenes, characters, quiet compositions, and little by little, it’s built a life.

What’s possible from Copenhagen? Maybe more than you think. Perhaps not everything all at once, but enough. Enough to work, enough to grow, enough to keep going.

Even if I still keep a packed bag by the door, just in case.

More drawings, more stories, and the occasional behind-the-scenes tea — you can find it all on the Studio Notes Blog if you feel like staying a while.