A Danish Actress Abroad: Scenes from a Life in Motion

Leaving Denmark

There’s something about travel that pulls you into the present. Even now, working professionally as an actress and illustrator, I often find myself quietly observing the rhythm of places: airports, train stations, café windows. It’s never lost its magic.

I grew up in Denmark, where summer holidays meant countryside drives, visiting relatives, or short getaways across the Swedish border. Then, at sixteen, everything changed.

After delivering newspapers for months to save up, I boarded my first international flight — to Northern California — as an exchange student. That year shaped my outlook in ways I wouldn’t understand until much later. It also shaped the way I speak. My American accent became second nature, and, eventually, part of how I’m cast.

Landing in Los Angeles

A few years later, I arrived in Los Angeles with an M1 student visa and an acceptance letter from the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. I had come across the school in a magazine article and auditioned on a whim. I still remember the moment I got the email saying I’d been accepted — and the surreal feeling of landing at LAX.

I stayed at The Orbit, a West Hollywood hostel filled with travelers. Some were aspiring actors, like me. Others were passing through. One long-term guest gave me a map marked with LA’s best farmers markets, neighborhoods to avoid, and where to find the cheapest groceries. I soaked it all in.

The Orbit Hostel, my first stop in Los Angeles.

A Danish actress - Life Across Borders

Over the years, I found myself moving constantly for work: couch surfing in Canada while auditioning, applying for visas between gigs, and later settling in London. Now I’m based in Copenhagen again — still working across borders and languages, both on screen and in voiceover.

That journey, although unconventional, laid the foundation for how I work today. Every role I play and every image I draw is informed by movement, contrast, and quiet observation. Different countries, different cultures — but always a focus on story, atmosphere, and character. I’m drawn to character-driven work, especially roles shaped by subtext, restraint, and internal tension.

The Quiet Thread

In acting, like in travel, the best moments are often the quiet ones. A look exchanged in a doorway. A scent that pulls you backward. A conversation at a café that stays with you.

These small things — the pauses, the stillness — still shape how I work. Whether I’m voicing a character or building one on screen, I look for those in-between moments that say more than dialogue can. It all began with a single flight across the Atlantic, a folded paper map, and a 16-year-old’s quiet plan to see the world.

Danish actress Liv Hansen, photographed in Copenhagen.

A little background:

I’m a Danish actress and illustrator based in Copenhagen. I trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in Los Angeles and have worked across Canada, the UK, and Europe — on screen, on stage, and behind the microphone. My work is rooted in nostalgic detail, quiet moments, and character-driven storytelling.

You can find more about my screen work on IMDb or see what I’ve been working on here.