Elín Hall

Hall was born in Montréal to Icelandic parents and raised primarily in Reykjavík. Her father is a geophysicist and her mother is a professor of music education. She trained in classical ballet until the age of 15 before turning her attention to music and acting.^[2]

Hall graduated from the acting programme at the Iceland University of the Arts in 2022.^[12]

Hall released her debut studio album, Með Öðrum Orðum, in 2020.^[13] Her second album, heyrist í mér?, followed in November 2023. Three songs from the album reached number one on the Rás 2 chart. The album received three nominations at the Icelandic Music Awards and was named Album of the Year at the 2024 Reykjavík Grapevine Music Awards.^[14]

In March 2025, Hall released fyllt í eyðurnar, a live EP recorded at Hljóðriti studio.^[15]

Hall subsequently began recording her first English-language material at Eastcote Studios in London with producer Martin Terefe.^[16] Her first English-language single, “Heaven to a Heathen”, was released in June 2025, followed by “Wolf Boy” and a version of David Bowie’s “As the World Falls Down”.^[17][18]

In January 2026, Hall released “Tachylite”,^[19] produced by Terefe and co-written with Jamie Woon. The title refers to volcanic glass and was partly inspired by the work of Hall’s father as a geophysicist and volcanic-eruption first responder.^[20]

Hall received her first professional screen role after appearing in Söngvakeppnin, Iceland’s selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest, as a teenager.^[21] She subsequently appeared in the television series Case.^[22]

She played Magnea in Baldvin Zophoníasson’s drama film Let Me Fall (2018). Her performance earned her a nomination for Actress of the Year at the Edda Awards.^[23]

In 2023, Hall appeared in Cold, a film based on a novel by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. She also contributed the song “rauðir draumar” to the film’s closing credits and received a second Edda nomination for her performance.^[24]

Hall starred as Una in Rúnar Rúnarsson’s When the Light Breaks (2024).^[25] The film opened the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.^[26] Hall received the Silver Hugo for Best Actress at the 2024 Chicago International Film Festival and won Actress of the Year in a Leading Role at the 2025 Edda Awards.^[27][28]

In 2025, Hall portrayed a young Vigdís Finnbogadóttir in the television miniseries Vigdís.^[29] That year, she was also selected as one of European Film Promotion’s ten European Shooting Stars and was presented at the Berlin International Film Festival.^[30] She later received an Edda Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (TV) for her performance in Vigdís.^[31]

Hall has also performed in Icelandic stage productions, including the musical Níu líf.^[32]

Hall has performed at music festivals and showcase events including Bludfest, The Great Escape in Brighton, NXNE in Toronto and WFNM in Los Angeles.^{[33][34][35][36]} She has appeared as a supporting act for The Smashing Pumpkins, Yungblud and Laufey.^[37][33][38]