“I had never been to Europe before I came to Iceland” says Julianna Rose Mauriello, who plays Stephanie in the TV series Lazytown, as the character is called on the American TV station Nick Junior, where the shows are currently being shown. “It was snowing when I arrived in Iceland in January, but then it was also snowing in New York, where I live, and the first thing I noticed in Iceland was the language, which I thought sounded very difficult.”
Julianna now mostly works in a studio in Garðabær, where the staff will work on the recordings of Lazytown until the end of December.
“Hanna Maja, who takes care of hair and makeup in LazyTown, is teaching me Icelandic and I aim to learn it well before I go back to the United States” says Julianna. “The word ‘like this’ was the first thing I learned because on my first day Magnús Scheving and Hanna Maja were talking about my work. They stood in front of me, washed their hands and repeated over and over, like this, like this and like this, and finally it happened I want to know what the word meant.
Julianna has clearly spent a lot of time in the make-up room because she is starting to understand Icelandic quite well. “When people ask me now what I say good today, I answer: “Ég er alveg þokkalega hress, which means I’m doing well” says Julianna, who is not sure if a journalist wants to write the latest word that has been added to the vocabulary. “I learned the word asshole last time. I always say it to my dog because I’m told it can also mean he’s really cute.”
The dog was given to Julianna as a birthday present in Iceland. “The dog’s name is Audrey Hepburn because Audrey is my role model and favorite actress” says Julianna. “My birthday was in May, but I didn’t want anything special for my birthday, but I really wanted a dog. My older sister was in the country and she told me not to get my hopes up too high. On my birthday, my mother and I went out to eat with all the colleagues in LazyTown and I got a hamburger, which is my favorite. Then Magnús Scheving suddenly got up and gave a speech and said that what the group was going to give me as a birthday present had never set foot in the studio before. Then I knew they were going to give me a dog.”
Although Julianna got a hamburger for her birthday, she says she doesn’t eat as much junk food as Siggi in LazyTown. “I occasionally eat sweets, but I usually try to eat healthy and exercise regularly and dance a lot”.
In Iceland, Julianna has been very happy with the ballet classes she has taken with Guðbjörga Björgvinsdóttir at the Classical Art Dance School. Along with regular elementary school education in the United States, Julianna has studied at the Professional Performance Art School where she studies acting, singing and dancing, but Julianna started her career on Broadway. “I have an agent and got a role in the musical Oklahoma after auditioning. I was also in a musical called Gypsy and I really like being on stage and on television” but when asked about her future dreams, Julianna says she hopes to act in movies later on. It is not unlikely that that dream will come true because schoolmates, friends and family are already watching Julianna on American television.
“I often miss my friends and family, and my mother, who is with me here in Iceland, has helped me a lot. She supports me at work and when I miss my people at home. They now watch me on TV and were incredibly excited when LazyTown premiered. My friends love the show and I’ve had many emails from them expressing their enjoyment. They say they practice in the morning in front of the TV and dance and stretch at home in the living room.”
When Julianna travels to New York in December, Lazytown has been on television for several months. Julianna can therefore be expected to be known among her peers in the United States. “It will probably be weird to come back home, but I’m also very excited about it.”
On Menningarnótt, I went with Stefán Karl and his family to see the fireworks display in town. It was amazing to see the fireworks, and all the kids pointed to Stefán Karl and said: Glanni glapur, Glanni glapur! I thought it was very funny.”
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