Meet Oddrun Valestrand | Actress and artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Oddrun Valestrand and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Oddrun, as a parent, what have you done for you children that you feel has had the most significant impact?
Being an Actress and an artist is a lifestyle and I have managed to include my three children so we heavent been so much apart during their upbringing.
They have met a lot of people and all enjoied and felt safe on filmsets, theatres and backstages. They have learned to coorporate and being a part of a team. They all started acting at the age of three and they always get to choose if they want to do the job themselves. I even got quite a few jobs because og them. We have travelled together for work in several countries and as a single parent, I am so happy that it all has worked out combinding work and being a mom. It has been important to allow them to be children. They also earned their own money that they have saved. I think all four of us has grown on our experiences toghether.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am an Actress who sing, play the violin, guitar, make music, dance and I’m happy to be standing on more than one leg as a performer. I act in feature films, shorts, theatre plays, does conserts and been in a company doing immersive theatre for the last 14 years. In 2000 I participated in the Melody Festival with a grop of three girls called «Charmed» and we won the Norwegian competition. It was great fun! This year I have been so lucky to have been in Annapolis, Palm Springs and LA on filmfestivals with «Camping in Paradise» by Eirik Tveiten. I have made friends for life and most importantly met Derek Horne who is managing my upcoming work in the States. I am going back already in October and I feel priviledged.
As a Performar, I think to be passionated about the progress, the work, the results and respect for the audience, whether they are children, youth or grown ups, is the most important thing. They are the real main part in whatever story you are telling.
Sure, there has been challenges during all these years, but I have never wanted to do somthing else. This is what I do. But thinking out of the box is important and for exsample during Corona I learned how to play the guitar only to be able to do soloconserts. That was challenging, but gives me a lot of joy now, and hopfully others.
I am a woman and a mother and I have tried so far to make the best out of it for all of us, and despite of sometimes poor economy, I have kept on going and believed in it all.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
That depends wich friend visiting. Since I am not a resturant person, I would cock at home and introduce my children and my cohabitant. I live on the contryside so we would maybe take the ferry to Oslo and go to a jazzconsert. The morning after drive to Bergen (my hometown) and show the beautiful trip from East to West of Norway. In Bergen you can go from the City Centre up in the mountains and see the whole city underneath you. After that meet my twin sister and her family and do somthing fun. Next day I would take my friend to my Mothers house on Osterøy, the island I come from and have a lovely Sunday dinner. She makes the best food! The following morning drive back to Oslo. It is a 7 hours drive, but it is worth it.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My Dad always encouraged me to follow my heart and do what I was passionated about. He made me believe in myself as a child and spend hours every day my twin sister and I rehursing on our violins, training gymnastics, athletics and always giving us guidens and positive feedback.
He and my mum has been to many places and several countries to see me perform during the years.

Website: https://extra-stellar.com/oddrun-valestrand

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddrunvalestrand/

Linkedin: https://no.linkedin.com/in/oddrun-valestrand-a207b08b

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/oddrun.valestrand/

Youtube: https://youtu.be/ONw0Krr9dUg?si=vl4XMXLMmrtEcfKZ

Other: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1856563/

https://open.spotify.com/album/7EWvG1sS2IBtUtqfQPhAUp?si=-TbNn15cT-en7JVdLuuxSQ

Image Credits
Morten Bendiksen (fo2graf)

Kim Edgar Bachel

Erika Hebbert

Halldis Valestrand

Torstein Nodland