Hera Hilmar

Hera Hilmarsdóttir, known professionally as Hera Hilmar, is an Icelandic actress born on December 27, 1988. She began her career as a child actor and has been active in the film industry since 1995. She comes from a family with background in the arts; her father is film director Hilmar Oddsson, her mother is actress Thorey Sigthorsdottir, and her grandfather was playwright and theater director Oddur Björnsson. She graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2011.

Hilmar received early professional recognition in 2007 when she was nominated for an Edda Award for Actress of the Year in a leading role for her performance in The Quiet Storm. She expanded into international television in 2013 after being cast as Vanessa Moschella in the series Da Vinci's Demons.

Hilmar later won the Edda Award for Actress of the Year twice, first in 2015 for her portrayal of Eik in Life in a Fishbowl, and again in 2017 for playing Anna in The Oath. Her work in Life in a Fishbowl also earned her a special mention at the Zurich Film Festival. In addition, she was selected as one of Europe's Shooting Stars at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2015.

In 2015, Hilmar starred as Lillie Rowe in the period drama film The Ottoman Lieutenant. Around the same time, she played Tanja alongside Ben Kingsley in Brad Silberling's film An Ordinary Man, which screened in 2017 and was released direct-to-video in June 2018. In 2016, she starred in the feature film The Ashram, which was released two years later.

In February 2017, while performing in a play in Iceland, Hilmar auditioned via Skype for the film adaptation of Philip Reeve's novel Mortal Engines. Screenwriter Philippa Boyens praised her audition, leading to Hilmar being cast as the protagonist Hester Shaw. Filming took place between April and July 2017, and the movie was released in December 2018.

Hilmar was cast in Matt Weiner's anthology series The Romanoffs in June 2018. In October 2018, it was announced that she had joined the cast of the Apple TV+ series See as Maghra, performing alongside Jason Momoa and Christian Camargo.

During the pandemic, Hilmar collaborated with The Icelandic Film Centre for the 2020 short films Last Dance and Óskin. She starred in the lead role of Helga in Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir's feature film adaptation A Letter from Helga and provided narration for a video launching the new national Icelandic football team crest. In 2024, Hilmar was cast in the Canadian thriller film Hangashore.