Former Inverness College UHI drama student bags first TV role
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A former Inverness student is to take on a leading role in a major Finnish TV series.
Anni Grönberg is filming the show Rantabaari – The Beach Bar – this summer in Helsinki and plays Lana, who is a sociable but at times explosive character in the show.
The 22-year-old joins the third season of Rantabaari, which will air on the C More streaming service in September.
She credits the college and the city for playing a part in developing her acting skills.
“I moved from Finland to Scotland in 2018 to do a one-year HNC acting and performance course at Inverness College,” Ms Grönberg said.
“When I got accepted into the UHI I didn’t know anything about Inverness or Scotland. I had chosen to apply to that course to improve my language skills and get broader opportunities to work in the industry in the future.
“I moved into student halls so I lived on campus and that was such a fun experience. I left Inverness with so many good memories and new friends.
“I totally fell in love with Inverness for its beautiful scenery and I absolutely adore the smaller places in the Highlands, such as Rosemarkie.
“I’d say the first few weeks I struggled to understand the accent a lot – I had never really heard any Scottish accents before so it took me some time to get a hold of it.
“However, now that I’ve lived in Scotland for two years I can say I understand it as well as any other accent.
“The HNC course offered me loads of great learning opportunities, for example I played my first role in English which was Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.
“As a non-native speaker, playing Lady Macbeth was a huge challenge for me and I was actually terrified, but I’m glad my lecturers encouraged me and believed in me when I was sure I couldn’t do it.”
Ms Grönberg moved to Dundee after her studies and will live in Edinburgh after filming Rantabaari.
