“Are you watching the Olympics at all?” asks Kristine Froseth. The actress and model woke up early to watch the games—specifically track and field—because the Ingebrigtsen brothers from her native Norway are doing considerably well. “I’m supporting my home country!” she exclaims from her new Williamsburg digs.
Growing up, the 25-year-old split her time between New Jersey and a small town outside of Oslo. Moving every several years was challenging (to say the least); Froseth struggled to adapt to the language shifts and confluence of cultures. Even though she convincingly played a mean girl in Netflix’s Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, in reality, Froseth was on the receiving end of snide comments, so she did what any savvy performer would do and channeled the energy of her less-than-friendly classmates for the part. “I’m grateful now because I feel like it definitely helped me get out of my comfort zone,” she says, referring to the trials and tribulations of her high school days. “But while it was happening, it wasn’t that fun.”
She’s certainly making up for it now. After being discovered at a mall in Norway at age 16, Froseth has modeled for the likes of Armani and Miu Miu, and was recently named a Chanel ambassador, otherwise known as the crème de la crème of fashion endorsements. Her life is pretty much like a fairytale turned into reality: For its winter 2018 show, the French fashion house flew Froseth and her best friends to Paris, where they stayed at the iconic Le Bristol hotel, enjoyed lavish dinners, and attended the coveted presentation, an enchanted forest inside the Grand Palais dreamed up by the late Karl Lagerfeld.
“I always loved what the brand represented—what [Coco Chanel] did for females at the time, giving them freedom and more opportunity,” Froseth says. (Her own grandma wore the No.5 fragrance.) In her new sartorial role, Froseth gets to dress up in the latest collections and hobnob with fellow Chanel muse Kristen Stewart (“She’s so dope and chill”). One might imagine this makes her former high school bullies of the Twilight generation rightfully jealous.
Here’s the thing about Froseth: she’s disarmingly beautiful yet at the same time radiates youthful innocence. When she gets dressed, there’s a palpable air of European sophistication—her sparkling blue eyes and prominent cheekbones demand attention, and she can’t help but smile through it all. Her appreciation for everything—the glamour, the work—is apparent. You can practically hear her toothy grin when she speaks.
Fortunately, being raised between two different countries helped jumpstart Froseth’s career. “Because I was always the new girl, I always had to be the one to put myself out there,” she said, “and fashion is all about putting yourself out there.” Turns out, engaging in small talk is not a trait held by many Norwegians. “I love that about the States—people are more open to starting conversations with strangers,” Froseth said. She cites the term “janteloven”, a social concept coined by Danish author Aksel Sandemose that discourages individual success and favors the collective. “It basically means that you’re not supposed to be different in any way.”
After starring in The Weeknd’s music video for “False Alarm”, Froseth landed her first major feature film in 2017: Rebel in the Rye, based on the reclusive life of J.D. Salinger. Then came Looking for Alaska, an adaptation of John Green’s award-winning YA novel, which Froseth was a particularly big fan of. “It’s important for that age to talk about that stuff: first loves and trauma,” she said. “It meant a lot to me to feel like I could relate to someone in that way.”
That’s the appeal of Froseth. On the outside, she looks like someone whose Instagram you’d scroll through while seething with envy (to quote Carrie Fisher in When Harry Met Sally, “Your basic nightmare”), but she couldn’t be further from it. When discussing her role in Sierra Burgess, Froseth said: “I’m always really curious to understand why people are the way they are. I feel like we very often can be quick with judging, so I wanted people to understand that hurt people hurt people.”
In The Assistant, Kitty Green’s powerfully intimate #MeToo drama, Froseth plays one of the many young girls who a Harvey Weinstein-type boss preys upon. It’s a small role, but a crucial one: For Froseth, whose character is scantily clad in the film, it sparked contemplation about how women can or cannot invite sexual harassment simply through how they dress. “I hope that we can feel super confident and empowered in our skin, own our sexuality, and do it for us,” she said.
To prepare for her next role in the upcoming Lena Dunham film Sharp Stick, Froseth is rewatching Girls, fittingly, as a twenty-something living in Brooklyn. “It’s just so on point,” she said. “You feel less crazy about the things that you’re going through.” Most everyone can agree that your twenties are stressful, with mapping out your career, forming an identity, and navigating relationship landmines; personally, Froseth is looking forward to the next decade. “I’m excited to hit 30,” she said. “People say it just gets better.”
In the meantime, Froseth has taken up running to quell her age-appropriate anxiety. She’s even signed up for the New York City Marathon in November. It makes sense, then, why earlier she was watching the Olympic runners so intently. “It’s always been a dream of mine to do a marathon and then an Iron Woman,” Froseth said. “I want to push myself in different ways and see how far I can take it.” Could an action movie be in her future? “I would love to do really ripped and do all my own stunts.” A Chanel model who can do both.
Photographer: Andy Jackson; stylist: Sarah Zendejas: hair: David Von Cannon using R+Co; makeup: Gita Bass using Chanel Beauty; nails: Mo Qin at The Wall Group; stylist assistant: Nicole Guzman; producer / visual editor: Sameet Sharma; Special thanks to The Waverly Inn
