[high-pitched rewind whine] [projector humming] i grew up as a big-headed baby in seattle, moved to nicaragua when i was three, made friends with parrots and sloths. moved back to washington state when i was five, learned to play the bassoon. moved to illinois and joined the drama club, and eventually, i landed in los angeles as dunder mifflin s assistant to the regional manager. - please welcome rainn wilson. - rainn wilson. - yet for all my success, my wife and son, whom i love, a nice house, people tattooing my face on their feet. [beeping, whirring] [sighs] you d think i d be happier. [upbeat music] but like so many others, i struggle. to find fulfillment. amy. to find true joy. i need to be honest with you all. it s just i ve been going through a really hard time recently on a number of different levels, and i ve been feeling a little bit low, a little bit less than, a little depressed and humbled and lost these days. and so i ve churned through countless thera
During the still pretty much freezing springtime, wondering what alternative reality i ve stumbled into where [baby cooing] it s a baby. where people leave babies unattended and find joy in endless winter. how do you find happiness against all odds? hi, icelandic dog. there are no strangers on this island of 370,000, roughly the population of cleveland. so when you hit up your icelandic actor friend for a favor, he happily stands in front of a tourist information booth and pretends he just happened to run into you. [horn honking] - what? - rainn? - icelandic cultural icon, actor ólafur darri lafsson - say what? - hey, how s it going? oh, good to see you, man.
So the history of iceland is just a hodgepodge of mythologies, tall tales, and some actual history thrown in. aaaah! - what is she doing with her boob? - i m not sure. - finding herself cornered, she took up his sword, opened her tunic, and placed the blade against her naked breasts. - yes. - the strange but bold gesture it is strange and bold. - strange, but bold. - put the natives to flight. they were like, no, don t cut off your boob! aah! - don t-don t do it! don t do it. - wow. what does this saga-ness reveal about the modern icelandic character? - it s everything that is icelandic. to be able to survive here and live here and find happiness here, you have to be quite creative and inventive. - hmm. - yeah. come up with stories, something to entertain yourself and others. one thing you have to realize about iceland
[mellow rock music] folks here support each other. they re unusually comfortable getting naked with friends in a cauldron of magma. but what would it be like if i actually lived here? i need the perspective of someone who, like me, started off as an outsider. - you re going to the left here. yeah, it s kind of a little street because we re almost there. into this parking lot. - i m trusting the navigation skills of jewells chambers, a brooklyn native who moved here six years ago after marrying an icelandic psychologist. that s a big move from dating and loving this icelandic therapist, and, like, i m going to move to reykjavík. - yeah. i ve been very fortunate, and i ve loved it. and i ve had such a great time, like, getting some insight about icelandic families
theories abound as to why cold climates produce happier people than warm ones. my favorite might well be called the get along or die theory. in warm places, it says, your next meal simply falls from a coconut tree. in colder places, people must band together to ensure a good harvest, or else everyone dies. together. - this is a cup of tea for you. - oh, thank you. - for pálína, her mother siggy and her father axel, a pastor, this interdependence doesn t just explain their survival on this frozen tundra. it may also explain their happiness. what a beautiful icelandic kitchen. i understand this farm has been in your family for six or seven generations, back to the mid-1800s. what was life like? - well, i think it didn t change for centuries.