Nína was born in Reykjavík. Her parents, Bylgja Scheving and Filippus Gunnar Árnason, were very young and split up when she was two years old. She grew up in the Breiðholt district of Reykjavík.
When she was 19 years old, she worked as an au pair for one year in Denmark. She had plans to go to acting school there when she was not working, but found she was too busy. "I became the mom of the household. It was a 5 person family. In the mornings I made breakfast for everybody and then cooked, did the laundry, cleaned, did the grocery shopping, and dropped the kids off, and picked them up later. If I spent more time with the kids than on the chores the lady of the house got upset. After six months I asked myself what I was still doing there and quit. I hurried home and to college".[1]
Nína was a stepsister to musician Sigurjón Brink. They were very close and she saw him as her real brother. She is also godmother to his daughter Kristín María Brink.[1]
She has a daughter (born 2006) and a son (born 2011) with her partner, actor and producer Gísli Örn Garðarsson.[6]
In a 2010 interview, she stated that her favourite city was London and her favourite mobile app was yr.no.[7]
^"Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir". National Theatre of Iceland - Actors. The National Theatre of Iceland. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
