Marc Antoine Godin

La Presse



L'acteur Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, A History of Violence) était en nomination pour l'Oscar du meilleur acteur, en février dernier, pour son rôle dans Eastern Promises, de David Cronenberg. Ça, tout le monde le sait. Ce que vous ignorez sans doute, c'est que dans la composition de son personnage, le troublant Nikolai, Mortensen s'est librement inspiré... d'Alex Kovalev!

Viggo Mortensen est un fan fini du Canadien. Du genre à s'informer du résultat d'un match lorsqu'il est en tournage à l'autre bout de la planète.

«Kovalev a été une inspiration pour moi, nous a-t-il confié en entrevue téléphonique. Comme lui, Nikolai n'est pas nécessairement le plus jeune de son entourage, mais il fait son boulot en silence et il déjoue ses opposants avec son expérience, en se montrant plus futé que les autres.»

«Voilà le genre de personne que j'aime, le genre d'acteur aussi: ceux qui comblent leurs lacunes grâce à leur intelligence.»

L'image que se fait Morgensen de Kovalev est peut-être idyllique, mais elle est construite autour de plusieurs valeurs communes.

Le soin jaloux qu'il porte à sa condition physique levez la main ceux et celles qui lui donneraient 49 ans est l'une d'elles.

«Kovalev est plus en forme dans sa trentaine que la majorité des joueurs plus jeunes que lui, explique-t-il. Malgré son âge, donc, malgré les déceptions qu'il a connues dont certaines à Montréal tu vois qu'il ne rate jamais une occasion de laisser tout ce qu'il a sur la patinoire.

«Pour ma part, je ne sais pas combien de films il me reste à faire. Mais comme un athlète qui joue chaque match comme si c'était son dernier, j'approche chaque film comme si c'était mon dernier.»

Inspiré et énergisé par le CH

Viggo Mortensen parle sept langues, il a fondé une maison d'édition consacrée à la poésie, son enfance l'a conduit du Venezuela au Danemark en passant par l'Argentine... Il fallait bien qu'une passion pour le Canadien s'ajoute au portrait!

C'est à l'école secondaire, en Californie, que Mortensen a découvert le hockey. C'était les années 70, l'époque glorieuse du Canadien.

En voyant le Tricolore à l'oeuvre à la télé, il a tout de suite été captivé.

«Je me suis même mis à écouter des matchs à la radio française de Radio-Canada!»

Rapidement inspiré par la mystique tricolore, fasciné par le bagout de Guy Lafleur, Mortensen est devenu un partisan. Un vrai.

Au terme du tournage de A History of Violence, qui a eu lieu à Toronto, Mortensen a même refusé de revêtir le chandail des Maple Leafs que voulaient lui faire porter les travailleurs de la production sur la photo de groupe. «Je n'allais le faire qu'à la condition de porter une casquette du Canadien», a-t-il précisé.

Sa passion pour le Canadien est d'autant plus sérieuse qu'elle joue vraiment sur son humeur.

«J'étais au travail aujourd'hui et ça a exigé beaucoup de concentration», nous a raconté Mortensen, qui tourne en ce moment une adaptation du roman The Road. «Sauf qu'après le match du Canadien (la première victoire contre les Flyers), je me suis senti inspiré et énergisé. J'étais prêt à reprendre le boulot immédiatement.»

L'adulateur et non l'adulé

Même si son horaire chargé l'a empêché de venir à Montréal aussi souvent qu'il l'aurait voulu, Mortensen suit les activités du Tricolore avec assiduité. Et son diagnostic est précis.

«Les choses auraient pu être décourageantes après la saison décevante qu'on a connue la saison dernière, explique-t-il. Mais cette saison, cette équipe me semble si constante. Elle ne perd jamais sa contenance, elle reste calme.»

Ce n'est pas un hasard si l'équipe plaît autant à Mortensen cette année. Car, à ses yeux, le sport et les arts ont davantage d'affinités qu'on pourrait le croire.

«Le Canadien n'est pas l'affaire d'un seul joueur. Tout le monde contribue. On les sent fiers d'appartenir à une véritable équipe. Or, au cinéma, tu as beau avoir les plus grandes stars ou le meilleur directeur photo, le film ne sera réussi que si tout le monde fait les compromis nécessaires pour pousser dans la même direction.»

Mortensen n'a pas la réputation d'avoir la grosse tête. Même que la star aime bien, par le truchement du sport, se retrouver de l'autre côté de la clôture. Être l'adulateur et non l'adulé.

«Souhaitez bonne chance à Kovalev, conclut Mortensen. Dites-lui que je le regarde et que je lui suis reconnaissant. Saluez l'Artiste de ma part!»

The bunker was bathed in warm orange light, the Man and the Boy enjoying the long-gone comforts of civilization: bunk beds with pillows and sheets, a slice of frosted cake and a fork, even the fixings for a hand-rolled cigarette and gulp of alcohol.

Yesterday, actors Viggo Mortensen and young Kodi Smit-McPhee were in the old Benkovitz warehouse in the Strip District shooting their final Pittsburgh scenes for the movie "The Road."

Crew members were dismantling sets and moving out gear even as they played freeze tag -- stopping in their tracks or cursing their squeaky shoes -- once director John Hillcoat started shooting into the bunker that is a rare, welcome haven in a post-apocalyptic world.

The exterior was in New Galilee but the interior had been built on a makeshift stage and outfitted with collapsible canvas chairs, a table and what novelist Cormac McCarthy called "the richness of a vanished world."

That meant blankets, jars, cans and boxes of food, candles and an out-of-sight flare of fire lending a gorgeous glow, courtesy of cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe.

"This is rare," Mr. Mortensen said after a morning and early afternoon of scenes shot from this angle and that. He climbed out of the upper bunk, coughed (in character) enough to make the chests of onlookers sting and shared a meal with his boy.

"It's a very nice moment but very rare in the story. ... Usually our scenes involve physical hardship and are emotionally challenging, mentally difficult a lot of times," he said.

"We were lucky with the weather, all the exteriors we were shooting early on, we had that bad weather -- we had the snow, we had the rain, we've had mud, we've had a lot of cold, so the look is right," he added.

As the trees sprouted blossoms, the movie shifted inside.

After filming on closed roads near Breezewood, in Saxonburg, New Galilee, Raccoon Creek State Park, Braddock, McKeesport, the Strip and in coal country, the production pulls up stakes today. It heads to Lake Erie, New Orleans, Mount St. Helens and Oregon, where flashbacks with Charlize Theron will be shot.

As for Mr. Mortensen's look, the beard that was in the early stages on the Oscar red carpet is in full flower. It distracts from his gaunt cheeks, an authentic part of his character who is starving in a world where a few raisins or can of fruit is a rare treat and where desperation has turned some survivors into cannibals.

His mismatched clothes and hole-pocked socks are those of a homeless man, his belt cinched around a shrinking waist. When he and the Boy -- as the characters are called -- find the bunker, both are able to clean up but the Man never lets down his guard or his gun.

Mr. Mortensen and Kodi, an Australian honored for his turn in "Romulus, My Father," bonded over a Bucs-Reds game, the resonant themes of "Bodies ... the Exhibition" at the Carnegie Science Center and their many shared scenes.

The "Eastern Promises" and "Lord of the Rings" star praised his young co-star's technical skills, natural presence, intelligence and versatility.

"It's a luxury for me as an actor to have a partner -- most of the time it's just the two of us -- who's so good at playing, who has such a good game," said Mr. Mortensen.

"The Road" is very much the story of parents and children and lessons passed from one to the other. Mr. Hillcoat has a 6-year-old boy, Kodi reminded Mr. Mortensen of his now-grown son, and when Mr. Mortensen called Mr. McCarthy to chat, talk turned to their sons.

In separate interviews, Mr. Mortensen, Mr. Hillcoat and unit production manager Buddy Enright volunteered praise for local crews and residents, the city and state -- its tax incentive is working -- and the Pittsburgh Film Office.

They singled out visits to Fallingwater, a behind-the-scenes tour of the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, family-owned restaurants, the Strip District and other thriving touchstones to Pittsburgh's past as highlights of their stays.

As for the movie that brought them, it's faithful to the spirit of the book, Mr. Hillcoat said.

"In our world that we're creating, we're not saying everything is just literally covered in ash. There's more variation in the devastation on a visual level," with ash, snow, water, fallen trees, lightning, fires and earthquake tremors factoring into "a world in severe trauma."

Like the novel, the screenplay by Joe Penhall doesn't specify the trigger to this trauma.

"That's what makes it more realistic, then it immediately becomes about survival and how you get through each day as opposed to what actually happened," Mr. Hillcoat said.

Flashbacks and the bunker interlude highlight "all the little things we take for granted, certainly in the comfortable, more affluent parts of the world," the director said. But the father and son are the movie's heart.

"The book had a huge impact on me, it affected me more deeply and more profoundly than almost anything I've ever read," Mr. Hillcoat said. "That's partly because I'm a father of a gorgeous 6-year-old boy" and mindful of what's happening in the world.

Growing up in Canada in the 1970s, the native Australian worried nuclear war was inevitable.

"Quite seriously, I never even thought I'd get to the age of 40 as a kid, as a teenager at least," he said.

But he did and he's making a movie that explores humanity and hope in a seemingly hopeless world and a father who teaches his son to "carry the fire," as Mr. McCarthy so eloquently phrases it.

Read more about "The Road" in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen, 49, sheds his heroic image to play a ruthless Russian Mafia bodyguard who crosses paths with Naomi Watts' midwife in new thriller Eastern Promises.

Everyone is talking about Eastern Promises' centrepiece fight, where you are naked in a bathhouse. How awkward was it to film?

I knew I would be a little vulnerable and embarrassed. But in the end I wasn't any more than I should be for that sequence, because David [Cronenberg, the director] was respectful and has a limited amount of people on the set. So there wasn't a lot of sitting around. I had a towel on between takes and then when they would roll, I would take the towel off and go.

Like this character, you often play very physical men. But is there anything you can't do?

I'm not a very good dancer. Very sloppy!

How much has Lord of the Rings changed your life?

It's a lasting thing. It had a cultural impact everywhere. If I walk out on the street, there are kids that come up to me and I know they have that look in their eye and I know they're thinking about Aragorn. And that's nice. I don't mind that.

Have you been to any fan conventions?

I haven't been to any of those. The idea scares me of all those people dressed as elves. I saw a lot of that for a few years. I appreciate them, though, but it's a little bit crazy.

You're single right now. How difficult is it to fit relationships around your work?

Difficult. There is no guidebook. I definitely need to take some time off, just to attend to personal matters and family. I'm doing a lot of things on the fly now and it takes its toll.


Words by James Mottram, Tuesday 23 October 2007

There's no vexing Viggo.

Viggo Mortensen, 49, is an actor of some distinction. He also is a painter, photographer, poet and jazz musician who believes that answers to life's vexing questions surface in quiet moments, surrounded by paintbrushes and a blank canvas with "a few candles burning as the day fades into the night."

Also an actor of some distinction, Mortensen thinks our most authentic occupation as people is to discover as much as possible about life and ourselves.

Which may explain his approach to research for film roles, such as his Oscar-nominated turn in David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises."

"I'm the type of guy who just likes to observe and fade into the crowd," he told an interviewer recently. "I live to be a fly on the wall, soaking up everything and anything. I didn't bring anyone with me, which was an intentional decision. I didn't want my experience to be filtered through anyone else's eyes. I wanted to go and see what I saw, feel what I felt."

Mortensen, whose next picture is "Appaloosa" (his second man-meets-horse outing after 2004's "Hidalgo"), listened to only Russian music, read Russian-language history books and prepared notes in Russian while in the country.

"Russia was perfect. I could go anywhere -- any city, town or village -- and just be the most ignored person on the planet. It was very freeing. It wasn't until my very last day that a young Russian boy looked at me quizzically, walked over and whispered, 'Aragorn?' "

By Roland Huschke

One would not be impolite. Moreover, it is a matter of importance for movie stars to draw attention on themselves at all times. But first of all one would prefer to only gaze at Viggo Mortensen, after he has shaken your hand. Even if he speaks so softly and looks so gently out of ice blue eyes, he still looks like a striking character. The enormous biker moustache, which we hope he has a role for. The soccer shirt of an Argentine club, with which not everyone would be allowed to enter this luxury hotel in Beverly Hills. The perfectly placed dimple on his chin - even more than on any screen, Mortensen is a charismatic person of the old school. The 49 year-old who looks ten years younger. Only when you check his feet is it somehow disappointing. They are stuck inside socks today, though it is known that his fad is for showing up at interviews barefoot. On Viggo Mortensen's wrist one discovers a small tattoo. Just a letter: H.

Is this the famous Lord of the Rings tattoo, which all the lead actors of the series got in a fraternal ritual?

No, nobody gets to see it because the memory of the filming in New Zealand belongs to us actors only. The H stands for Henry - my son. I got it tattooed to feel his presence when we are separated. It's more practical than constantly holding a photo in your hand.

Does he still live at home?

No, he's nineteen now and has left the nest. I'm still getting used to it. For parents it is difficult to see their child move out, you know, Henry is not only my son, but also my best friend and adviser. Without him, I would have never shot The Lord of the Rings, because I didn't know the books. He said "you can't ignore this opportunity".

Do you find any of your own characteristics in him?

We both want to control our lives on our own. I am proud that he follows his curiosity. One day he is interested in arts, then in history or natural sciences. I hope he takes his time to find his way. Today, young people are pressurised much too early to succeed, at the same time the soul needs time to search. I was nearly thirty when I began acting seriously. If I had known how long it takes to earn your living by doing this, I would have given up.

Did you have enough time in your youth to find your way?

I had the good fortune and bad luck to grow up in different countries. I spent my childhood in South America, before my parents moved to the state of New York when I was eleven. The culture shock was considerable. Nobody had an idea about soccer, no one spoke Spanish, and only one black man lived in the whole district. During this time, I became the solitary person that I am still today. Whereas Henry is more social.

How do you - as a solitary person - get along in a profession that requires so much collaboration?

In the job, I am part of a team and I respect the drivers no less than the director. But in private life, I prefer to be alone. Fortunately the photographers in Los Angeles leave me alone, because they can only take pictures of me with a supermarket bag. My work requires me to give an enormous amount of energy, therefore the rest of my life must be relaxing. If I always were ablaze with energy, I would be neither happy nor useful to my family.

Mortensen's identification with his roles borders on escape from reality. During the shooting of The Lord of the Rings he carried around his sword in restaurants and sometimes stayed in the woods. Before he began shooting the Nazi drama Good in Budapest, he visited the Berliner Philharmonie a dozen times, because his film character loves classical music. And when director David Cronenberg cast him in his new movie Eastern Promises as a member of the Russian mob in London after the incredible thriller A History Of Violence, Mortensen, of course, started with his preparations among gangsters. Yet he doesn't want to be seen as a method actor. "Every actor has some kind of method."

How did you get into the Russian circles?

When I got the job, I took the next plane to Moscow. Then I tried to adapt to the surroundings, walking through the streets for hours, going by subway and studying the people. In Russia, I travelled as far as the Urals. On the road, I also met people with a shady past, who introduced me, for example, to the tradition of tattoos with which Russian criminals mark their bodies. Not as decoration, but to signify their status within the hierarchy. In the film, I have 43 tattoos - and when I entered a Russian pub in London, wearing a T-Shirt, some people nervously changed their places. That made me very happy.

Aren't you recognized everywhere?

I am quite good at keeping a low profile.

Do you profit privately from the experience gained with all your research?

It can not be separated. I am not driven by money or fame, but by a thirst for knowledge. For Eastern Promises I went to bed with Russian audio tapes or during the day I ran Russian TV channels via satellite for half a year. I never understood everything, but you learn a language best when you are constantly surrounded by it.

And when a production is finished do you just shake everything off to be free for the next project?

No, I carry around a lot of nostalgia with me. For characters, cities, colleagues. Some actors complain that they can't cast off their roles. But I want to keep them as long as possible. Memories fade in the course of time alone. So why be in a hurry to erase them? It is said that every sin leaves a mark. That goes for good, memorable experiences too.

You mentioned earlier about money: What else do you indulge in except Russian language tapes?

I don't even drive a car. That makes me a freak in LA, believe me. I save my money for my family. Or I invest it into my company, publishing my other things and distributing it on my own.

The other things. These are CDs, on which the autodidact Viggo Mortensen plays piano. Books with his poems, exhibitions of his paintings or photos, where fans wait for 10 hours for the opening. Patiently he writes autographs just as long. Until a while ago, he also tried to answer every fan letter personally. "But it was just too much, I'm so sorry. Whoever sits down to tell somebody something personal, deserves an answer. " So he has the nickname in the industry: "No-ego Viggo." Of which you also become aware, when somebody knocks at the door of the suite right in the middle of the interview. Room service. A reason for him to talk to the waiter in Spanish for a few minutes.

Is it true that you declined an invitation to Academy membership?

Yes, but I don't want it to be misunderstood as being disrespect. Obligations lie ahead for me. Dinners, receptions, the Oscars themselves. With this, you would be even more a part of the machinery. I already have enough trouble trying to escape from that.

How does this work out, when you are praised as a sex symbol by the tabloids?

That is one of the strange aspects of my life. Well, my mother likes to read it. I, however, see only the mechanisms of the media that sell their products in a better way with lists of the 50 hottest bachelors rather than a story about the kindest plumbers in Manchester - that would be certainly more interesting.

Can you also see any positive aspects to your popularity?

Sure. The success of The Lord of the Rings made it possible for me to work with exceptional directors like David Cronenberg.

And outside of the film industry?

I am not a guy that makes big speeches. Once I was on a talk show after the beginning of the invasion of Iraq and I wore a T-shirt on which I had written "No blood for oil". Subsequently, the press made a terrible fuss about me. I don't want to have to experience that again. Although I regard members of our present government as sociopaths without moral compass or social conscience. But who doesn't?