"In a story like Lord of the Rings, whether the Ring and Sauron are evil is incidental to me. Even if we were not to get the Ring anywhere near Mount Doom. Even if we all died. It doesn't really matter," Mortensen says. "It's the fact that everybody got together and decided to go on this trip. That's the thing. That's the miracle."
Viggo Mortensen
The Hero Returns
By Tom Roston
Premiere 2003
"It was sad and happy at the same time. Terrible and confusing. The end of such an adventure. Each of the end-of-shoot parties - all of the actors had one - was an occasion for looking back one more time. I was equally careful to talk to all the stuntmen who doubled for me. When I was leaving, Peter Jackson gave me my sword and a tape with my best scenes and also.... the worst!."
Viggo Mortensen on the last day of filming LOTR
Year in the Life of Viggo Mortensen,
by Sophie Benamon
Studio Magazine, 2003
I understand you bought Brego, the horse you used in The Lord of the Rings?
Yes, he became my friend, just like the other cast members. The guy who owned him wanted to sell him, so he said to me, 'I know you've gotten along well with this horse, and I'd like to see him in good hands, would you like to buy him?' I thought about it for a while, whether it would be practical or not, and finally said, 'Why not?'
Hail To The King
by Lawrence French
Starburst #305, 2003
"I felt I had to do other things than just act,' he says. 'That's why The Lord of The Rings answered my desires. There was art, poetry and acting all in one role. Even if I live to be 100, I'll never forget the thrill and the memory."
Viggo Mortensen
I've Loved All My Leading Ladies
by Garth Pearce,
Now magazine, 2002
"We walked on a red carpet about four football fields long. All of a sudden, the sound of the crowd all blurred together. It was a perfect sunny day. It wasn't windy in a town that usually is windy. I looked up and saw people in every window in every house. Just the faces, how happy they were. I heard in my head a voice, my voice, saying, 'Remember this.' "
Viggo Mortensen on the ROTK Premier in NZ
It's Good to be "King"
by Susan Wloszczyna
USA Today, 2003
Did you have trouble saying goodbye to the character of Aragorn, then?
Some people say, 'Oh, I didn't have any problem shedding this character,' as if it were the thing to do - to get rid of it. Life is short and we're all gonna end up senile. Why make an effort to forget something that has been important in your life? Yes, I won't be dressing up as Aragorn and running into battle any more but, in my mind, I will keep going into battle about the things I've learned. The story reminds you that it's important to examine yourself, that it's healthy to have a little bit of doubt, to know that what you do and what you say has an effect on others. That group ethos will stay with me.
Viggo Mortensen
[url=https://www.viggo-works.com/new/index.php?page=119]Total Film
Magazine[/url]
January 2004
"I become hooked on the story, the character, the film sets and the atmosphere. It became so much part of my life that I still wear the ring I wore in the movie."
Viggo Mortensen
I've Loved All My Leading Ladies
by Garth Pearce,
Now magazine, 2002
"I heard Lord of the Rings win their first one and I thought, 'Well, I can lie here in the dark like an idiot, or I can go out and be a man and sit in the kitchen and watch it with everybody else."
Viggo Mortensen on trying to avoid the Oscars at a friends house
David Letterman Show 2004
As we talk about his feelings after completing the final Lord of the Rings movie, Mortensen says that it can't get any bigger than this. "It's been a long journey, and nobody could have imagined its magnitude. And it will continue to be the greatest ever. As for myself, I look forward to totally ruling the world."
Talkin' To Me?
By Gunnar Rehlin
Scanorama magazine, 2004
Jude: Well I just asked him actually in the end. I knew that of all the cast if you're going to have a written piece with some depth and profundity to it then that is the person to go to. And I also knew that he has some pretty serious things to say about the nature of War and mankind and evil and themes that run through 'Lord of the Rings' and bringing them into a modern-day situation that he feels very strongly about. What we got was even more wonderful than what I was expecting to get. He really spent an enormous amount of time writing and carving out that introduction. It just makes the rest of the book feel rather flimsy in my eyes. It's a very serious little essay that one and if you haven't read it I recommend it very heavily.
Brian: He's phenomenally fanatical about getting it right. I haven't been able to spend any time really with Viggo but through Jude Viggo agreed to give me, originally it was just an interview for 'The Making of...' book but it turned out to be much more complex than that because he would ring up and then send you stuff and then he'd have another thought and he'd be reminded of a poem which said something ... and it went on much longer than with any other member of the cast, possibly with the exception of Sean Astin, I think.
Jude: He hadn't read 'Lord of the Rings' at all when he came to the project. By the end of it all I think Viggo knew more about Tolkien and his context than anybody else on the whole production. He read absolutely everything there was - every critical book there was to lay hands on. He doesn't do things by halves! [/i]
Jude Fisher & Brian Sibley
Q&A at Book Signing
The Science Museum, London
November 8, 2003
Published with permission from Ian Smith
Five years have passed since shooting began on Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' movie trilogy. All who were part of the fellowship of cast and crew have their memories of the experience of working on that ambitious production. All have their tangible tokens, their scars, their legacies of affection. Countless books could be filled with what we remember of the journey. The following are but a handful of images to bring back a few unsung moments along the way. Surely others on the team will continue to make available their own images and recollections. With the greater fellowship in mind, including all who were somehow changed by watching Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings,' the following from J.R.R. Tolkien himself is offered:
'In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! We are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory. Farewell!'
Namarie -
Viggo
Viggo Mortensen
Unsung Moments & Unseen Heroes of
The Lord of the Rings
Premiere, November 2004