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Jane Campion, who directed The Portrait of a Lady, says Mortensen was shy at first. "Nicole [Kidman] and I had to beat him up. We called him Kiddie just to try and get him to treat us like pals. Of course, eventually we warmed him up so much we couldn't control him."

The Virtuoso Bad Boy Takes a Gentlemanly Turn in The Portrait of a Lady
by Jodie Burke
UK Premiere Magazine 1997



"He's mysterious. He reminds me of Daniel Day-Lewis, who I'm working with now - you know there's an enormous interior life." Kidman met Mortensen on Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady in 1996. "He was a little awkward, which was sweet. He has all that humor and bravado, but that gave him a fragility. Viggo's a Campion man. Her favourite men are Byron-esque."

Nicole Kidman
Beautiful Dreamer
By Holly Millea
Elle (U.S.)
October 2009



In Portrait, Mortensen plays Caspar Goodwood, one of the intrepid, long-suffering suitors trying to win the hand of Kidman's Isabel Archer. "Caspar is insistent. He basically says, 'I love you and I am willing to wait as long as it takes,' I admire that."

The Virtuoso Bad Boy Takes a Gentlemanly Turn in The Portrait of a Lady
By Jodie Burke
UK Premiere Magazine
1997


What memories do you have of working with Jane Campion, on Portrait of a Lady? Was that special?

- Oh, yes! How I loved working with her! Her way of rehearsing, of discussing before shooting ... At the same time, she demands much more than you think you can give. I've rarely met anyone as demanding, but it's something an actor appreciates. I also think that Nicole Kidman did a remarkable job in that movie, and that she's not often as highly regarded as she should be. She is so intense ...

Viggo Mortensen: The Soul of a Warrior
By Juliette Michaud
Studio Magazine
December 2002

Viggo Mortensen is solid as Caspar Goodwood, the hounding man who is not as much of a nuisance as he seems.

Chad Webb
411mania.com
3 August 2010