Well, it's the last day of 2016 and it's time for my annual round-up of favourite quotes of the year. This has been a very much a 'Fantastic' year, despite its many ups and downs, with Viggo's work with Matt Ross and all those wonderful children very well-received by audiences and critics. And his performance as Uber-Dad, Ben Cash, has garnered some heavy awards attention. The start of 2017 could be very exciting. Here's wishing a Happy Viggo-filled New Year to us all!



Image Fabrizio Cestari. December 2016
© Rolling Stone, LLC.


Is Viggo Mortensen the most interesting man in the world?

Viggo Mortensen: Still here, still fantastic
The Film Experience
By Nathaniel Rogers
24 April 2016



In the flesh, his inscrutability gives off an electric hum.

Understated A-lister Viggo Mortensen tells our reporter about his new cult hit 'Captain Fantastic' - and why it's impossible to be the perfect parent
by Ed Power
Irish Independent
31 August 2016



Viggo Mortensen, who seems only loosely tied to modern life at the best of times...

Helen O'Hara
Empire Magazine
18 August 2016



Okay, let's just get into it: Viggo Mortensen is hot. He has impeccably chiseled features, and he has received just enough commercial success that we know who he is, but we don't know enough about him to ruin his artistic appeal. Oh, and he has a chin dimple that would make Tom Brady weep.

Mortensen Fan Fiction
By Gabriella Paiella
New York Magazine
25 May 2016



Viggo Mortensen, who has both the looks (the piercing blue eyes and jutting Kirk Douglas chin) and the buff physique of a Marvel type, but would probably prefer slow death to putting on a cape and tights.

Viggo Mortensen Goes Off the Grid With 'Captain Fantastic'
Charles McGrath
New York Times
28 June 2016



... Mortensen, who looks like he'd be perfectly at home playing Jesus Christ or Charles Manson...

Owen Gleiberman
Variety
13 July 2016



Making it endlessly watchable is Viggo Mortensen, here in his fully bearded, hippie-Viking mode.

Stephen Whitty
NJ.com
8 July 2016



"The camera's your friend," he said. "But it's like this person that's there that doesn't talk. But they have really good eyesight! So you should be on your toes. It's this mute, hawkeyed friend that doesn't know how to keep a secret," he laughed. "I'm not afraid of it," he added.

Viggo Mortensen: Making peace with the camera
By Tracy Smith
CBS
11 December 2016



"I was 12 or 13 when a friend of mine encouraged me to be an actor, something that had never crossed my mind. I was then living in New York and didn't know anybody. I went up on stage and read the first paragraph from David Copperfield. The only thing I heard before closing the book and fleeing from that inconceivable torture was 'Louder, louder.' And here I am!"

Viggo Mortensen: "The older I get, the more tired I get of Hollywood."
By Rocío Ayuso
El Pais
8 October 2016



Viggo Mortensen is one of the greatest actors working today. Of that, I have no doubt.

Talking with Viggo Mortensen and Matt Ross of CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Silverscreenriot.com
Matt Oakes
22 June 2016



...he did something truly bizarre by Hollywood standards. He had the world by the balls, with his pick of roles—big studio stuff, Clooney kind of stuff, paycheck stuff. He turned all of it down, choosing instead to do what he wanted to do, little of which was lucrative. "I mean, how much ****ing money do you need?" he asks.

Why Viggo Mortensen Is Off the Grid
By Lisa DePaulo
Esquire
25 May 2016



'I trust her about as far as I could throw him.'

Viggo on the Clinton/Trump Presidential election circus.
Viggo Mortensen: 'Do something, or get out of the kitchen.'
By Ed Rampell
The Progressive
18 October 2016



His poetry and prose are taut and gripping - the outpourings of a genuine talent, not a bored dilettante.

Understated A-lister Viggo Mortensen tells our reporter about his new cult hit 'Captain Fantastic' - and why it's impossible to be the perfect parent
by Ed Power
Irish Independent
31 August 2016



"When you were a kid, what'd you want to be when you grew up?"

"A crow was probably what I wanted to be most of all."

"Really? Why is that? What is it about crows?

"They're survivors. They can live anywhere. They're very self-sufficient. They're very resourceful. They're adaptable."

"That sounds like you."

"Yeah!" he laughed.

Viggo Mortensen: Making peace with the camera
By Tracy Smith
CBS
11 December 2016



Here's the thing about Viggo Mortensen: I could listen to this man speak on just about any topic for hours. His voice is both passionate and hypnotic. It's impossible not to be engaged when he's speaking because he presents himself with, somehow, both a welcome calmness and a focused intensity at the exact same time. It might be magic. I suspect it is magic.

Viggo Mortensen Will Hypnotize You With His Intensity As He Dissects What's Wrong With Our Polarized Country
By Mike Ryan
Uproxx
7 November 2016



The one and only Strider, also known as Aragorn, later called by the name King Elessar Telcontar of Gondor is coming to Dublin. He's also called Viggo Mortensen sometimes.

Viggo Mortensen is coming to Dublin!
Breaking News.ie
9 August 2016



Brainy and brawny—a rare combination of qualities among leading men in Hollywood that hasn't strongly applied since Roberts Ryan and Mitchum—personifies Viggo Mortensen and sets him apart from just about everybody else on the contemporary screen.

Super-Dad: 'Captain Fantastic' Enthralls the Senses and Engages the Mind
By Rex Reed
The Observer
5 July 2016



DS: You were rocking a much friendlier penis than in Eastern Promises. That was an angry penis.

VM: No, in Eastern Promises, it was a frightened penis.

Captain Fantastic: Viggo Mortensen and Matt Ross Interview
Jason Gorber
Dorkshelf.com
14 July 2016



Meeting the Madrid-based poet, actor, photographer, editor and publisher in this place and under these circumstances feels something akin to encountering an albino bison in a veal pen. He seems to be a soul meant to wander the earth in search of universal truth, not discuss Hobbit movies over canapés with journalists.

On interviewing Viggo in a posh hotel
Dr. No: Viggo Mortensen Has Made Turning Down Roles Into an Art Form
By Oliver Jones
The Observer
6 July 2016



Mortensen doesn't go in much for trappings. He has a flip phone!

Why Viggo Mortensen Is Off the Grid
By Lisa DePaulo
Esquire
25 May 2016



"Doesn't everybody want to be Viggo Mortensen? I do!"

Matt Ross
Captain Fantastic: Viggo Mortensen & Family
by Christine Westwood
FilmInk
11 June 2016


You will find all previous Quotables here.
[/CENTER]

Thanks to recent Golden Globe and SAG awards nominations (yay) this Quotable can really only be about one thing - why Viggo is the fantastic captain of Captain Fantastic and why he deserves every plaudit coming his way.



© Bleecker Street


'He is an extraordinary man, an extraordinary mind. He had many thoughts and notes — great insights — before shooting. And once filming, Viggo contributed an effortless simplicity and deep humanity that, I believe, elevated the film.'

Matt Ross
Cannes Festival
Eugénie Malinjod
20 May 2016



"We rented a hotel room for him, but he never stayed there. We just knew he was in the forest somewhere. That kind of commitment really shows in his work."

Producer Lynette Howell Taylor
Viggo Mortensen
Cannes Press Kit
May 2016



'Viggo was there early enough that he planted the entire garden and that's a real garden.'

Matt Ross
'Captain Fantastic': Matt Ross, Viggo Mortensen and the perils of off-the-grid fatherhood
by Michelle Lanz
The Frame
7 July 2016



Mortensen says he brought "sleeping bags, a canoe, bicycles, clothing, blankets, books, pots and pans — all things that I knew these people would have. It looked like 'The Beverly Hillbillies.' " Most of it made it into the film, including a loud patterned red shirt that the actor had squirrelled away from his 1987 wedding.

In 'Captain Fantstic,' Viggo Mortensen found more than a modern-day 'Mr. Mom'
By Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
15 July 2016



"...what was surprising to me about working with him is that I could never catch him acting. He doesn't have any false moments."

Matt Ross
Dr. No: Viggo Mortensen Has Made Turning Down Roles Into an Art Form
By Oliver Jones
The Observer
6 July 2016



All the 'family' members got along but I think the strongest bonds that were made were between the kids and Viggo. He would come on set every day with different books for all the kids to read. I ended up having about 10 books that I've never gotten around to reading. He really is a generous, amazingly kind man."

Nicholas Hamilton
Captain Fantastic and the Sundance Kid
By Matthew Lowe
Filmink.com
20 January 2015



...we had this two-day, one-night wilderness survival camp, with just the six of us kids and a guide," she said. "We each were given a knife and had to figure out how to survive. We had to track down our food, purify water, build a shelter. I love being outdoors, but this was pretty extreme."

"We were building fires because in the forest it was so incredibly dark," Isler said. "All of a sudden, we heard these sounds and saw this shape coming toward us through the forest. It was Viggo, who said he wanted to bring us beef jerky and dried cherries. And we were all like, 'How in the world did you find us?' "

Tulsa teen actress Samantha Isler talks about her role in 'Captain Fantastic'
By James D Watts Jnr
Tulsa World
29 July 2016



'When it comes to cutting an effortless master like Viggo Mortensen, what can I say besides you're just trying to pick the best of the best and make sure it all hangs together in the right way. He makes it look easy. He also comes to the role with such fierce dedication and so many ideas. We invited him into the editing room later in the process and he had a very complete memory of what he had done and what had been shot and asked us very challenging questions about why we had chosen one approach over the other. He was a very good extra eye in the editing room and I was glad we were able to spend some time with him there.'

Interview with Joseph Krings, Editor of "Captain Fantastic"
Manhatten Edit Workshop blog
20 July 2016



When he appears, caked in mud, looking like a kind of eco-Rambo, splashing barefoot through a river and cutting the heart out of a deer, you'll be thinking: Well, that's just Viggo Mortensen's life, isn't it?

Wild man Viggo Mortensen lets it all hang out in Captain Fantastic
Neala Johnson
Herald Sun
8 September 2016



In "Captain Fantastic," he truly does seem like a hunter, in the Hemingway/James Fenimore Cooper sense. He looks like the kind of guy who, yes, would worship Noam Chomsky, but he also looks like the kind of guy who would eat him for breakfast.

The Secret Appeal of 'Captain Fantastic': It's Left-Wing… and Right-Wing
By Owen Gleiberman
Variety
14 July 2016



...The beauty of the film lies in its refusal to paint Ben as a deluded tyrant or principled pioneer. He doesn't have two faces — thanks to the script, as well as Mortensen's squirrely brilliance, he has hundreds.

Charlotte O'Sullivan
Evening Standard
9 September 2016



Mortensen sets about captaining this ship so well, with such fine shadings of distant grief, self-reproach, humility when it's necessary, defiance when it's not, that you can't imagine anyone else in the role, and wouldn't want anyone else near it.

Tim Robey
The Telegraph
8 September 2016



Brainy and brawny—a rare combination of qualities among leading men in Hollywood that hasn't strongly applied since Roberts Ryan and Mitchum—personifies Viggo Mortensen and sets him apart from just about everybody else on the contemporary screen. He displays plenty of both, not to mention a mesmerizing talent, in Captain Fantastic...

...Above all, Viggo Mortensen overcomes every intrusion of doubt with a performance that is informed, inspired, ideological and overwhelming. He's so sensational that he makes the film's title come true with no strings attached.

Super-Dad: 'Captain Fantastic' Enthralls the Senses and Engages the Mind
By Rex Reed
The Observer
5 July 2016



"I couldn't have done this without him, he's my collaborator."

Matt Ross accepting his best director award
Cannes
May 2016



'Viggo demonstrates the aspirations of the movie, what kind of movie are you hoping to make, and for me, I can have no better faith than in Viggo Mortensen.'

Matt Ross
Captain Fantastic: Viggo Mortensen and Matt Ross Interview
Jason Gorber
Dorkshelf.com
14 July 2016

Well, it's that time of year again. More and more speculative lists of awards nominees are coming out by the day and Viggo's name is popping up everywhere on them for that Holy Grail of acting, the Best Actor Oscar. Yep we've been here before. In 2008 we even made the Red Carpet. Do we care? Well... um... we know it's a 'crapshoot' (Viggo's description) but, yes we do. As Viggo said to El Argentino in 2009 'if it happens, it happens. And if not, it doesn't... Win or lose with dignity. And that's it.'



Annual Oscar Nominees Luncheon
© Reuters.


...a career best turn by Viggo Mortensen... I really can't say enough about the work of Viggo Mortensen. He's able to give this character so much life that you're under his spell; whether you agree or disagree with Ben's view of the world and outlook on raising his children. We see the best and worst of him, with Mortensen showcasing that brilliantly. In a perfect world, he would be in the Best Actor conversation for the Oscars.

Joey Magidson
awardscircuit.com
7 July 2016



'For me, awards are a lottery; if it's your turn, it's your turn. I don't remember who told me, but it's like Churchill's medals: "You shouldn't go in search of them, but must accept them and never wear them."'

Viggo Mortensen
Alatriste, The Modern Hero
By Robert Andres Gomez - translated by Margarita
El Universal
25 March 2007



" …..my goals aren't the same goals that other people have that are perfectly justifiable on their own terms: wanting to be famous, wanting to make lots of money, wanting to win Oscars or something. It's not my main reason for doing it. My main reason for doing it is because I am drawn to it."

Viggo Mortensen
Things are getting 'Good' for Mortensen
By John Clark
SF Gate-San Francisco Chronicle
23 January 2009



You watch [the Oscars] and you realize that good work is maybe rewarded half the time and the other half of the time it's sort of a crapshoot, a popularity contest, and it's become more so. It's not gonna change my opinion about it having been a job well done, a good effort, and that's gonna last.

Viggo Mortensen on the ROTK Oscars
'King' Star Returns To The Screen, Riding High
by Todd Camp
Star Telegram, 6 March 2004



''I'm not gonna be rude about it. I'll show up for the ceremony. But I didn't participate in the everyday ... I dunno what they do, cocktail parties, keeping in people's minds, trying to convince people to vote for them. It's like, 'ugh, I'd rather just let the work speak', you know.

Viggo on the Oscars
Viggo Mortensen on his new film Good
Neala Johnson
Herald Sun
8 April 2009



"…It was nice to see Tommy Lee Jones in there. He hadn't been in so much of the mix and when I saw his name come up and there was only one name left to go, I thought, `Naah, well, there's no way (I'll be nominated).' So to be honest, I was quite surprised."

Viggo on hearing his Oscar Nomination for Eastern Promises
Associated Press Release
Cleveland.com
22 January 2008



Viggo Mortensen scrubbed up for the big night. The best-actor nominee (Eastern Promises) prepped by taking "my annual bath. It was an arduous process of refilling the tub many times."

Viggo on Oscar night
Donna Freydkin and William Keck
USA Today
25 February 2008



Fresh from the set of the post-apocalyptic film "The Road," Viggo Mortensen sized up the path to the Kodak Theatre entrance and smiled a grim smile. "This road is more daunting than the road in the movie I'm making -- and that one has cannibals."

Viggo at the Oscars
The Envelope
By Geoff Boucher and Chris Lee
February 24, 2008



"It's always a bit bewildering when people are taking pictures and asking questions before the ceremony. I'm not very good at giving quick answers, and that's what they want. So I end up saying half a sentence, and then they go, 'OK, thank you!' and I'm thinking, 'WHAT did I just say?'"

Viggo on awards ceremonies
'My mother is very happy about it'
By Harriet Lane
The Guardian
February 22, 2008



"I feel probably like Eli Manning felt at the Super Bowl. Glad to be in the show, ready for anything."

Viggo at the Oscars
Newsweek.com
Associated Press
24 February 2008



"I'm realistic," Mortensen says. "I know I'm the odds-on favourite to remain seated throughout the ceremony."

Viggo on the 2008 Oscars
'My mother is very happy about it'
By Harriet Lane
The Guardian
February 22, 2008



"Most People don't win, you know? So on the way out of the big auditorium, the Kodak, I went over to these people and said, 'Hey, let's do a loser's dance.' I started jumping, and they were just horrified at this loss they just suffered, you know? There were these filmmakers from Canada who lost and actually agreed. And I think Michael Moore did the losers dance. But I would say 99% of the losers didn't want to do the losers dance. They all just sort of ran from me like I was shitfaced drunk or something."

Viggo celebrating losing his Oscar
A History of Defiance
Daniel Mirth
Men's Journal
October 2009



"I would rather see San Lorenzo win the tournament than get an Oscar, definitely."

Viggo Mortensen
By Juan Cruz Sanchez Marino - translated by Graciela
GENTE
26 December 2008



Have you ever thought what you would say if you won an Oscar?

Thank you.

El Mundo Webchat With Viggo Mortensen
By - translated by Ollie, Rio and Zoe
El Mundo
21 November 2011

It's clear from all I've read over the years that a lot of critics, directors and actors think Viggo is a pretty fearless actor, but Viggo has often commented (as he has just done in recent The Wrap interview) that fear is good and he often goes out of the way to choose things that scare him a little. He likes to push himself and meet interesting challenges head on so that fear never becomes a 'prison'. What others see as a kind of fearlessness is, I think, really a readiness to embrace fear and use it creatively.



© Haddock Films.


'...this tender and complex man is not afraid of anything.'

The Desired One
By Ester Aguado, Women Magazine, August 2006
Translated for V-W by Graciela



"I am an optimistic dreamer who has never been imprisoned by fear."

Viggo Mortensen, Beautiful Savage
Richard Gianorio
Le Figaro
26 September 2008



"I believe you should pick things you want to see," he added, "and things that scare you a little bit."

Oscar Dark Horse Viggo Mortensen on Why He Embraces Fringe Characters
By Steve Pond
The Wrap
22 November 2016



"Sometimes it's interesting but I'm not sure about it, and then you ask yourself why am I not sure about this? Is it because I'm afraid, because it's different, it's unknown? And then in which case maybe you should do it just for that reason."

Viggo Mortensen
A Fantastic Leap of Faith
by Brent Simon
Entertainment Today
2001



What brought you to theatre?

Fear. I've done theatre because it frightens me. I'm attracted to everything that frightens me. It's not like in film, where you do a take and then you can do another and another. Theatre is just one live take that lasts an hour and 40 minutes, depending on the performance. It's a new adventure every night. If you get off track, you have to see how to get back.

Viggo Mortensen: "I'm attracted to what scares me"
By Roció García - translated by Ollie, Rio and Zoe
El País
24 November 2011



"I´m getting to know myself bit by bit (laughs) and one thing that always happens is that when I´m on the right path I get a little scared. Rather quickly. Always, after saying "yes", hanging up the phone or coming out of the office... they´ve said to you "OK! We choose you." or "Your test was the best." Or they call you sometimes, and if you are lucky, they say "We thought you´d do this role very well." You read it, you think about the script and make the leap. And everything is fine but at the moment you do it, myself at least, then I get scared and think "Well, they think I can do it, but I don´t know." The truth is that I say it half-jokingly, but a lot of times I say "I don´t know how to act. Don´t know how to act!" Because you look at each character..."How do you do this?""

Viggo Mortensen
Lleida Festival Press Conference
Translated by Ollie, Rio and Zoe
April 2011



"If there's something in a story that might be good for me to explore and learn about, that pricks my conscience or even scares me on some level, then that's where I try to go."

Viggo Mortensen
"Life's Too Short to Do All This Work and Not Do It Right": An Interview with Viggo Mortensen
By Scott Thill
Morphizm.com
6 April 2004



"Viggo's my kind of actor," smiles Cronenberg, who likes to work with actors who are not just leading men, but also character actors. "First of all they tend not to be afraid because they're not trying to protect some image they see of themselves as traditional leading men, but also it gives them a much bigger palette to paint from because they have all kinds of edges. I need a kind of eccentricity that is more typical of a character actor than a leading man, and yet still has a leading man presence and charisma."

David Cronenberg, Director
Cannes Film Festival 2005 Press Kit



'I think it is necessary to be afraid, because when you think that you know everything and you feel confident, you can contribute or learn very little. Yet, it is very important to visualize yourself doing everything, and to believe that you can do it; that will guarantee your success.'

Viggo Mortensen
Top Men - Viggo Mortensen, Glamour Magazine
August 2006
Translated for V-W by Graciela



Is success an antidote to fear or, on the contrary, does it feed it?

I'm always afraid, and I always will be. Every time I finish a shoot I think about taking some time to prepare for the next. But sometimes projects come quicker than you think, as happened with Appaloosa. Right after that we started The Road, based on Cormac McCarthy's novel, directed by Australian director John Hillcoat. That means added fears. If I weren't afraid at the start of a movie, I would feel strange.

Mortensen Code
By Sol Alonso - translated by Remolina
Vanity Fair
November 2008



'... the weeks before the filming [Alatriste] I was really frightened. I was afraid of not doing it well and that all Spain would kill me."

"I'm an actor so I'm not completely adult"
By Amalia Sanz
La Voz
1 April 2007



'Artists need to come to terms with their personal fear of death and the other mysteries that we all eventually face. That doesn't mean that Dennis [Hopper] or any of us have to go around brooding and cursing our fate. On the contrary: the absurd side of being alive, for however long and for whatever reason we are, can be the source of playfulness, if we allow it to be.'

Viggo's Acceptance Speech on receiving the Dennis Lee Hopper Award at the inaugural AMFM Fest
20 June 2013



"I guess in some sense I tend to agree with Freud's idea that everyone is flawed and it's better to - rather than bury our insecurities and our fears and our desires - it's better to acknowledge them.

Not because you're going to eradicate your imperfections but you're going to accept them and find a way to be able to live with them, y'know?"

On the couch with the former King Of Gondor
By Matt Maytum
Total Film
9 February 2012



What is your biggest fear?

Not being honest with myself and not getting the most out of life. This is one of the reasons I stay very active, always doing things that interest me in the field of art, by editing books, writing, drawing, painting, photography…

Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen Interview: "This film has made me feel closer to my father"
By Laura Sacksville - translated by Ollie, Rio and Sage
Cuore
13 February 2010

[B]Is Viggo really some kind of magic weaving Zen Master masquerading as an actor/photographer/poet/painter? Mike Ryan's recent comments for Uproxx has made me wonder. Deeply. So pull up your meditation cushions, light your karma candles and just for the fun of it, let's suppose he is.../B]



© Unknown


Here's the thing about Viggo Mortensen: I could listen to this man speak on just about any topic for hours. His voice is both passionate and hypnotic. It's impossible not to be engaged when he's speaking because he presents himself with, somehow, both a welcome calmness and a focused intensity at the exact same time. It might be magic. I suspect it is magic.

Viggo Mortensen Will Hypnotize You With His Intensity As He Dissects What's Wrong With Our Polarized Country
By Mike Ryan
Uproxx
7 November 2016



Supping a herbal remedy from a mysterious brass pot that looks like it was stolen from Middle-earth, while sporting a bushy moustache liable to make Bill the Butcher green with envy (for his next role as a Spanish soldier in Alatriste), Mortensen exudes a Zen-like calm.

"We're Animals Too, Y'Know?"
By James Mottram
Hotdog #67
September 2005



Viggo Mortensen is no flake. He's a pretty intense guy — with a mellow sort of presence.

After "The Road" Viggo Mortensen Looks on the Bright Side: "You Could Always Be Dead"
By Jeffrey Podolsky
Wall Street Journal
17 November 2009



His voice is calm, a Zen whisper from the depths.

Understated A-lister Viggo Mortensen tells our reporter about his new cult hit 'Captain Fantastic' - and why it's impossible to be the perfect parent
by Ed Power
Irish Independent
31 August 2016



My first impressions of Viggo are a little hard to explain. He has an elusive reputation but I found him very down to earth. At the same time, however, he came off as quite mysterious. He spoke in a hushed, thoughtful tone and sounded very poetic in his speech patterns. Even when he wasn't saying much of anything I felt compelled to listen.

John Makarewicz
CHUD magazine
2004



He speaks with a gentle yet engaging passion and carries himself with a sense of calm that seems to radiate outwards to anyone in proximity - whether it be the ardent fans he enjoys speaking to while walking up red carpets or the hotel waiter who brings him boiling water so he can brew his cherished maté, a syrupy tea first tasted as a young boy growing up in Argentina.

Viggo Mortensen: "It's my nature to do a lot"
By covermg.com
10 July 2012



Mortensen is a matinee idol with a philosopher's soul — Jean-Jacques Rousseau trapped in the body of Rudolph Valentino.

Viggo Mortenson is complicated
By Micjelle Devereaux
San Francisco Bay Guardian
12 September 2007



Most actors will agree on the value of appearing enigmatic. But there is enigmatic and then there is Viggo Mortensen…

On Viggo Mortensen
By Ryan Gilbey
Filminfocus.com
4 December 2007



He doesn't need to wield a sword to be recognized. For those who can see beyond that, his personality stands out from the rest with no need of spotlights. He has his own light.

Reunion with Alatriste in Uclés
Diario de León
by Miguel Ángel Nepomuceno - translated by Paddy
26 June 2005



"We function very differently, especially in the way we channel our energy. He is always calm, and speaks softly. I have a more brutal side. I learned a lot from knowing him."

Vincent Cassel
Viggo Mortensen the Insatiable
Studio Magazine
By Sophie Benamon
November 2007



"Viggo has the perfect qualities as a man and as an actor to do this part. He's got incredible depth of soul."

Nick Wechsler – 'The Road'
Interview with Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Contender
Emmanuellevy.com
3 September 2009



"When we needed more wind, and after a long dead calm, Viggo sniffed and said: "This afternoon it's going to rain.' And so it was.'

Agustín Díaz Yanes
Reunion with Alatriste in Uclés
Diario de León
By Miguel Ángel Nepomuceno - translated by Paddy
26 June 2005



"I think he has a quality of self-knowing that challenges everyone that he meets - perhaps unwittingly. But the electrical charge of that challenge of 'How well do you know yourself? Cause I know myself real well.' You know, that's kind of the unspoken Viggo experience. He's also fascinated by other people. And when you combine those elements, it's very charismatic. It can definitely be interpreted as sexy."

Diane Lane
The Hero Returns
By Tom Roston
Premiere 2003



'Viggo is just the coolest guy. It's hard to say too much about how cool he is. If you spend enough time with people they will do something to piss you off, or that shows them to be just a normal human being, but I think Viggo does like to push himself to be just the best person he can, and that comes across. If you believe in reincarnation, he does seem to be quite far along his line. He does seem to have learned a lot of lessons, and seems quite old and wise. But he's not a serious fuddy-duddy. He'll go surfing with us, and he likes to go out at night and have some drinks.'

Billy Boyd
Lone Star
By Peter Ross
Sunday Herald, 2004

After Viggo's 10 Lessons in Filmmaking from Filmmaker's Magazine and his recent account in El Pais of the horrors of reading from David Copperfield on stage as a 12 or 13 year old ("inconceivable torture"), I've been thinking what a very long way he's come since he played "the ass end of a dragon" in a school play. Though I would have given a lot to see that dragon :lol:.



© Light House Cinema


"I was 12 or 13 when a friend of mine encouraged me to be an actor, something that had never crossed my mind. I was then living in New York and didn't know anybody. I went up on stage and read the first paragraph from David Copperfield. The only thing I heard before closing the book and fleeing from that inconceivable torture was 'Louder, louder.' And here I am!"

Viggo Mortensen: "The older I get, the more tired I get of Hollywood."
By Rocío Ayuso
El Pais
8 October 2016



Viggo Mortensen is one of the most fascinating stars in contemporary cinema. The image of his penetrating gaze and wide jaw seems to have traversed all the corners of the globe and of Planet Cinema.

Manu Yáñez
Fotograma
13 August 2014



...one of the great little pleasures of cinema in our day - seeing Mortensen tilt his head and sketch a knowing half smile with the corner of his mouth.

Manu Yáñez
Fotograma
13 August 2014



He's the kind of star directors dream about: professional, playful and eager to make a movie that doesn't wrap itself up in a neat pre-digested bow.

Viggo Mortensen on Everybody Has a Plan, Argentine Popes and His Beloved San Lorenzo
John Lopez
Huffington Post
21 March 2013



Here is a handsome, photogenic, intelligent, multi-lingual actor who has simply refused to be typecast in specific kinds of genres and roles and/or to become a bankable Hollywood star, even though he had all the ingredients for that position two decades ago.

Cannes Film Fest 2016: Captain Fantastic–Viggo Mortensen Dominates Eccentric Tale of Nature Vs. Civilization
Emanuellevy.com
8 May 2016



Viggo Mortensen holds the unusual distinction of having two TIFF movies in which he speaks four different languages … none of which are English, the language that moviegoers are accustomed to hearing Mortensen speak.

Steve Pond
The Wrap
11 November 2014



"...what was surprising to me about working with him is that I could never catch him acting. He doesn't have any false moments."

Matt Ross
Dr. No: Viggo Mortensen Has Made Turning Down Roles Into an Art Form
By Oliver Jones
The Observer
6 July 2016



When it comes to cutting an effortless master like Viggo Mortensen, what can I say besides you're just trying to pick the best of the best and make sure it all hangs together in the right way. He makes it look easy.

Interview with Joseph Krings, Editor of "Captain Fantastic"
Manhatten Edit Workshop blog
20 July 2016



Philip Seymour Hoffman, certainly one of the great actors of our time, told us in a Venetian hallway of the Hotel Excelsior how he regarded Viggo Mortensen as one of the masters of the profession. A point of view that is totally shared.

Viggo Mortensen in the Shoes of Dr. Freud
By Nicolas Crousse
Le Soir – translated by Dom
4 September 2011



Viggo Mortensen is one of the greatest actors working today. Of that, I have no doubt.

Talking with Viggo Mortensen and Matt Ross of CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Silverscreenriot.com
Matt Oakes
22 June 2016



There are actors whose performances come as light emanating from the screen. Then there's Mortensen. His effect is gravitational. It draws you closer, inward.

Actor Geoffrey Rush after seeing the film at Tiff
Naked Viggo Mortensen: artist at work
By Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post Film Critic



Few actors can do stillness on screen with as much conviction as Viggo Mortensen. That chiselled face, turned towards a landscape or held in concentration as someone else speaks, can stand in for any amount of narrative exposition: look at any of Mortensen's characters and you know, without having to be told about it, that man's had a hell of a past. When he does speak, of course – in whichever language, given he speaks four and has learned new ones on the hop for several of his films – you're the one paying attention. Quiet as he is, he commands the screen.

Far From Men: Viggo Mortensen saddles up in Albert Camus' short story
by Stephanie Bunbury
Sydney Morning Herald
23 July 2015



"He is methodical, exacting in his work, he carries out meticulous labors to do something that looks true, and projects it. He is like Robert Mitchum or William Holden, the class of actors whose work seems effortless."

Ray Loriga
Chiaroscuro: Viggo, Light And Dark
By Rocio Garcia - translated by Graciela, Remolina, Sage and Zooey
El Pais
26 June 2009



Part of what makes Mortensen such a fascinating character is that his constant analysis of his own work means that he sees a value and a weakness in everything he does. Nothing, it seems, can be good enough for him to rest on his laurels, but even an unsuccessful project is a worthwhile learning process.

An Unconventional Method: Viggo Mortensen
Clash
8 March 2015



In a world of paste reproductions Viggo Mortensen is a rare gem of creative energy. His work as an actor goes far beyond the normal level of effort exerted by a conventional leading man which results in his performances being elevated into works of art as unique as his poems and pictures.

Viggo Mortensen: An Artist For All Seasons
By Richard Marcus
BNN Blogger News Network
6 May 2005



Mortensen, who radically rejects any clichés and stereotypes, has become one of the most interesting and idiosyncratic actors of his generation. And incidentally, so to speak, a world star of cinema.

Venniale Tribute publicity
August 2014



"Oh wow. It's Viggo," says the "Dorian Gray" star. The observation was understated -- no hoots, hollers or autograph mania here. But the surprise was unmistakable as a publicist escorted the handsome British star down a corridor at Toronto's Intercontinental Hotel.

"You sound impressed," the woman comments, hurrying the 28-year-old actor off to another interview.

"Sure I'm impressed," Barnes smiles broadly. "That's Viggo Mortensen!"

Ben Barnes spots Viggo at Toronto
Constance Droganes
CTV.ca
12 September 2009