Viggo-Works
'From the ashes a fire shall be woken.'
Donate
Social Media
Quotable Viggo 2017
Quotable Viggo: 30 December 2017
Here are the answers to last week's Quotable Quiz, I hope you had a lot of fun quessing them! How many did you manage to get?
© New Line Cinema
Who said?
"He's one of the greats. Getting to collaborate with him is quite literally the best thing that's happened to me since my wife asked me to marry her."
Answer: Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic)
"I was terrified during improvisation that he might ask me something about Nietzsche, like, 'What do you think about the Ubermensch?' The night before he arrived, I spent hours Wikipedia-ing Jean-Paul Sartre and others just in case he threw me a curveball."
Answer: Sam Riley (On the Road)
"Come on, we've all been Viggo-tized before."
Answer: Michael K Williams (The Road)
"I'm really honoured and privileged to introduce to you a man of conviction, of compassion, intelligence, artistic integrity, a great actor and a fine citizen of the world, a man I'm proud to call my friend : Viggo Mortensen."
Answer: Ed Harris introducing Viggo at the Deauville film Festival
"He was the chocolate crack dealer."
Answer: Renée Zellweger (Appaloosa)
"Viggo's cheap, he's available and he's obedient! And he's got a great chin."
Answer: David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises)
"He is so brilliant he makes me sick."
Answer: Elijah Wood (LOTR)
What's the missing word?
Viggo pulled out shirts from his bag, then candies, chocolates and caramels that he distributed like Santa Claus to each child, all under the astonished and pleased gazes of the customers who by now consider the 'American friend' as one of their own.
Answer: Santa Claus
"To be honest about the climbing scenes, I have a little vertigo," says Mortensen. "It gets me. I'm glad I look like I'm comfortable."
Answer: vertigo
Few stars of his stature would consider such a low-budget arthouse film in a foreign language - let alone co-produce it, be able to act in both Spanish and Danish, and be prepared to sport such spectacularly awful whiskers.
Answer: whiskers
...no man other than Viggo Mortensen could carry the moniker 'Blouse Man' and retain the sort of paint-peeling smoldering sexuality that he wields throughout this film…
Answer: Blouse Man
Viggo Mortensen, as far as I'm concerned, could do a Rubix Cube on screen for two hours and I'd still want to watch him, the guy is that good.
Answer: Rubix cube
Nikolai's charming nickname is "The Undertaker." Around the set, his squared-off Dracula pompadour acquired a nickname, too: "The Soviet Bloc."
Answer: Soviet Bloc
Which Movie?
"Next day my agent calls me and said, 'He loves you. You got a part.' 'Oh really? What's the part?' He goes, 'I don't know exactly, but it's a part. You're in the movie,'" Mortensen said….
…."And of course the movie comes out the next fall or whatever, and I told my family, 'Friday.' And I'm not in it. I'm not in the credit, nothing," Mortensen laughed.
Answer: Purple Rose of Cairo
"It was a crew of about ten people walking over the rocks. We were all tired but we had a lot of fun. By nightfall, since we were 150 km from the internet and telephones, we made a little fire, an asado, we talked... It was a family experience."
Answer: Jauja
…during the preparation of my character I listened to thousands of hours of salsa music from the early seventies.
Answer: Carlito's Way
'I was supposed to be handing him tools and he'd say 'Hand me a whatever,' and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.'
Answer: Witness (building the barn with Harrison Ford)
"When you see the character sitting alone, he's like a monk. It's like you've given up things of this world for other purposes, to serve something bigger than you. It just happens to be something scary."
Answer: Eastern Promises
'My character is an average person in an extraordinary situation who has to make difficult decisions. It was nice to play a guy with a job and a family, rather than a guy with a big axe to grind. And scary too, because in a role like that you have to fit in, whereas you don't if you play a sociopath. In this role, I couldn't hide behind violence or fake teeth.'
Answer: Crimson Tide
What/who is it?
"It was so big, I didn't know at first if I could walk around with it in the movie because it was so huge."
Answer: Eight-gauge shotgun in Appaloosa
…honestly folks, how can anyone… NOT want to build a hut in it?? I mean, even just for the summertimes, you know?
Answer: Viggo's beard
"It was like a compulsive thing after a while," the actor explains. "I felt like it was unlucky not to have it, so I would sneak it in. It became this game to see if I could keep getting away with it." He did--until the last day of shooting, when his finnish friend fell out...on camera. Says Mortensen, with just a touch of mischievous pride: "David saw it and was appalled."
Answer: Plastic trout (while filming A History of Violence)
He wasn't afraid or worried about the lights, camera, or anything. He was totally calm. You know that comic strip Andy Capp? That guy with his hat? I just think of him like that. He would just be there like, 'Whatever.''
Answer: TJ ("Hidalgo")
"Is it horrible?" he winces. "Does it look like me? As long as it doesn't look like me, then there's no voodoo risk."
Answer: Viggo's LOTR action figure
And finally, who did Viggo give his San Lorenzo socks to?
In the last minutes of the program, I took off my boots to give him the San Lorenzo socks I was wearing and I think I told him that he'd have to look for the shorts himself. He also accepted that gift with a lot of dignity and in an extremely generous spirit. If he thought that I was an idiotic Cuervo, he didn't say so.
Answer: Maradona
© New Line Cinema
Who said?
"He's one of the greats. Getting to collaborate with him is quite literally the best thing that's happened to me since my wife asked me to marry her."
Answer: Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic)
"I was terrified during improvisation that he might ask me something about Nietzsche, like, 'What do you think about the Ubermensch?' The night before he arrived, I spent hours Wikipedia-ing Jean-Paul Sartre and others just in case he threw me a curveball."
Answer: Sam Riley (On the Road)
"Come on, we've all been Viggo-tized before."
Answer: Michael K Williams (The Road)
"I'm really honoured and privileged to introduce to you a man of conviction, of compassion, intelligence, artistic integrity, a great actor and a fine citizen of the world, a man I'm proud to call my friend : Viggo Mortensen."
Answer: Ed Harris introducing Viggo at the Deauville film Festival
"He was the chocolate crack dealer."
Answer: Renée Zellweger (Appaloosa)
"Viggo's cheap, he's available and he's obedient! And he's got a great chin."
Answer: David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises)
"He is so brilliant he makes me sick."
Answer: Elijah Wood (LOTR)
What's the missing word?
Viggo pulled out shirts from his bag, then candies, chocolates and caramels that he distributed like Santa Claus to each child, all under the astonished and pleased gazes of the customers who by now consider the 'American friend' as one of their own.
Answer: Santa Claus
"To be honest about the climbing scenes, I have a little vertigo," says Mortensen. "It gets me. I'm glad I look like I'm comfortable."
Answer: vertigo
Few stars of his stature would consider such a low-budget arthouse film in a foreign language - let alone co-produce it, be able to act in both Spanish and Danish, and be prepared to sport such spectacularly awful whiskers.
Answer: whiskers
...no man other than Viggo Mortensen could carry the moniker 'Blouse Man' and retain the sort of paint-peeling smoldering sexuality that he wields throughout this film…
Answer: Blouse Man
Viggo Mortensen, as far as I'm concerned, could do a Rubix Cube on screen for two hours and I'd still want to watch him, the guy is that good.
Answer: Rubix cube
Nikolai's charming nickname is "The Undertaker." Around the set, his squared-off Dracula pompadour acquired a nickname, too: "The Soviet Bloc."
Answer: Soviet Bloc
Which Movie?
"Next day my agent calls me and said, 'He loves you. You got a part.' 'Oh really? What's the part?' He goes, 'I don't know exactly, but it's a part. You're in the movie,'" Mortensen said….
…."And of course the movie comes out the next fall or whatever, and I told my family, 'Friday.' And I'm not in it. I'm not in the credit, nothing," Mortensen laughed.
Answer: Purple Rose of Cairo
"It was a crew of about ten people walking over the rocks. We were all tired but we had a lot of fun. By nightfall, since we were 150 km from the internet and telephones, we made a little fire, an asado, we talked... It was a family experience."
Answer: Jauja
…during the preparation of my character I listened to thousands of hours of salsa music from the early seventies.
Answer: Carlito's Way
'I was supposed to be handing him tools and he'd say 'Hand me a whatever,' and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.'
Answer: Witness (building the barn with Harrison Ford)
"When you see the character sitting alone, he's like a monk. It's like you've given up things of this world for other purposes, to serve something bigger than you. It just happens to be something scary."
Answer: Eastern Promises
'My character is an average person in an extraordinary situation who has to make difficult decisions. It was nice to play a guy with a job and a family, rather than a guy with a big axe to grind. And scary too, because in a role like that you have to fit in, whereas you don't if you play a sociopath. In this role, I couldn't hide behind violence or fake teeth.'
Answer: Crimson Tide
What/who is it?
"It was so big, I didn't know at first if I could walk around with it in the movie because it was so huge."
Answer: Eight-gauge shotgun in Appaloosa
…honestly folks, how can anyone… NOT want to build a hut in it?? I mean, even just for the summertimes, you know?
Answer: Viggo's beard
"It was like a compulsive thing after a while," the actor explains. "I felt like it was unlucky not to have it, so I would sneak it in. It became this game to see if I could keep getting away with it." He did--until the last day of shooting, when his finnish friend fell out...on camera. Says Mortensen, with just a touch of mischievous pride: "David saw it and was appalled."
Answer: Plastic trout (while filming A History of Violence)
He wasn't afraid or worried about the lights, camera, or anything. He was totally calm. You know that comic strip Andy Capp? That guy with his hat? I just think of him like that. He would just be there like, 'Whatever.''
Answer: TJ ("Hidalgo")
"Is it horrible?" he winces. "Does it look like me? As long as it doesn't look like me, then there's no voodoo risk."
Answer: Viggo's LOTR action figure
And finally, who did Viggo give his San Lorenzo socks to?
In the last minutes of the program, I took off my boots to give him the San Lorenzo socks I was wearing and I think I told him that he'd have to look for the shorts himself. He also accepted that gift with a lot of dignity and in an extremely generous spirit. If he thought that I was an idiotic Cuervo, he didn't say so.
Answer: Maradona
Quotable Viggo: 23 December 2017
It's nearly Christmas so it must be time for the annual Quotable Quiz. As usual, this is just for fun! Keep the answers to yourself and I will print them next weekend so you can see how you've done. Some are easy but there are a few very tricksy ones there! Have a wonderful Christmas, all of you.
© New Line Cinema
Who said…
"He's one of the greats. Getting to collaborate with him is quite literally the best thing that's happened to me since my wife asked me to marry her."
"I was terrified during improvisation that he might ask me something about Nietzsche, like, 'What do you think about the Ubermensch?' The night before he arrived, I spent hours Wikipedia-ing Jean-Paul Sartre and others just in case he threw me a curveball."
"Come on, we've all been Viggo-tized before."
"I'm really honoured and privileged to introduce to you a man of conviction, of compassion, intelligence, artistic integrity, a great actor and a fine citizen of the world, a man I'm proud to call my friend : Viggo Mortensen."
"He was the chocolate crack dealer."
"Viggo's cheap, he's available and he's obedient! And he's got a great chin."
"He is so brilliant he makes me sick."
What's the missing word?
Viggo pulled out shirts from his bag, then candies, chocolates and caramels that he distributed like ***** ***** to each child, all under the astonished and pleased gazes of the customers who by now consider the 'American friend' as one of their own.
Miguel Ángel Nepomuceno
Diario de León
20 August 2006
Translated for V-W by Margarita
"To be honest about the climbing scenes, I have a little *******," says Mortensen. "It gets me. I'm glad I look like I'm comfortable."
Viggo Mortensen is a marvel in 'Captain Fantastic'
Bryan Alexander
USA Today
19 May 2016
Few stars of his stature would consider such a low-budget arthouse film in a foreign language - let alone co-produce it, be able to act in both Spanish and Danish, and be prepared to sport such spectacularly awful ********.
Viggo Mortensen shows his independent side
by Demetrios Matheou
Herald Scotland
4 March 2015
...no man other than Viggo Mortensen could carry the moniker '****** ***' and retain the sort of paint-peeling smoldering sexuality that he wields throughout this film…
Liz W Garcia
HitFix
13 July 2015
Viggo Mortensen, as far as I'm concerned, could do a ***** **** on screen for two hours and I'd still want to watch him, the guy is that good.
Metal Gear Solid Movie: Eight Actors Who Could Play Solid Snake
By Liam Hoofe
Flickering Myth
15 September 2017
Nikolai's charming nickname is "The Undertaker." Around the set, his squared-off Dracula pompadour acquired a nickname, too: "The ****** ****."
The Great Dane
Men's Vogue
By Phoebe Eaton
March 2008
Which Movie is this?
"Next day my agent calls me and said, 'He loves you. You got a part.' 'Oh really? What's the part?' He goes, 'I don't know exactly, but it's a part. You're in the movie,'" Mortensen said….
…."And of course the movie comes out the next fall or whatever, and I told my family, 'Friday.' And I'm not in it. I'm not in the credit, nothing," Mortensen laughed.
"It was a crew of about ten people walking over the rocks. We were all tired but we had a lot of fun. By nightfall, since we were 150 km from the internet and telephones, we made a little fire, an asado, we talked... It was a family experience."
'…during the preparation of my character I listened to thousands of hours of salsa music from the early seventies.'
'I was supposed to be handing him tools and he'd say 'Hand me a whatever,' and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.'
"When you see the character sitting alone, he's like a monk. It's like you've given up things of this world for other purposes, to serve something bigger than you. It just happens to be something scary."
'My character is an average person in an extraordinary situation who has to make difficult decisions. It was nice to play a guy with a job and a family, rather than a guy with a big axe to grind. And scary too, because in a role like that you have to fit in, whereas you don't if you play a sociopath. In this role, I couldn't hide behind violence or fake teeth.'
What/who is it?
"It was so big, I didn't know at first if I could walk around with it in the movie because it was so huge."
…honestly folks, how can anyone… NOT want to build a hut in it?? I mean, even just for the summertimes, you know?
"It was like a compulsive thing after a while," the actor explains. "I felt like it was unlucky not to have it, so I would sneak it in. It became this game to see if I could keep getting away with it." He did--until the last day of shooting, when his finnish friend fell out...on camera. Says Mortensen, with just a touch of mischievous pride: "David saw it and was appalled."
'He wasn't afraid or worried about the lights, camera, or anything. He was totally calm. You know that comic strip Andy Capp? That guy with his hat? I just think of him like that. He would just be there like, 'Whatever.'''
"Is it horrible?" he winces. "Does it look like me? As long as it doesn't look like me, then there's no voodoo risk."
And finally, who did Viggo give his San Lorenzo socks to?
"In the last minutes of the program, I took off my boots to give him the San Lorenzo socks I was wearing and I think I told him that he'd have to look for the shorts himself. He also accepted that gift with a lot of dignity and in an extremely generous spirit. If he thought that I was an idiotic Cuervo, he didn't say so."
© New Line Cinema
Who said…
"He's one of the greats. Getting to collaborate with him is quite literally the best thing that's happened to me since my wife asked me to marry her."
"I was terrified during improvisation that he might ask me something about Nietzsche, like, 'What do you think about the Ubermensch?' The night before he arrived, I spent hours Wikipedia-ing Jean-Paul Sartre and others just in case he threw me a curveball."
"Come on, we've all been Viggo-tized before."
"I'm really honoured and privileged to introduce to you a man of conviction, of compassion, intelligence, artistic integrity, a great actor and a fine citizen of the world, a man I'm proud to call my friend : Viggo Mortensen."
"He was the chocolate crack dealer."
"Viggo's cheap, he's available and he's obedient! And he's got a great chin."
"He is so brilliant he makes me sick."
What's the missing word?
Viggo pulled out shirts from his bag, then candies, chocolates and caramels that he distributed like ***** ***** to each child, all under the astonished and pleased gazes of the customers who by now consider the 'American friend' as one of their own.
Miguel Ángel Nepomuceno
Diario de León
20 August 2006
Translated for V-W by Margarita
"To be honest about the climbing scenes, I have a little *******," says Mortensen. "It gets me. I'm glad I look like I'm comfortable."
Viggo Mortensen is a marvel in 'Captain Fantastic'
Bryan Alexander
USA Today
19 May 2016
Few stars of his stature would consider such a low-budget arthouse film in a foreign language - let alone co-produce it, be able to act in both Spanish and Danish, and be prepared to sport such spectacularly awful ********.
Viggo Mortensen shows his independent side
by Demetrios Matheou
Herald Scotland
4 March 2015
...no man other than Viggo Mortensen could carry the moniker '****** ***' and retain the sort of paint-peeling smoldering sexuality that he wields throughout this film…
Liz W Garcia
HitFix
13 July 2015
Viggo Mortensen, as far as I'm concerned, could do a ***** **** on screen for two hours and I'd still want to watch him, the guy is that good.
Metal Gear Solid Movie: Eight Actors Who Could Play Solid Snake
By Liam Hoofe
Flickering Myth
15 September 2017
Nikolai's charming nickname is "The Undertaker." Around the set, his squared-off Dracula pompadour acquired a nickname, too: "The ****** ****."
The Great Dane
Men's Vogue
By Phoebe Eaton
March 2008
Which Movie is this?
"Next day my agent calls me and said, 'He loves you. You got a part.' 'Oh really? What's the part?' He goes, 'I don't know exactly, but it's a part. You're in the movie,'" Mortensen said….
…."And of course the movie comes out the next fall or whatever, and I told my family, 'Friday.' And I'm not in it. I'm not in the credit, nothing," Mortensen laughed.
"It was a crew of about ten people walking over the rocks. We were all tired but we had a lot of fun. By nightfall, since we were 150 km from the internet and telephones, we made a little fire, an asado, we talked... It was a family experience."
'…during the preparation of my character I listened to thousands of hours of salsa music from the early seventies.'
'I was supposed to be handing him tools and he'd say 'Hand me a whatever,' and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.'
"When you see the character sitting alone, he's like a monk. It's like you've given up things of this world for other purposes, to serve something bigger than you. It just happens to be something scary."
'My character is an average person in an extraordinary situation who has to make difficult decisions. It was nice to play a guy with a job and a family, rather than a guy with a big axe to grind. And scary too, because in a role like that you have to fit in, whereas you don't if you play a sociopath. In this role, I couldn't hide behind violence or fake teeth.'
What/who is it?
"It was so big, I didn't know at first if I could walk around with it in the movie because it was so huge."
…honestly folks, how can anyone… NOT want to build a hut in it?? I mean, even just for the summertimes, you know?
"It was like a compulsive thing after a while," the actor explains. "I felt like it was unlucky not to have it, so I would sneak it in. It became this game to see if I could keep getting away with it." He did--until the last day of shooting, when his finnish friend fell out...on camera. Says Mortensen, with just a touch of mischievous pride: "David saw it and was appalled."
'He wasn't afraid or worried about the lights, camera, or anything. He was totally calm. You know that comic strip Andy Capp? That guy with his hat? I just think of him like that. He would just be there like, 'Whatever.'''
"Is it horrible?" he winces. "Does it look like me? As long as it doesn't look like me, then there's no voodoo risk."
And finally, who did Viggo give his San Lorenzo socks to?
"In the last minutes of the program, I took off my boots to give him the San Lorenzo socks I was wearing and I think I told him that he'd have to look for the shorts himself. He also accepted that gift with a lot of dignity and in an extremely generous spirit. If he thought that I was an idiotic Cuervo, he didn't say so."
Quotable Viggo: 17 December 2017
After my last Two Faces of January Quotable there was a comment that critics always end up saying that his latest performance is the best thing he's done in years. So – just to tease you – I've rounded a few of those up, along with a couple of outstanding comments from earlier roles because they just couldn't be left out. What do you think Viggo's best ever performance is? Or does he just get better and better with every role?
Image Wilson Webb.
© Bleecker Street.
Captain Fantastic
...this is a thoughtful examination of the fragility of any idyll under pressure from the imperfect world outside. But all of it is anchored and, like the family itself, dominated by Mortensen's Ben, who's both the hero and the villain. Caring but dictatorial, idealistic but often blind, he's a fascinating figure and, in bringing him to life, Mortensen gives his best performance yet.
Helen O'Hara
Empire Magazine
18 August 2016
Loin Des Hommes
...filmmaker David Oelhoffen's more significant achievement is in the casting of a never-better Mortensen, who possesses the sort of face that conveys volumes in virtual silence and the similarly expressive French Algerian actor Kateb.
Michael Rechtshaffen
LA Times
1 May 2015
Two Faces of January
Soaking up the highlights of Ancient Greece, Chester MacFarland resembles a spick-and-span palace. In fact, as becomes apparent, he's a ruin. Every time he gets drunk another partition collapses; when he sobers up, the grand edifice dazzles again.
It's the best thing Mortensen has done in years.
Charlotte O'Sullivan
London Evening Standard
16 May 2014
A Dangerous Method
It's possible that in lusting after Mortensen all these years, we've taken his talent for granted. Of course, we really didn't know how talented he was until he started working with Cronenberg. This is the best thing Mortensen's ever done. His slow, paunchy, hairy Freud has a cavalier authority and a capacity for drollery. He's also seductively wise in a way that makes both Fassbender and Knightley, as very good as they are, also seem uncharacteristically callow. I don't know where Mortensen found this physical and psychological heaviness, this expressive inexpressiveness, but now isn't the time to start a diet.
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
23 December 2011
Todos Tenemos Un Plan
If you, for some reason, want to watch Viggo Mortensen watching Viggo Mortensen take a bath, then, my friend, your luck is in – as the renowned star of The Lord of the Rings franchise turns in one of the finest performances of his career, taking on the role(s) of identical twins in Ana Piterbarg's intense, if somewhat unfulfilling drama Everybody Has a Plan.
Stefan Pape
Heyuguys.co.uk
28 May 2013
The Road
It's hard not to be drawn in by the sunken, haunted weariness of Mortensen's face, especially when he's doing some of the best quiet, understated work of a long career built on quiet, understated work. Mortensen's laconic strength has always well served the hero who knows how unlikely a happy ending is, and yet keeps pushing ahead.
Locke Peterseim
Redblog
Redbox.com
26 May 2010
Appaloosa
While many might not appreciate this slow and slightly revisionist western, I'm going to put it up there with "Open Range" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" as one of best. Go to see Ed Harris kick tail, but stay for one of Viggo Mortensen's best performances.
Coop Cooper
The Small Town Critic
1 October 2008
Good
An extremely powerful World War II drama about a man at a crossroads, forced to make almost impossible choices between friendship and survival. It's the best work Viggo Mortensen has done.
Jeffrey Lyons
NBC/Lyons and Bailes Reek Talk
October 2008
Eastern Promises
As Nikolai, Mortensen is nothing short of remarkable, completely disappearing into his heavily-tattooed character and speaking in both Russian and flawlessly accented English. Hardly a cardboard villain, Nikolai is easily the most compelling character in the movie. In spite of earlier scenes of furious — and chillingly callous — violence, he nevertheless gains some of the audience's sympathies as he compellingly presents his internal conflict with subtlety and nuance, often using only his eyes. It may very well be the best performance of his career thus far, topping even his recent work in another Cronenberg thriller, A History of Violence. Someone, nominate this man for an Oscar already!
Jason Turer
Cornell Daily Sun
14 Sept 2007
Alatriste
Viggo Mortensen carried the role of Diego Alatriste y Tenorio to perfection. Right down to small but highly effective ways of expressing an emotion, Mortensen's portrayal of this 17th century Spanish soldier-turned-mercenary is his best work to date topping even his stellar performance in the 2004 release of Hidalgo.
Egyptian Theatre Premiere of Captain Alatriste Glitters, Deserved Goya Best Director Award
by Kriss Perras Running Waters
Malibu Arts Review March 2007
A History of Violence
Hands down, this is the best performance that Viggo Mortensen has given in a film yet. He is just breath-taking in the film......Viggo's acting here reminds me of vintage Harrison Ford, before... whatever happened to him. Think WITNESS or maybe even THE FUGITIVE. He's just very very good. He's not an actor counting the motions for a scene, but his eyes are alive, you can see fear and desperation in his face as he acts, you also see a resoluteness to do what has to be done. It's kinda perfect.
Harry
Ain't it Cool News
28 September 2005
The Lord of the Rings
The king who returns in "The Return of the King" is Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the Ranger originally known to the hobbits as Strider, but of the royal line dating back to the first war against Sauron, in which the One Ring was taken and lost. The character of Strider/Aragorn grows in stature as the books go along, from a stout-hearted vagabond to a great leader in battle, to (finally) the noble monarch born to rule wisely and well. Mortensen's performance follows that same arc; given the time and space by Jackson to build his character in all its nuance, he becomes Aragorn to the life.
ROTK
Jim Lane
Sacramento News and Review
December 2003
GI Jane
Doing his best to steal the film, however, is Mortensen, who is simply terrific as the Master Chief who brings everyone to the brink and uncharacteristically loses it when a mock prisoner interrogation with Jordan gets out of hand. This fine actor has been an arresting presence in numerous films in recent years, but he cuts such a strong profile here that he may finally have found his breakthrough role.
Todd McCarthy
Variety
7 August 1997
Carlito's Way
Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence), in a small role, manages to steal a scene from Pacino without ever getting out of his chair.
Ken Dubois Ultimate Edition DVD Review
Reel.com
October 2005
The Indian Runner
Arquette is perfectly cast, her natural aura of gentle goodness and purity making what follows all the more horrific to watch. At Dorothy's admonishment- "Frank don't talk like that!" - Frank switches. If we weren't so caught up in the film itself, we would be in awe of Mortensen's skill here. His acting is breathtaking, as he builds from disappointment through hurt to a mean sarcasm - "Did I say the wrong thing?" that turns quickly to simmering anger - "Is it that we're strangers? We're not strangers". He is genuinely frightening to watch, the whole scene feels as if we are onlookers at a real-life domestic dispute. By the time Dorothy tells him "I don't know what you're talking about. Let's eat", he is ready to explode.
Why I love… Viggo Mortensen's Frank in The Indian Runner
Rowan Righelato
The Guardian
27 September 2013
Image Wilson Webb.
© Bleecker Street.
Captain Fantastic
...this is a thoughtful examination of the fragility of any idyll under pressure from the imperfect world outside. But all of it is anchored and, like the family itself, dominated by Mortensen's Ben, who's both the hero and the villain. Caring but dictatorial, idealistic but often blind, he's a fascinating figure and, in bringing him to life, Mortensen gives his best performance yet.
Helen O'Hara
Empire Magazine
18 August 2016
Loin Des Hommes
...filmmaker David Oelhoffen's more significant achievement is in the casting of a never-better Mortensen, who possesses the sort of face that conveys volumes in virtual silence and the similarly expressive French Algerian actor Kateb.
Michael Rechtshaffen
LA Times
1 May 2015
Two Faces of January
Soaking up the highlights of Ancient Greece, Chester MacFarland resembles a spick-and-span palace. In fact, as becomes apparent, he's a ruin. Every time he gets drunk another partition collapses; when he sobers up, the grand edifice dazzles again.
It's the best thing Mortensen has done in years.
Charlotte O'Sullivan
London Evening Standard
16 May 2014
A Dangerous Method
It's possible that in lusting after Mortensen all these years, we've taken his talent for granted. Of course, we really didn't know how talented he was until he started working with Cronenberg. This is the best thing Mortensen's ever done. His slow, paunchy, hairy Freud has a cavalier authority and a capacity for drollery. He's also seductively wise in a way that makes both Fassbender and Knightley, as very good as they are, also seem uncharacteristically callow. I don't know where Mortensen found this physical and psychological heaviness, this expressive inexpressiveness, but now isn't the time to start a diet.
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
23 December 2011
Todos Tenemos Un Plan
If you, for some reason, want to watch Viggo Mortensen watching Viggo Mortensen take a bath, then, my friend, your luck is in – as the renowned star of The Lord of the Rings franchise turns in one of the finest performances of his career, taking on the role(s) of identical twins in Ana Piterbarg's intense, if somewhat unfulfilling drama Everybody Has a Plan.
Stefan Pape
Heyuguys.co.uk
28 May 2013
The Road
It's hard not to be drawn in by the sunken, haunted weariness of Mortensen's face, especially when he's doing some of the best quiet, understated work of a long career built on quiet, understated work. Mortensen's laconic strength has always well served the hero who knows how unlikely a happy ending is, and yet keeps pushing ahead.
Locke Peterseim
Redblog
Redbox.com
26 May 2010
Appaloosa
While many might not appreciate this slow and slightly revisionist western, I'm going to put it up there with "Open Range" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" as one of best. Go to see Ed Harris kick tail, but stay for one of Viggo Mortensen's best performances.
Coop Cooper
The Small Town Critic
1 October 2008
Good
An extremely powerful World War II drama about a man at a crossroads, forced to make almost impossible choices between friendship and survival. It's the best work Viggo Mortensen has done.
Jeffrey Lyons
NBC/Lyons and Bailes Reek Talk
October 2008
Eastern Promises
As Nikolai, Mortensen is nothing short of remarkable, completely disappearing into his heavily-tattooed character and speaking in both Russian and flawlessly accented English. Hardly a cardboard villain, Nikolai is easily the most compelling character in the movie. In spite of earlier scenes of furious — and chillingly callous — violence, he nevertheless gains some of the audience's sympathies as he compellingly presents his internal conflict with subtlety and nuance, often using only his eyes. It may very well be the best performance of his career thus far, topping even his recent work in another Cronenberg thriller, A History of Violence. Someone, nominate this man for an Oscar already!
Jason Turer
Cornell Daily Sun
14 Sept 2007
Alatriste
Viggo Mortensen carried the role of Diego Alatriste y Tenorio to perfection. Right down to small but highly effective ways of expressing an emotion, Mortensen's portrayal of this 17th century Spanish soldier-turned-mercenary is his best work to date topping even his stellar performance in the 2004 release of Hidalgo.
Egyptian Theatre Premiere of Captain Alatriste Glitters, Deserved Goya Best Director Award
by Kriss Perras Running Waters
Malibu Arts Review March 2007
A History of Violence
Hands down, this is the best performance that Viggo Mortensen has given in a film yet. He is just breath-taking in the film......Viggo's acting here reminds me of vintage Harrison Ford, before... whatever happened to him. Think WITNESS or maybe even THE FUGITIVE. He's just very very good. He's not an actor counting the motions for a scene, but his eyes are alive, you can see fear and desperation in his face as he acts, you also see a resoluteness to do what has to be done. It's kinda perfect.
Harry
Ain't it Cool News
28 September 2005
The Lord of the Rings
The king who returns in "The Return of the King" is Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the Ranger originally known to the hobbits as Strider, but of the royal line dating back to the first war against Sauron, in which the One Ring was taken and lost. The character of Strider/Aragorn grows in stature as the books go along, from a stout-hearted vagabond to a great leader in battle, to (finally) the noble monarch born to rule wisely and well. Mortensen's performance follows that same arc; given the time and space by Jackson to build his character in all its nuance, he becomes Aragorn to the life.
ROTK
Jim Lane
Sacramento News and Review
December 2003
GI Jane
Doing his best to steal the film, however, is Mortensen, who is simply terrific as the Master Chief who brings everyone to the brink and uncharacteristically loses it when a mock prisoner interrogation with Jordan gets out of hand. This fine actor has been an arresting presence in numerous films in recent years, but he cuts such a strong profile here that he may finally have found his breakthrough role.
Todd McCarthy
Variety
7 August 1997
Carlito's Way
Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence), in a small role, manages to steal a scene from Pacino without ever getting out of his chair.
Ken Dubois Ultimate Edition DVD Review
Reel.com
October 2005
The Indian Runner
Arquette is perfectly cast, her natural aura of gentle goodness and purity making what follows all the more horrific to watch. At Dorothy's admonishment- "Frank don't talk like that!" - Frank switches. If we weren't so caught up in the film itself, we would be in awe of Mortensen's skill here. His acting is breathtaking, as he builds from disappointment through hurt to a mean sarcasm - "Did I say the wrong thing?" that turns quickly to simmering anger - "Is it that we're strangers? We're not strangers". He is genuinely frightening to watch, the whole scene feels as if we are onlookers at a real-life domestic dispute. By the time Dorothy tells him "I don't know what you're talking about. Let's eat", he is ready to explode.
Why I love… Viggo Mortensen's Frank in The Indian Runner
Rowan Righelato
The Guardian
27 September 2013
Quotable Viggo: 9 December 2017
Two Faces of January is on TV this week with a 4 star rating and seeing it in the listings has reminded me how much I need to see this film again. Viggo gives a powerhouse performance (as does his suit) and Amini is masterly in the way he steadily builds up the tension and dependency between the three lead characters. We loathe and pity them at the same time. We root for them while trying to remind ourselves that we really shouldn't. All that and fabulous locations too!
© StudioCanal/Working Title.
Was it a thrill when Viggo came on board?
Yes! And a big surprise. I went to see him in Spain and one of the things I remember is the feeling that I was auditioning for a movie star. I expected to be kept waiting for days, but it went completely opposite of what I'd imagined. First, he phoned to make sure I was alright as soon as I'd arrived at my hotel, he walked to my hotel to meet me and took me out to dinner. He paid. He wouldn't let me pay. That's just an example of what a kind and gracious man he is.
Hossein Amini
Viggo Mortensen & Kirsten Dunst Open Up About New Movie, Paparazzi & Being Boring
By Dorri Olds
The Blot Magazine
26 September 2014
"He became almost like a partner, sort of a patron saint to the whole movie. That allowed me to go and get the financing."
Hossein Amini
New director turns to an old favorite, '2 Faces of January'
By Pam Grady
San Francisco Chronicle
1 October 2014
"Viggo is a gorgeous man, so it wasn't that difficult to have chemistry with Viggo. He's really funny, which a lot of people wouldn't expect, and we had a really good time together."
Kirsten Dunst
London Premier Interview
Press Association
14 May 2014
After Viggo Mortensen committed to playing Chester MacFarland, Amini slightly tweaked his conception of the character. "Viggo looks heroic and there's an element of Gatsby in the character, which doesn't exist in the book so much," says the British-Iranian Amini. "I love that element of striking, handsome, charismatic men who are destined to be defeated somehow; Chester struck me as that sort of character, whereas in the book he is a little more wasted from the very beginning."
"The Two Faces of January" - Production Notes
StudioCanal
February 2014
"[Hossein Amini's] process is one of the best experiences I've ever had. "He got us altogether for a month, month and a half, to talk about the script. We could work out these things before shooting and ask questions about the characters. He was really open to changes that we felt were necessary. It was incredible for a director who has spent twenty years fine tuning his script to open up that process to us. It allowed us to work more smoothly and be more invested."
Viggo Mortensen
Press Conference
Cinema Chords
14 May 2014
"Chester is kind of a slob, all sweaty and paranoid; he's crazy from the start, really."
Viggo Mortensen
Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Hossein Amini – The Two Faces of January
By Robyn Candyce
Moviehole
24 September 2014
"He's got a lot of hidden fears. It's a real banquet for an actor."
Viggo Mortensen explains rooting for the bad guy in 'The Two Faces of January'
By Chris Lee
Entertainment Weekly
26 September 2014
'...it's part of his con, the look, he wants to look like he came from money and all that. I don't think his origins are those clothes that you see.'
Viggo Mortensen on "Lord of the Rings" — and playing an American at last
By Andrew O'Hehir
Salon
24 September 2014
"It was kind of fun to speak with an atrocious accent. He's speaking in a muddle of Greek and Italian; that was sort of a funny little touch."
Viggo Mortensen
The many faces of Viggo Mortensen
By Karl Quinn
Sydney Morning Herald
5 June 2014
'...they lie, steal, cheat, murder - they deserve any bad thing that happens to them. But as an audience member you find yourself cheering them on. You want them to get away with everything. You want them to get away from the cops, you want them to get away with the girl, with the money. It's a contradictory thing, it's a strange thing, but it's a dynamic that happens a lot, at least to me as an audience member. When a movie, a film noir thriller, works I want the bad guy to get away with it.'
Viggo Mortensen Talks The Two Faces Of January
Adam Miller
Entertainmentwise
15 September 2014
"Viggo really embraces the ugly side of characters… not a lot of stars do."
Dave McNary
Variety
22 June 2014
"There was a brotherhood of masculinity then," Mortensen says with measured admiration. "Those men, they prized self-sufficiency. You cared about how you presented yourself, drunk or sober; I love those pictures of guys, working-class guys, going to a ballgame in suits and hats. But there's another side, too. There was a certain intolerance of foreigners. And if you yourself had any kind of leanings or unusual interests — jazz, say — you could be a little suspect, too... It was interesting to look at all that, my father's generation, through a magnifying glass."
Viggo Mortensen on 'Two Faces of January,' LOTR and what his movies teach him
By Stephen Whitty
The Star-Ledger
21 September 2014
Soaking up the highlights of Ancient Greece, Chester MacFarland resembles a spick-and-span palace. In fact, as becomes apparent, he's a ruin. Every time he gets drunk another partition collapses; when he sobers up, the grand edifice dazzles again.
It's the best thing Mortensen has done in years.
Charlotte O'Sullivan
London Evening Standard
16 May 2014
The voice on the phone is husky, familiar, and just a little menacing. "I was told to call this number," the speaker says. I give a little shudder before realising it's Viggo Mortensen, calling as planned to talk about his new film, The Two Faces of January. Phew.
The many faces of Viggo Mortensen
By Karl Quinn
Sydney Morning Herald
5 June 1014
© StudioCanal/Working Title.
Was it a thrill when Viggo came on board?
Yes! And a big surprise. I went to see him in Spain and one of the things I remember is the feeling that I was auditioning for a movie star. I expected to be kept waiting for days, but it went completely opposite of what I'd imagined. First, he phoned to make sure I was alright as soon as I'd arrived at my hotel, he walked to my hotel to meet me and took me out to dinner. He paid. He wouldn't let me pay. That's just an example of what a kind and gracious man he is.
Hossein Amini
Viggo Mortensen & Kirsten Dunst Open Up About New Movie, Paparazzi & Being Boring
By Dorri Olds
The Blot Magazine
26 September 2014
"He became almost like a partner, sort of a patron saint to the whole movie. That allowed me to go and get the financing."
Hossein Amini
New director turns to an old favorite, '2 Faces of January'
By Pam Grady
San Francisco Chronicle
1 October 2014
"Viggo is a gorgeous man, so it wasn't that difficult to have chemistry with Viggo. He's really funny, which a lot of people wouldn't expect, and we had a really good time together."
Kirsten Dunst
London Premier Interview
Press Association
14 May 2014
After Viggo Mortensen committed to playing Chester MacFarland, Amini slightly tweaked his conception of the character. "Viggo looks heroic and there's an element of Gatsby in the character, which doesn't exist in the book so much," says the British-Iranian Amini. "I love that element of striking, handsome, charismatic men who are destined to be defeated somehow; Chester struck me as that sort of character, whereas in the book he is a little more wasted from the very beginning."
"The Two Faces of January" - Production Notes
StudioCanal
February 2014
"[Hossein Amini's] process is one of the best experiences I've ever had. "He got us altogether for a month, month and a half, to talk about the script. We could work out these things before shooting and ask questions about the characters. He was really open to changes that we felt were necessary. It was incredible for a director who has spent twenty years fine tuning his script to open up that process to us. It allowed us to work more smoothly and be more invested."
Viggo Mortensen
Press Conference
Cinema Chords
14 May 2014
"Chester is kind of a slob, all sweaty and paranoid; he's crazy from the start, really."
Viggo Mortensen
Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Hossein Amini – The Two Faces of January
By Robyn Candyce
Moviehole
24 September 2014
"He's got a lot of hidden fears. It's a real banquet for an actor."
Viggo Mortensen explains rooting for the bad guy in 'The Two Faces of January'
By Chris Lee
Entertainment Weekly
26 September 2014
'...it's part of his con, the look, he wants to look like he came from money and all that. I don't think his origins are those clothes that you see.'
Viggo Mortensen on "Lord of the Rings" — and playing an American at last
By Andrew O'Hehir
Salon
24 September 2014
"It was kind of fun to speak with an atrocious accent. He's speaking in a muddle of Greek and Italian; that was sort of a funny little touch."
Viggo Mortensen
The many faces of Viggo Mortensen
By Karl Quinn
Sydney Morning Herald
5 June 2014
'...they lie, steal, cheat, murder - they deserve any bad thing that happens to them. But as an audience member you find yourself cheering them on. You want them to get away with everything. You want them to get away from the cops, you want them to get away with the girl, with the money. It's a contradictory thing, it's a strange thing, but it's a dynamic that happens a lot, at least to me as an audience member. When a movie, a film noir thriller, works I want the bad guy to get away with it.'
Viggo Mortensen Talks The Two Faces Of January
Adam Miller
Entertainmentwise
15 September 2014
"Viggo really embraces the ugly side of characters… not a lot of stars do."
Dave McNary
Variety
22 June 2014
"There was a brotherhood of masculinity then," Mortensen says with measured admiration. "Those men, they prized self-sufficiency. You cared about how you presented yourself, drunk or sober; I love those pictures of guys, working-class guys, going to a ballgame in suits and hats. But there's another side, too. There was a certain intolerance of foreigners. And if you yourself had any kind of leanings or unusual interests — jazz, say — you could be a little suspect, too... It was interesting to look at all that, my father's generation, through a magnifying glass."
Viggo Mortensen on 'Two Faces of January,' LOTR and what his movies teach him
By Stephen Whitty
The Star-Ledger
21 September 2014
Soaking up the highlights of Ancient Greece, Chester MacFarland resembles a spick-and-span palace. In fact, as becomes apparent, he's a ruin. Every time he gets drunk another partition collapses; when he sobers up, the grand edifice dazzles again.
It's the best thing Mortensen has done in years.
Charlotte O'Sullivan
London Evening Standard
16 May 2014
The voice on the phone is husky, familiar, and just a little menacing. "I was told to call this number," the speaker says. I give a little shudder before realising it's Viggo Mortensen, calling as planned to talk about his new film, The Two Faces of January. Phew.
The many faces of Viggo Mortensen
By Karl Quinn
Sydney Morning Herald
5 June 1014
Quotable Viggo: 2 December 2017
Viggo has been busy preparing for Green Book we all know what that means – a humungous amount of deep and varied research. Viggo has always said that this is the best part of his job. He loves learning about new things, visiting new places, immersing himself in the life of the character he's playing. He goes much further than most actors, often taking things to awesome lengths that have become legendary in the business. The only thing that defeated his research methodology was wily old Lucifer…
© Focus Features.
Carlito's Way
'…it's not just in the viewing that there are no small parts, but there are no small roles in terms of preparation, either. I ended up spending a long time in East Harlem where there are a lot of Puerto Ricans, and listening day and night to the music. I found a wheelchair that was from 1974, which is the one you see. I left Manhattan with a big collection of salsa music from the early '70s, and I think I bought the entire catalog of Fania, a record company. I went back to Los Angeles and I made dinner in the wheelchair, wheeling around. By the time I got there I was completely ready and I had a lot of fun. It might as well been a whole movie, because each character is the whole movie for the person playing the character.
Viggo talking about Carlito's Way
10 Lessons on Filmmaking from Viggo Mortensen
Filmmaker Magazine
3 November 2016
The Passion of Darkly Noon
For his role as a mute in 1995's The Passion of Darkly Noon, Mortensen remained silent throughout filming. "I only heard him speak after the shoot was over, and then only to say, 'Thanks everybody, so long.' He'd make clicking noises in the back of his throat to communicate," recalls costar Brendan Fraser. Mortensen refused to break character even to settle his hotel bill. "The concierge probably didn't speak English, and here's Viggo gesturing with his hands and pointing, scribbling on a pad. And I think Viggo eventually got 50% off the bill. If you know Viggo, it makes perfect sense. In a way, he transcends the acting."
Viggo Trip
by Liane Bonin
Flaunt magazine #39
2002
GI Jane
One thing to remember is that all the actors did go through the brutal training themselves, except for Viggo Mortensen. He trained alone a lot earlier than his fellow actors. He spent a considerable amount of time observing actual training sessions and talked to several active and retired Navy Seals. Most of the supporting cast were angry with him that he didn't go through the grueling training, with the exception of Moore, but in the end, that's exactly what Mortensen wanted so that the actors who have a reason for not liking his character.
Demi Moore Displays Sheer Will and Determination as 'G.I. Jane' Turns 20 Years Old!
By Rick Rice
mxdwn.com
22 August 2017
A Perfect Murder
'I played a painter and I needed to have all of this artwork around me, so I asked if I could do some paintings myself. I just went crazy. I couldn't sleep. I did about 45 paintings in two weeks.'
Viggo Mortensen on A Perfect Murder
The Hot New 39-Year-Old
by Dennis Hensley
Movieline magazine
1998
The Lord of the Rings
BE: I heard that you showed up on the set with a copy of the 13th-century Icelandic Völsunga Saga.
VM: Yeah. I was on the plane to New Zealand, thinking, God, what have I done? Once I got off the plane, I went to the bookstore and got a copy of the Völsunga Saga and a couple other things that I was pretty sure I'd need. And then I had a friend send me whatever I could remember that I had on the bookshelf at home. It wasn't as if all the elements of the book were unfamiliar to me, given my background. Tolkien even took the names of the dwarves right out of Nordic texts.
Veni, Vidi, Viggo
By Bilge Ebiri
Yahoo Internet Life magazine
23 November 2001
Hidalgo
I worked with him 12 years ago on horses, we rode together down by the Mexico border in Arizona while working on Young Guns 2… So when I heard that he was interested in the role [of Hopkins] I anticipated that kind of commitment to research and sure enough, days after he was cast he called me and said, 'Who do you know on Pine Ridge reservation and can I go there?' Within a week he was out with these Lakota horsemen and riding with them, and on a long ride to Wounded Knee."
John Fusco
IGN gets the behind-the-action goods from the director, writer and star of Hidalgo.
By Jeff Otto, IGN
March 04, 2004
A History of Violence
Mortensen's commitment translated to a collection of artifacts he purchased in the Midwest on his travels, which included ducks and a bank in the shape of a fish head that says 'fishin' money' on it and is set on the diner's cash register, posters of Birds of North America, some landscapes, a small ceramic eagle and other animal sculptures for his daughter's room which he thought Tom's character would have in his home."
Cannes Film Festival 2005 Press Kit
Alatriste
'He called me once to talk about certain aspects of his character and history, such as Alatriste's birthplace. I had never detailed it in any of the five novels published up until now, but Viggo was interested in the fact. 'In Old Castile,' I responded. 'Could it be Leon?' he asked after thinking about it for a while. 'It could,' I responded. So then he went to Leon and walked about covering it inch by inch, remaining in each town, in every bar, talking with whoever happened to be in front of him. In effect, he finally concluded that Alatriste was Leonese.'
Arturo Pérez Reverte
El Semanal - Translated by Elessars Queen
July 2005
Eastern Promises
"You say, 'Well, where's Viggo today?' " says David Cronenberg, recalling the conversation that happened more than once on the London shoot, last year, of the exceptionally fine new thriller, Eastern Promises. "And they say, 'Oh, he's in St. Petersburg.'
"And you say, 'What!? I thought he was at the hotel.' "
Star's Eastern Immersion Impresses His Director
By Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
16 September 2007
Good
"I wanted to go to Auschwitz, which I did, and I was looking around. I'd found a map that showed all the places where the camps were. I went to every single one. I drove like a maniac, day after day, and sometimes it was difficult to find them. People don't want to talk about it so much, and in most cases, there's just a plaque. The thing that was valuable was just standing there. It was spring, there were flowers, and the sky was blue. You sit on the grass and yes, you're moved by all these things and the ghosts that you can feel. I was thinking about the guards, the prisoners, the kids... but there were things that I didn't expect. It's hard to explain, but it just keeps opening and opening, and you can never stop learning."
Viggo Mortensen
Play It As It Lays
By Philip Berk
Filmink
April 2009
The Road
While he was on a tour doing publicity for another movie, Mortensen would sneak off and talk to homeless people, whose survival-oriented existence paralleled that of his character. "Every major city around the world, there are people that live outside, and they have the same concerns as our characters," he said. "How am I going to get food? How am I going to stay dry? How am I going to keep people from stealing my stuff or hurting me? You can't get any more basic than that."
Viggo Mortensen: 'Road' Warrior
Mortensen talks about playing a father in the post-apocalyptic 'The Road.'
By Sam Adams
18 November 2009
A Dangerous Method
Once he committed there was never any going back; it was full on, "Let's do research of the Viggo kind" -- which is very deep, to say the least. He'd send 25 emails of Freud's cigars, you know, with pictures going back and forth: "What kind were they?" "How many did he smoke a day?" "What shape were they?" "What strength?" "Would he have ever varied the kind during the course of the day, or did he always smoke the same kind?" "Could he afford them?" "Were they expensive?" You know, it went on and on and on.
David Cronenberg Discusses His Dangerous Method
by Luke Goodsell
Rotten Tomatoes
23 November 2011
Two Faces of January
I was mainly interested in what kind of generation [Chester] was from. I spoke with my father's friends, men who came of age during the Great Depression and served in WWII, like Chester. And that informed how he'd wear his clothes, how he'd speak, his gestures and his attitude towards women. The one thing about these men that I found most interesting was that, even at their most downcast, their appearance was paramount. Every day, they ironed their shirts and smoothed their hair, no matter what.
Actor Viggo Mortensen
Vanessa Keys
Sunday Style Magazine
13 June 2014
Jauja
What past did you invent for this Captain Dinesen?
I took things from another Dinesen. A writer and adventurer who also went to the New World at the end of the 19th century. A hunter, he was the father of Isak Dinesen whose real name was Karen Blixen. I took things from my grandfather, my father's accent and since I know something about the history of Denmark and Argentina, I could link them.
Viggo Mortensen: Film and Soccer Activist
By Horacio Bilbao - translated by Ollie and Zoe
Clarín.com
27 November 2014
Loin des Hommes
'I've walked I don´t know how many kilometers, from alley to alley, going up and coming down thousands of steps around the Casbah and the old European neighborhoods, letting myself be drawn towards a nameless destination, going forward or retracing my steps according to noises and colors, mental associations, memories, questions I was asking myself. Everything perfect, everything inconclusive, everything valuable, the city came into me, and I into it.'
Viggo on preparing to film in Morocco
For It To Rain
By Viggo Mortensen and Fabián Casas - translated by Ollie and Zoe
Sobrevueloscuervos.com
19 October 2013
Captain Fantastic
The director sent Mortensen a huge box of books of recommended reading, including texts by Tom Brown, the renowned naturalist and author of 'Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival; linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky; and Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist and writer Jared Diamond, all of which he felt Ben would be intimately familiar with. "I thought that was a great way to frame some of the knowledge that this family would have," Ross says. "It turned out Viggo had read all the books already."
Cannes Press Kit
May 2016
And Finally…
The Prophecy
'Lucifer? Ah...that was fun, but difficult, because the truth is that I couldn't prepare the role the way that I usually do...going to Lucifer's house or meeting him or meeting his family.'
"If they give me a Salvadorian script, I'm game."
By Isabela Vides - translated by Margarita
La Prensa Grafica
7 March 2007
La Prensa Grafica
© Focus Features.
Carlito's Way
'…it's not just in the viewing that there are no small parts, but there are no small roles in terms of preparation, either. I ended up spending a long time in East Harlem where there are a lot of Puerto Ricans, and listening day and night to the music. I found a wheelchair that was from 1974, which is the one you see. I left Manhattan with a big collection of salsa music from the early '70s, and I think I bought the entire catalog of Fania, a record company. I went back to Los Angeles and I made dinner in the wheelchair, wheeling around. By the time I got there I was completely ready and I had a lot of fun. It might as well been a whole movie, because each character is the whole movie for the person playing the character.
Viggo talking about Carlito's Way
10 Lessons on Filmmaking from Viggo Mortensen
Filmmaker Magazine
3 November 2016
The Passion of Darkly Noon
For his role as a mute in 1995's The Passion of Darkly Noon, Mortensen remained silent throughout filming. "I only heard him speak after the shoot was over, and then only to say, 'Thanks everybody, so long.' He'd make clicking noises in the back of his throat to communicate," recalls costar Brendan Fraser. Mortensen refused to break character even to settle his hotel bill. "The concierge probably didn't speak English, and here's Viggo gesturing with his hands and pointing, scribbling on a pad. And I think Viggo eventually got 50% off the bill. If you know Viggo, it makes perfect sense. In a way, he transcends the acting."
Viggo Trip
by Liane Bonin
Flaunt magazine #39
2002
GI Jane
One thing to remember is that all the actors did go through the brutal training themselves, except for Viggo Mortensen. He trained alone a lot earlier than his fellow actors. He spent a considerable amount of time observing actual training sessions and talked to several active and retired Navy Seals. Most of the supporting cast were angry with him that he didn't go through the grueling training, with the exception of Moore, but in the end, that's exactly what Mortensen wanted so that the actors who have a reason for not liking his character.
Demi Moore Displays Sheer Will and Determination as 'G.I. Jane' Turns 20 Years Old!
By Rick Rice
mxdwn.com
22 August 2017
A Perfect Murder
'I played a painter and I needed to have all of this artwork around me, so I asked if I could do some paintings myself. I just went crazy. I couldn't sleep. I did about 45 paintings in two weeks.'
Viggo Mortensen on A Perfect Murder
The Hot New 39-Year-Old
by Dennis Hensley
Movieline magazine
1998
The Lord of the Rings
BE: I heard that you showed up on the set with a copy of the 13th-century Icelandic Völsunga Saga.
VM: Yeah. I was on the plane to New Zealand, thinking, God, what have I done? Once I got off the plane, I went to the bookstore and got a copy of the Völsunga Saga and a couple other things that I was pretty sure I'd need. And then I had a friend send me whatever I could remember that I had on the bookshelf at home. It wasn't as if all the elements of the book were unfamiliar to me, given my background. Tolkien even took the names of the dwarves right out of Nordic texts.
Veni, Vidi, Viggo
By Bilge Ebiri
Yahoo Internet Life magazine
23 November 2001
Hidalgo
I worked with him 12 years ago on horses, we rode together down by the Mexico border in Arizona while working on Young Guns 2… So when I heard that he was interested in the role [of Hopkins] I anticipated that kind of commitment to research and sure enough, days after he was cast he called me and said, 'Who do you know on Pine Ridge reservation and can I go there?' Within a week he was out with these Lakota horsemen and riding with them, and on a long ride to Wounded Knee."
John Fusco
IGN gets the behind-the-action goods from the director, writer and star of Hidalgo.
By Jeff Otto, IGN
March 04, 2004
A History of Violence
Mortensen's commitment translated to a collection of artifacts he purchased in the Midwest on his travels, which included ducks and a bank in the shape of a fish head that says 'fishin' money' on it and is set on the diner's cash register, posters of Birds of North America, some landscapes, a small ceramic eagle and other animal sculptures for his daughter's room which he thought Tom's character would have in his home."
Cannes Film Festival 2005 Press Kit
Alatriste
'He called me once to talk about certain aspects of his character and history, such as Alatriste's birthplace. I had never detailed it in any of the five novels published up until now, but Viggo was interested in the fact. 'In Old Castile,' I responded. 'Could it be Leon?' he asked after thinking about it for a while. 'It could,' I responded. So then he went to Leon and walked about covering it inch by inch, remaining in each town, in every bar, talking with whoever happened to be in front of him. In effect, he finally concluded that Alatriste was Leonese.'
Arturo Pérez Reverte
El Semanal - Translated by Elessars Queen
July 2005
Eastern Promises
"You say, 'Well, where's Viggo today?' " says David Cronenberg, recalling the conversation that happened more than once on the London shoot, last year, of the exceptionally fine new thriller, Eastern Promises. "And they say, 'Oh, he's in St. Petersburg.'
"And you say, 'What!? I thought he was at the hotel.' "
Star's Eastern Immersion Impresses His Director
By Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
16 September 2007
Good
"I wanted to go to Auschwitz, which I did, and I was looking around. I'd found a map that showed all the places where the camps were. I went to every single one. I drove like a maniac, day after day, and sometimes it was difficult to find them. People don't want to talk about it so much, and in most cases, there's just a plaque. The thing that was valuable was just standing there. It was spring, there were flowers, and the sky was blue. You sit on the grass and yes, you're moved by all these things and the ghosts that you can feel. I was thinking about the guards, the prisoners, the kids... but there were things that I didn't expect. It's hard to explain, but it just keeps opening and opening, and you can never stop learning."
Viggo Mortensen
Play It As It Lays
By Philip Berk
Filmink
April 2009
The Road
While he was on a tour doing publicity for another movie, Mortensen would sneak off and talk to homeless people, whose survival-oriented existence paralleled that of his character. "Every major city around the world, there are people that live outside, and they have the same concerns as our characters," he said. "How am I going to get food? How am I going to stay dry? How am I going to keep people from stealing my stuff or hurting me? You can't get any more basic than that."
Viggo Mortensen: 'Road' Warrior
Mortensen talks about playing a father in the post-apocalyptic 'The Road.'
By Sam Adams
18 November 2009
A Dangerous Method
Once he committed there was never any going back; it was full on, "Let's do research of the Viggo kind" -- which is very deep, to say the least. He'd send 25 emails of Freud's cigars, you know, with pictures going back and forth: "What kind were they?" "How many did he smoke a day?" "What shape were they?" "What strength?" "Would he have ever varied the kind during the course of the day, or did he always smoke the same kind?" "Could he afford them?" "Were they expensive?" You know, it went on and on and on.
David Cronenberg Discusses His Dangerous Method
by Luke Goodsell
Rotten Tomatoes
23 November 2011
Two Faces of January
I was mainly interested in what kind of generation [Chester] was from. I spoke with my father's friends, men who came of age during the Great Depression and served in WWII, like Chester. And that informed how he'd wear his clothes, how he'd speak, his gestures and his attitude towards women. The one thing about these men that I found most interesting was that, even at their most downcast, their appearance was paramount. Every day, they ironed their shirts and smoothed their hair, no matter what.
Actor Viggo Mortensen
Vanessa Keys
Sunday Style Magazine
13 June 2014
Jauja
What past did you invent for this Captain Dinesen?
I took things from another Dinesen. A writer and adventurer who also went to the New World at the end of the 19th century. A hunter, he was the father of Isak Dinesen whose real name was Karen Blixen. I took things from my grandfather, my father's accent and since I know something about the history of Denmark and Argentina, I could link them.
Viggo Mortensen: Film and Soccer Activist
By Horacio Bilbao - translated by Ollie and Zoe
Clarín.com
27 November 2014
Loin des Hommes
'I've walked I don´t know how many kilometers, from alley to alley, going up and coming down thousands of steps around the Casbah and the old European neighborhoods, letting myself be drawn towards a nameless destination, going forward or retracing my steps according to noises and colors, mental associations, memories, questions I was asking myself. Everything perfect, everything inconclusive, everything valuable, the city came into me, and I into it.'
Viggo on preparing to film in Morocco
For It To Rain
By Viggo Mortensen and Fabián Casas - translated by Ollie and Zoe
Sobrevueloscuervos.com
19 October 2013
Captain Fantastic
The director sent Mortensen a huge box of books of recommended reading, including texts by Tom Brown, the renowned naturalist and author of 'Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival; linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky; and Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist and writer Jared Diamond, all of which he felt Ben would be intimately familiar with. "I thought that was a great way to frame some of the knowledge that this family would have," Ross says. "It turned out Viggo had read all the books already."
Cannes Press Kit
May 2016
And Finally…
The Prophecy
'Lucifer? Ah...that was fun, but difficult, because the truth is that I couldn't prepare the role the way that I usually do...going to Lucifer's house or meeting him or meeting his family.'
"If they give me a Salvadorian script, I'm game."
By Isabela Vides - translated by Margarita
La Prensa Grafica
7 March 2007
La Prensa Grafica
Quotable Viggo: 19 November 2017
Having just made a herculean effort to tidy my garden up ready for the winter and facing an afternoon sprucing up the house and cooking ready for visitors, I've been thinking. I could do with Viggo. Forget acting, art, poetry and all that stuff. Viggo is a man who cooks, grows his own vegetables and vacuums. Every house should definitely have one…
© Bleecker Street.
"I like to write and paint and make music and go walking on my own and garden. In fact, gardening is probably what I enjoy doing more than anything else."
Really? Anything else?
He looks at me, his gaze is quite level. "I like gardening a lot."
Viggo Mortensen on 'A Dangerous Method'
By John Preston
Seven Magazine
The Telegraph
11 February 2012
Are you a keen gardener?
I always have plants — even if I'm staying in a hotel for an extended period, I tend to get plants and find a way to keep them growing depending on how much light the room gets.
60 Seconds - VIGGO MORTENSEN
Metro.
2 February 2017
'Viggo was there early enough that he planted the entire garden and that's a real garden.'
Matt Ross describing Viggo adding to the Captain Fantastic set
'Captain Fantastic': Matt Ross, Viggo Mortensen and the perils of off-the-grid fatherhood
by Michelle Lanz
The Frame
7 July 2016
'…I could say to Matt, "If it's this time of year, this is how big the vegetables would be. This is what would grow in such a small clearing." All those things you only see in passing, but it was important to him and to me that the way this family lives be completely credible.'
Viggo Mortensen goes 'extreme' in 'Captain Fantastic'
Josh Rottenberg
LA Times
30 June 2016
Walking calms me down and sets my body and mind in motion. And gardening. Planting trees and seeing how they're doing a year later. It's like visiting your friends. Actually, I usually plant seeds from the places where I go. Maybe it's not legal, but hey, they are gifts from nature that I find in my pocket.
Viggo Mortensen: "The older I get, the more tired I get of Hollywood."
By Rocío Ayuso - translated by Ollie and Zoe
El Pais
8 October 2016
PA: O.K., Vig, give me a gardening tip. What do I do if I have snails eating all of my strawberries?
VM: Put little bowls of beer down for them.
PA: What does that do?
VM: They crawl in there and drown. They probably die happy. Beer is better for the environment than pellets.
Interview with Patricia Arquette
By Patricia Arquette
Interview magazine
June 1995
"I like to live dangerously. Last night I was quietly at home, cooking a meal of chicken, onions and garlic, Cuban style, and then here I am today facing a pack of journalists."
Viggo Mortensen Talks About "Jauja" and "Far from Men"
By Martin Dale
Variety
7 December 2014
"I'm not sure that you'd like my cooking. It's not at all conventional ..."
Viggo Mortensen: The Soul of a Warrior
By Juliette Michaud
Studio Magazine
December 2002
"When I called Viggo, he said, 'Pick me up at 8." I get there and he cooks. He's a Renaissance man. He paints, he acts, he writes poetry, you could bounce a quarter off of him and he cooks the way our mothers cook -- from scratch."
Mark Ordesky
Valiant Effort: A Late Substitution, Viggo Mortensen Dived into Rings.
By Irene Lacher
LA Times
21 December 2002
"I love to cook," he admits. "When we did Lord of the Rings, I'd help cook these big Thanksgiving feasts on the set."
The Renaissance Man adds, "I do all the trimmings plus even make pies."
Viggo Starring In Different Sort Of Psychological Thriller
By Cindy Pearlman
Chicago Sun-Times
8 December 2011
This myth of the poor lonesome cowboy, the guy who has no need of others to be happy, is it really a trick to attract women?
On the contrary! Each time I have tried to charm them with my poetic cowboy side, it's ended in total failure. To seduce a woman, food is more effective than poetry. I love to make complex dishes. That always works!
Viggo Mortensen
Grazia Magazine
Translated by Chrissiejane
December 2009
'I'm a bit frantic in the kitchen though. I'm calm while I'm doing it, but I'm pretty restless in that regard.'
Viggo Mortensen
Play It As It Lays
By Philip Berk
Filmink
April 2009
"Some might say I am a better cook than I am a painter," says Mortensen and laughs out loud.
From Movies To Photos
By Jette Hansen - translated by Rosen
Morgenavisen, Jyllands-Posten
19 October 2008
Do you have a cleaning lady?
No, I do that all by myself. I don't even own a dishwasher. If you wash off plates and cups by hand, it has something meditative. It's like that with the fishing. The spirit is directed toward an action, one relaxes and begins to perceive things at the edge of view.
To do the Dishes has Something Meditative
Celebrity
14 April 2007
I understand that you're very neat.
Well, I'm very messy in a lot of ways, but there are two things I always do: wash my clothes and wash my dishes, and even though everything might be messy, it's clean.
Like David Beckham.
He must be neater than I am. Do I look like a disaster? The truth is that I wash everything all the time.
Viggo Mortensen: "When Mourinho speaks, you don't know if he's calculating or crazy."
By Gloria Scola ? translated by Ollie, Rio and Zoe
ABC.es
5 September 2011
'I even vacuum...'
Viggo Mortensen
"It was a big, brutal mess"
By Leif Kramp - translated by Doreen
Kino
9 May 2007
"Viggo is terrifying. He sends you a handwritten letter, all decorated and painted, and when he arrives at your house for dinner he's an intolerable guy: he cleans the fish and picks up the dishes. My wife is fascinated, and she compares the two of us. Damn, what's a guy supposed to do? The bar is set very high."
The Lord of Simplicity
By Ernesto Garratt Vines - translated by Margarita
Wikén - El Mercurio
30 March 2007
© Bleecker Street.
"I like to write and paint and make music and go walking on my own and garden. In fact, gardening is probably what I enjoy doing more than anything else."
Really? Anything else?
He looks at me, his gaze is quite level. "I like gardening a lot."
Viggo Mortensen on 'A Dangerous Method'
By John Preston
Seven Magazine
The Telegraph
11 February 2012
Are you a keen gardener?
I always have plants — even if I'm staying in a hotel for an extended period, I tend to get plants and find a way to keep them growing depending on how much light the room gets.
60 Seconds - VIGGO MORTENSEN
Metro.
2 February 2017
'Viggo was there early enough that he planted the entire garden and that's a real garden.'
Matt Ross describing Viggo adding to the Captain Fantastic set
'Captain Fantastic': Matt Ross, Viggo Mortensen and the perils of off-the-grid fatherhood
by Michelle Lanz
The Frame
7 July 2016
'…I could say to Matt, "If it's this time of year, this is how big the vegetables would be. This is what would grow in such a small clearing." All those things you only see in passing, but it was important to him and to me that the way this family lives be completely credible.'
Viggo Mortensen goes 'extreme' in 'Captain Fantastic'
Josh Rottenberg
LA Times
30 June 2016
Walking calms me down and sets my body and mind in motion. And gardening. Planting trees and seeing how they're doing a year later. It's like visiting your friends. Actually, I usually plant seeds from the places where I go. Maybe it's not legal, but hey, they are gifts from nature that I find in my pocket.
Viggo Mortensen: "The older I get, the more tired I get of Hollywood."
By Rocío Ayuso - translated by Ollie and Zoe
El Pais
8 October 2016
PA: O.K., Vig, give me a gardening tip. What do I do if I have snails eating all of my strawberries?
VM: Put little bowls of beer down for them.
PA: What does that do?
VM: They crawl in there and drown. They probably die happy. Beer is better for the environment than pellets.
Interview with Patricia Arquette
By Patricia Arquette
Interview magazine
June 1995
"I like to live dangerously. Last night I was quietly at home, cooking a meal of chicken, onions and garlic, Cuban style, and then here I am today facing a pack of journalists."
Viggo Mortensen Talks About "Jauja" and "Far from Men"
By Martin Dale
Variety
7 December 2014
"I'm not sure that you'd like my cooking. It's not at all conventional ..."
Viggo Mortensen: The Soul of a Warrior
By Juliette Michaud
Studio Magazine
December 2002
"When I called Viggo, he said, 'Pick me up at 8." I get there and he cooks. He's a Renaissance man. He paints, he acts, he writes poetry, you could bounce a quarter off of him and he cooks the way our mothers cook -- from scratch."
Mark Ordesky
Valiant Effort: A Late Substitution, Viggo Mortensen Dived into Rings.
By Irene Lacher
LA Times
21 December 2002
"I love to cook," he admits. "When we did Lord of the Rings, I'd help cook these big Thanksgiving feasts on the set."
The Renaissance Man adds, "I do all the trimmings plus even make pies."
Viggo Starring In Different Sort Of Psychological Thriller
By Cindy Pearlman
Chicago Sun-Times
8 December 2011
This myth of the poor lonesome cowboy, the guy who has no need of others to be happy, is it really a trick to attract women?
On the contrary! Each time I have tried to charm them with my poetic cowboy side, it's ended in total failure. To seduce a woman, food is more effective than poetry. I love to make complex dishes. That always works!
Viggo Mortensen
Grazia Magazine
Translated by Chrissiejane
December 2009
'I'm a bit frantic in the kitchen though. I'm calm while I'm doing it, but I'm pretty restless in that regard.'
Viggo Mortensen
Play It As It Lays
By Philip Berk
Filmink
April 2009
"Some might say I am a better cook than I am a painter," says Mortensen and laughs out loud.
From Movies To Photos
By Jette Hansen - translated by Rosen
Morgenavisen, Jyllands-Posten
19 October 2008
Do you have a cleaning lady?
No, I do that all by myself. I don't even own a dishwasher. If you wash off plates and cups by hand, it has something meditative. It's like that with the fishing. The spirit is directed toward an action, one relaxes and begins to perceive things at the edge of view.
To do the Dishes has Something Meditative
Celebrity
14 April 2007
I understand that you're very neat.
Well, I'm very messy in a lot of ways, but there are two things I always do: wash my clothes and wash my dishes, and even though everything might be messy, it's clean.
Like David Beckham.
He must be neater than I am. Do I look like a disaster? The truth is that I wash everything all the time.
Viggo Mortensen: "When Mourinho speaks, you don't know if he's calculating or crazy."
By Gloria Scola ? translated by Ollie, Rio and Zoe
ABC.es
5 September 2011
'I even vacuum...'
Viggo Mortensen
"It was a big, brutal mess"
By Leif Kramp - translated by Doreen
Kino
9 May 2007
"Viggo is terrifying. He sends you a handwritten letter, all decorated and painted, and when he arrives at your house for dinner he's an intolerable guy: he cleans the fish and picks up the dishes. My wife is fascinated, and she compares the two of us. Damn, what's a guy supposed to do? The bar is set very high."
The Lord of Simplicity
By Ernesto Garratt Vines - translated by Margarita
Wikén - El Mercurio
30 March 2007