Article Tag: Viggo Mortensen

Viggo Mortensen shares some of the personal experiences behind his upcoming film, Falling, and the process of creating the work. And a bit of politics.

Viggo Mortensen discusses his upcoming directorial debut, Falling. He outlines the film's story and its genesis in his own family dynamics, and shares his vision for the cinematography and score.

How the film Green Book came together, from interviews with Viggo Mortensen and others involved in the project. Several interesting anecdotes, including Viggo describing how he first met Mahershala Ali when they both sought out the same corner to take a break from yet another award-season event around the end of 2016. "I go, 'Hey, man, I love your work!' It was like we were both blurting it out at the same time," Mortensen said, chuckling at the memory. After talking, they parted, saying, "Well, it would be great if we could do something together sometime." The chance came when Peter Farrelly decided to take on Green Book.

The reviewer asks us to "imagine having a queer Black protagonist in the '60s, a literal prodigy, living lavishly above the actual performance hall of the most iconic prodigies, who has his own throne room, and choosing to tell the story of his life from the racist white guy's perspective. Oh, what Ali could've done with a Dr. Shirley movie!" The review is accompanied by video clips where Peter Farrelly is asked why he chose to tell the story from Tony Lip's perspective, and Mahershala Ali is asked to explain how this is not a "White Savior" movie. She concludes, "we don't see Dr. Shirley's story in Green Book without Lip's lens. Without Lip, there is literally no movie. And perhaps that would've been best."

Video and article cover a lighthearted interview in which Viggo talks about how he put on 40-50 pounds for his role as Tony Lip in Green Book—and then had to take it off afterward, the cast's research into The Green Book (travel guide) and the era, the relationship between Lip and Shirley, and the cast and crew's delight in the reception the film has received at early screenings.

The interview summarizes: "We spoke to Viggo Mortensen about why he didn’t even want to play [Tony Lip] at first (mostly because he’s not of Italian descent), why he gets along so well with his co-star, Mahershala Ali, and why he thinks Green Book is the best screenplay of 2018. Also, on the day this interview took place, it was the day before the midterm elections, and Mortensen made sure I was voting."

Mahershala Ali talked about how well he and Viggo Mortensen worked together on Green Book: “Viggo was great because he’s an extraordinary teammate. He was somebody who felt supportive of me doing my best work. I believe I tried to do the exact same thing with him." After Mortensen uttered the N-word while talking about race relations in a joint interview, he apologized, and Ali "accepted his castmate’s apology in a statement ... but noted that he did not condone his use of the controversial word."

Interesting video interview with Viggo Mortensen, Peter Farrelly, and Mahershala Ali focuses on the true story behind Green Book and how they hope it will impact the viewers. As Ali points out, Shirley didn’t have to tour the segregated American South. “Going down through the segregated South during this time was really a choice to put himself on the front line and expose the South and that community to a man that was educated, cultured and intelligent in a manner that went beyond the stereotypical point of view of a white Southerner at that time. He was there trying to push the boundaries by his sheer presence.” Mortensen says he expects people who watch the film will be "affected by what Mahershala’s character goes through, what we go through, and the lessons my character learns on this journey."

Viggo Mortensen was given a Polaroid camera and asked to snap some photos on his Green Book European press junket. These are the results.

Aaron Hicklin of One Grand Books asked people to name the 10 books they’d take with them if they were marooned on a desert island. Viggo Mortensen's list ranges from The Origin of Species to Faust to Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States.

"There is no doubt that the Danish / American world star Viggo Mortensen's heart beats for Denmark. This he once again demonstrated when he presented his photographs this afternoon at an exhibition at Palæfløjen in Roskilde." (translated from Danish by Google)

"Some actors inhabit a role so perfectly that it can go on to haunt their careers – Christopher Reeve’s Superman, Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones and Sean Connery’s Bond, to take three examples. With Viggo Mortensen, it will be hard to shake his barnstorming performance as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings. He took a shadowy, unlikely hero from the pages of fairytale and created a fully formed man."

Extensive, in-depth interview focuses on political change, from Iraq, Cindy Sheehan and Katrina to Viggo's call for impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Mortensen also talks about the role of a hero and the his recent film work. A brief excerpt: "I think most Americans will look back on this period since 1980 as a morally bleak, intellectually fraudulent period of history. There will be a certain amount of shame, a feeling we were part of something wrong. People standing outside of this country can see this because it's very obvious. It's like looking at a spoiled brat, a kid who’s totally out of control, but because the parents are really rich and because they own the school, you have to put up with it. America is an empire in decay. But we don't have to lash out and do damage on the way down. We can reverse some of the damage we’ve done. It's possible."

Collection of candid fisheye-lens photographs by David Cronenberg of Viggo Mortensen and other History of Violence cast members, taken at Cannes. Viggo is seen as alternately playful and tired.

Barbara is a reviewer who got the opportunity to interview Viggo Mortensen recently. She sent in this report: “Okay. I admit that I was beginning to get a bit tired of all those stories that describe Viggo Mortensen as the proverbial Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes. But the thing is — he is. He did a day of […]

Viggo Mortensen found the time he spent with horses while filming Lord of the Rings helped him remain calm and focused.

Viggo Mortensen and Karl Urban take a break from the Two Towers junket to shop in a Japanese toy store, and Viggo decorates his hat.

"Viggo Mortensen had less than a day to decide whether he wanted to spend 18 months in New Zealand battling orcs and protecting hobbits as part of the unprecedented adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy."

Interview with Viggo Mortensen about his preparation and investment in the role of Aragorn for The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. He talks about the difference between the director's vision and Tolkien's: "The more I explored Tolkien, the more I felt I had two bosses: Tolkien and Peter Jackson. I tried my best to be loyal to both of them."

Viggo Mortensen and Sean Bean describe their characters, Aragorn and Boromir.