Name: Viggo Mortensen
Date of Birth: 20 October 1958 He is the ex-husband of Exene Cervenka, the singer of the punk band X. Had a book of poetry printed before he was known. The title: "Ten Last Night." Speaks fluent English, Spanish, Danish, and French, but he also speaks Swedish and Norwegian reasonably well. Father of Henry Mortensen. He actually painted the large murals in his artist's studio in the film A Perfect Murder (1998). Lived in South America from age 2 to age 11. Has been photographing for years, recently debuted with an exhibition at the Robert Mann Gallery in NYC. -- American Photo, July/August 2000. ... Writes poetry in his spare time. Is also a jazz musician - he has released three CDs so far. Worked as a truck driver while living in Denmark Broke a tooth while filming a fight sequence for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002); he asked the crew if they would glue it back on so he could finish the scene. Replaced Stuart Townsend in the role of Aragorn/Strider in The Lord of the Rings, after filming began. Got so into his character of Aragorn that director Peter Jackson once addressed him as Aragorn for over half an hour, and Mortensen didn't even realize it. Was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002. Has two younger brothers, Walter and Charles. They are both geologists. Graduated from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York in 1980 with a degree in Government and Spanish. An accomplished horseman in his spare time, Mortensen requested that his "Rings" character Aragorn be given more saddle time than was originally scripted. He also kept his on-screen horse nearby during the entire principal photography schedule in order to ride in his off-hours and strengthen his relationship with the horse. As Viggo lived in Argentina as a child, he is a fan of Argentine soccer team San Lorenzo (real name of the team: "San Lorenzo of Almagro", from Buenos Aires City).Viggo usually wear clothes and accessories with this team's colors (red & blue) the last time in public, at the Rome Festival, in the "Alatriste" Premiere. Broke two toes during the filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), in the scene where he kicks an Orc helmet. Owner of publishing company Perceval Press. In 2003 he visited Denmark and had a booksigning, an art exhibition opening and The Lord of The Rings premiere. Has dual citizenship, American and Danish, as his father is a Danish citizen and his mother American. Was in remakes of two Alfred Hitchcock films in the same year: A Perfect Murder (1998) - a remake of Dial M for Murder (1954) - and Psycho (1998). Purchased the horses he rode in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and Hidalgo (2004) after the films were completed. It is well-known that his father is Danish and his mother American, but also his grandmother was from Trondheim, Norway. Worked as a translator for the Swedish hockey team during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and was at the 'miracle' game between the Soviet Union and United States. While filming "The Lord of The Rings" trilogy in New Zealand, he would go surfing with the other actors in their spare time. One day he suffered an accident which left a bruise on the right side of his face. As a result, director Peter Jackson had to shoot only the left side of his face in the entire Moria sequence. Was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in June 2004. Ranked #10 on VH1's Hottest Hotties. At first, turned down the part of Aragorn of Lord of the Rings. His son convinced him to do the part. Is one of four "Lord of the Rings" stars to star, pre-"Rings," with Harrison Ford. He starred with Ford in Witness (1985). Ford starred with John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Sean Bean (Boromir) in Patriot Games (1992) and Miranda Otto (Eowyn) in What Lies Beneath (2000). While working on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he asked writer/director Peter Jackson to revise scripts so that his character Aragorn would be speaking in the Elvish language in several scenes of all three movies. He became good friends with the close-knit stunt men on the "Lord of the Rings" films, but they were wary of doing fight scenes with him because, carried away with the intensity of his character Aragorn, he would frequently "really go at them" and leave the other combatants in bruises. Massive actor Lawrence Makoare, playing Lurtz under heaps of make-up which restricted his vision, also got carried away during their fight scene at the conclusion of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and, for once, Mortensen was left more bruised than the other actor. Ranked #19 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100] Although their divorce only became final in 1998, he and his former wife, Exene Cervenka, separated in late 1990/early 1991 after less than 3 years of marriage but remain close friends often working together and co-parenting their son. His father's name is also Viggo. His mother's name is Grace. After his parents divorced when he was eleven, he moved to new York with his mother and two younger brothers. He received the scar on his upper lip after scratching his face on a barbed wire fence at a Halloween party. Is a big fan of the New York Mets and the Montreal Canadiens. When filming A History of Violence (2005), he showed up on the Toronto set wearing a Canadiens' jersey. Ranked #17 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sex Symbols in the world. Voted #14 in Elle (France) Magazine's "15 Sexiest Men" poll (June 2007). Brother of Walter Mortensen. Choosen by Empire Magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars in the world (#69) 2007. Admitted in an interview that when he first started out as an actor his agents encouraged him to change his name, obviously he refused. Filmed scenes for The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), but they were all cut out. Spent a couple weeks in Russia prior to filming Eastern Promises (2007) to research his role and better understand his character. In Eastern Promises (2007) his Russian/Ukrainian dialect coach was Olegar Fedoro. For his role in Eastern Promises, he stated that part of his performance was inspired by Russian hockey player Alex Kovalev. A skilled horseman, he did all his own stunts in Hidalgo, including a breakneck bareback ride that even the stuntman couldn't handle. His grandfather was from Canada. Wore a Montreal Canadiens jersey under his costume during the filming of The Lord of the Rings films. Read more Viggo Mortensen movies (actor)User Comments |
