He says he starred in a bunch of bad movies. But, if there was an opportunity to live this part of life anew, it would again appear in them. These are lessons of life, and lessons can not be skipped.
His father - Viggo Peter Mortensen Sr. -Dane, mother - Grace Gamble (Atkinson) - an American, whose ancestors came from Canada. They met in Europe, in Norway, and after the marriage they moved to New York, where in 1958, on October 20, Viggo Junior was born. Two years later, Mortensen went to South America, where the head of the family was engaged in agricultural business in Argentina and Venezuela. There were born two younger brothers Viggo. Spanish is one of the six languages that Viggo Mortensen speaks. The actor's filmography contains several Spanish-language roles.
After the parents divorced in 1969,Viggo with his mother and brothers returned to the United States, in the town of Watertown, New York. His youth is typical of his priorities - rock music, sports. And he became interested in photography. He enrolls at the University of St. Lawrence in Canton, where he studies management and Spanish, and in 1980 he received a bachelor's degree. To start an independent life, he follows in the footsteps of his father and goes to Europe, to his relatives, to Denmark.
Viggo spent two years doing very different things.work - worked on his grandfather's farm, was a waiter, driver. He especially liked to trade flowers in Copenhagen. In 1982, on the advice of his then-girlfriend, he returned to America with the intention of becoming an actor. For two more years he attended the drama school of Warren Robertson, at the same time he began to appear on the stage in various productions.
Interestingly, we might not recognize the actor by name.Viggo Mortensen. The filmography, the main roles played by them, could belong to Wig Morten - the theater agent hired by him first of all advised him to shorten his first and last name.
After moving to Los Angeles, he continued to playtheater, deserving the praise of critics for playing the role in Martin Sherman’s play "The Addiction", and gained some fame by starring in a short episode of the miniseries "George Washington".
Viggo Mortensen, whose filmography beginsfrom 1985, he began work in the cinema with Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo. When editing the scene with his participation were cut, but the actor liked the director of the film "Witness" Australian Peter Weir, and he gave him a small role. In this thriller, Viggo worked with Harrison Ford and Alexander Godunov.
In Viggo's career, there are many copyright films, but thesework went unnoticed. Gradually, the directors and producers remembered this name - Viggo Mortensen. His filmography in the early 90s includes many supporting roles, but in paintings where real stars are involved and who have had spectator and commercial success. He gains the fame of the performer of the negative roles of petty rogues or restless and descending characters.
Among the many passing pictures, he starred inthe films "Runaway Indian" with Sean Penn (1991), "Ruby of Cairo" with Andy MacDowell (1993), "Way of Carlito" with Al Pacino (1993), "The Prophecy" with Christopher Walken (1995) and American Yakuza ( 1993). From the second half of the 90s, his characters began to appear more romantic and noble features. Milestones in his career were roles in the films “Soldier Jane” (1997), “Perfect Murder” (1998) and “Walk on the Moon” (1999). The image that actor Viggo Mortensen began to acquire has changed. Filmography replenished with pictures, where he plays beautiful, positive, courageous heroes. The apotheosis was the role of Aragorn.
During the filming of the comedy "Salvation" (1986) Viggomet with an extravagant singer, frontwoman of the punk band "X" (X) Ixen (Christina Lee) Chervenka. In the summer of 1987, they were married, and in the beginning of the next year they had a son, Henry Blake Mortensen.
The couple’s life together lasted 11 years andended in 1992. After the divorce, they have maintained normal relations, and both take equal part in raising their son. It was Henry who “forced” his father to accept the offer of director Peter Jackson to play the role of the noble Aragorn, which became his finest hour for Viggo.
A new performer of the role of the king of people PeterJackson had to look urgently, after he realized that the originally approved Stuart Townsend was too young for her. Unlike his son, Viggo did not read Tolkien’s novels and asked for some time to think - many months of work were to be done on the other side of the planet - in New Zealand, where the Lord of the Rings was mainly filmed. Henry's arguments about the enormous popularity of the fantasy genre, and especially the world created by Tolkien, were not decisive, but weighty - Viggo Mortensen became the Aragorn. The filmography, biography of the actor entered a new, most important stage of development.
Он очень ответственно отнесся к работе:he became a professional rider, did not part with the sword, achieving virtuosity in fencing, trained hard and long with the stuntmen, and even learned to speak Elvish. The trilogy about the Ring of One Power has opened a new era in spectacular cinema, made the actors who worked in it, cult figures.
After the great success of the saga of Middle-earth, hebegan to receive a lot of offers from directors and producers, he was made to various lists of the most beautiful and sexiest men on the planet. He accepts the offers, but after a long and careful study. As Viggo Mortensen says, the roles are now looking for him. After 2004, when the last part of the Tolkien trilogy was released, he appeared in several successful projects: “Justified Cruelty” (2005), “Vice” (2007), “Road” (2009), “Dangerous Method” (2011). In 2016, a new film with his participation - "Captain Fantastic."
Но и когда он не снимается, Вигго не сидит без things to do. He has long been known among art critics and art lovers as an original poet and artist. In Los Angeles, there have been several successful exhibitions of his paintings and photographs. He has released several CDs of jazz music. He is the owner of a publishing house that publishes works of young, seeking the recognition of authors.
