I know some of you are wondering why on my second "Spotlight" post I have chosen Viggo Mortensen???
Simple answer - he is incredibly talented and ridiculously sexy!!!
If you don't agree with me than you have not seen "Lord of the Rings" or "Eastern Promises"!!!!
Viggo, like my last spotlighter (Eric Bana) have mastered the art of being present in Hollywood without allowing their personal lives to be splattered on the front covers of every major tabloid magazine. This is a quality you find less and less in Hollywood and don't let anyone fool you - they do have a choice!!! Brad and Anjelina are not victims, they thrive on the attention!!!
Viggo has mastered his craft and despite World attention with "Lord of the Rings", was able to reclaim his privacy on his own terms.
Born in New York on October 20th, 1958, to a Danish father and an American mother, Mortensen spent the early part of his childhood in Manhattan. His family traveled a great deal and he spent several years living in Venezuela, Argentina and Denmark. He began acting in New York, studying with Warren Robertson. He appeared in several plays and movies, and eventually moved to Los Angeles, where his performance in "Bent" at the Coast Playhouse earned him a Drama-logue Critic's Award. Mortensen is also an accomplished poet, photographer and painter.
Viggo is the eldest son of Grace and Viggo P. Mortensen. His father, who farmed in Denmark, met his mother, a New Yorker, in Norway. They wed and moved to New York where Viggo Jr. was born, before moving to South America where Viggo Sr. managed chicken farms and ranches in Venezuela and Argentina. Two more sons were born, Charles and Walter, before the marriage grew increasingly unhappy. When Viggo was seven, his parents sent him to a a strict boarding school, isolated in the foothills of the mountains of Argentina. Then, at age eleven, his parents divorced. His mother moved herself and the children back to her home state of New York. Viggo attended Watertown High School and became a very good student and athlete. He graduated in 1976 and went on to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. After graduation, he moved to Denmark - driven by the need for a defining purpose in life. He began writing poetry and short stories while working many odd jobs, from dock worker to flower seller. But, in 1982, he fell in love and followed his girlfriend back to New York City, hoping for a long romance and a writing career. He got neither.
In New York, Viggo found work waiting tables and bar tending and began taking acting classes. Three years later, he made his film debut with a small part in Witness (1985).
Moving to Los Angeles in 1987, he appeared in Salvation!: Have You Said Your Prayers Today? (1987) and married his co-star, Exene Cervenka. The two had a son, Henry Mortensen. But after nearly eleven years of marriage, the couple divorced.
In 1999, Viggo got a phone call about a movie he didn't know anything about: The Lord of the Rings. At first, he didn't want to do it, because it would mean time away from his son. But Henry, a big fan of the books, told his father he shouldn't turn down the role. Viggo accepted the part and immediately began work on the project, which was already underway. Eventually, the success of Lord of the Rings made him a household name - a difficult consequence for the ever private and introspective Viggo.
INTERESTING DETAILS
-He was married to Exene Cervenka from the 8th of July 1987 - 13 March 1998. She was the lead 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.
-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.
-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.
-Purchased the horses he rode in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and Hidalgo (2004) after the films were completed.
-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.
-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.
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.
-A skilled horseman, he did all his own stunts in Hidalgo (2004), 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.
-On December 4th, 2009, for the Montréal Canadiens centennial celebration at the Bell Center, Viggo Mortensen - a long-time Canadiens fan - came out in his red Habs jersey to introduce Guy Lafleur, "my all-time hero," in French.
Some Interesting quotes from interviews
I'd like to, when it's all said and done, say that I have at least a few stories that I feel proud of. I don't just want to look back and say, 'I was on x number of magazines.' As far as money goes, there's a saying in Denmark: 'Your last suit doesn't have any pockets.' You can't take it with you. You can make all the money you want, but who cares?
(On his research for Eastern Promises (2007)) I found some materials, some books and also a documentary a friend of mine made called "The Mark of Cain". It's a hard thing to do but she went into maximum-security prisons in Russia and spoke to people like Nikolai. And I went to Russia as well. I read and listened to and looked up anything I could that had to do with Russians even loosely connected with this story. The more Russian I could be and seem authentically, the better it would be.
Best Known Work:
The Road (2009)
Good (2008)
Appaloosa (2008)
Eastern Promises (2007)
Alatriste (2006)
A History of Violence (2005)
Hidalgo (2004)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
28 Days (2000)
A Walk on the Moon (1999)
Psycho (1998)
A Perfect Murder (1998)
G.I. Jane (1997)
The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
The Prophecy (1995)
Crimson Tide (1995)
I love this guy - he is so interesting - the "GREAT ONES" always are!!!! He unfortunately does not have anything currently in the works, according to IMBD there is a possibility that he might be a part of "A Wing and A Prayer", more details will be revealed by mid-spring. As far as his love life . . . he is rumored to be dating Spanish Actress Ariadna Gil whom he worked along side in "Appaloosa". She is also very well known in Spain for her roles along side Javier Bardem.
Arianda and Viggo are seen below at the Spanish version of the Oscars - Enjoy!!!
Source - IMBD
