Mortensen made his film debut with a role inPeter Weir's 1985 thrillerWitness. Through the late 1990s, Mortensen played supporting roles in a variety of films, including the historical romanceThe Portrait of a Lady (1996), the action dramaG.I. Jane (1997), the crime dramaA Perfect Murder (1998), and the comedy28 Days (2000).
In addition to film, Mortensen has pursued a variety of artistic endeavors including painting, poetry, music, and photography. Mortensen composed and performed music for films includingThe Lord of the Rings soundtrack, and has collaborated with guitaristBuckethead on several albums. In 2002, Mortensen foundedPerceval Press to publish his works and the works of little-known artists and authors.
Mortensen was born in New York City, on October 20, 1958,[4] to Grace Gamble (née Atkinson) and Viggo Peter Mortensen Sr. His mother was American, while his father was Danish. They met in Norway.[6] His maternal grandfather was a Canadian fromNova Scotia. His paternal grandmother was fromTrondheim, Norway.[7][8]
In 1961,[9] the family moved to Venezuela, then Denmark, and eventually settled in Argentina. They lived successively in the provinces ofCórdoba,Chaco, andBuenos Aires. Mortensen attended primary school and acquired a fluent proficiency in Spanish while his father managed poultry farms and ranches.[10][11] He was baptizedLutheran, the tradition of his father, though he now identifies as an atheist.[12]
After graduating, Mortensen moved to Europe and lived in the United Kingdom and Spain before returning to Denmark. There he took various jobs such as driving trucks inEsbjerg and selling flowers inCopenhagen.[16][17] In 1982, he returned to the United States to pursue an acting career.[18]
His first onscreen appearance was playing anAmish farmer inPeter Weir'sWitness. He was cast because the director thought he had the right face for the part. Although he was simultaneously cast as a soldier inShakespeare in the Park's production ofHenry V, he chose to work onWitness instead, citing a desire to try something new. Mortensen credited that decision and the positive experience on the film as the start of his film career.[21] Also in 1985, he was cast in the role of Bragg on the TV soap operaSearch for Tomorrow, and playedTybalt oppositeMichael Cerveris in a stage production ofRomeo and Juliet at Chicago'sGoodman Theatre.[22]
Mortensen's 1987 performance inBent at the Coast Playhouse, Los Angeles, won him aDramalogue Critics' Award. The play, which revolves around homosexual prisoners in aconcentration camp in Nazi Germany, was known for the leading performance byIan McKellen,[23] with whom Mortensen later costarred in the film trilogyThe Lord of the Rings. The same year, Mortensen had a supporting role as Jerome Stample in the black comedySalvation![24], and played a co-lead role as a convict in the horror filmPrison. He also guest starred as a police detective on the hit TV seriesMiami Vice.[25] In 1988, Mortensen played a minor part as Green, the abusive husband of Jewel (Molly Ringwald), inFresh Horses. The following year, Mortensen appeared in a minor role as Hans inTripwire.
Mortensen made three film appearances in 1990: Edward "Tex" Sawyer, a member of a cannibalistic family in the horror film sequelLeatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, John W. Poe inYoung Guns II, and Cameron Dove, a military veteran suffering from radiation poisoning inThe Reflecting Skin.The Reflecting Skin was Mortensen's first film to premiere at theCannes Film Festival.[26] The following year, Mortensen starred as Frank Roberts inSean Penn's directorial debutThe Indian Runner.Sandy Dennis, who played Frank Roberts's mother in the film and was a personal friend of Mortensen, was dying of ovarian cancer during filming. Mortensen described the filming experience as having an "undercurrent of loss," and wrote the poem "For Sandy Dennis" in her honor.[27]
In 1992, Mortensen starred inRuby Cairo alongsideLiam Neeson andAndie MacDowell. Although Ruby Cairo was Mortensen's highest-budget film at this point in his career, it was a commercial failure, bringing in only 608,000 on its 24 million dollar budget.[28][29] The next year, the film was recut and given the titleDeception. Several scenes were reshot forDeception, including a sex scene between Mortensen and MacDowell, which was removed and replaced with a less intimate dialogue on a balcony.
By the mid-1990s, Mortensen was consistently making several film appearances a year. During this time, Mortensen was frequently cast in crime dramas such as Lalin Miasso inCarlito's Way, Carl Frazer inThe Young Americans, Nick Davis inAmerican Yakuza, and Guy Foucard inAlbino Alligator.
With a budget of $50 million,G.I Jane (1997) was Mortensen's biggest budget film appearance prior to his role inLord of the Rings.[32] Although the film earned his co-star,Demi Moore, aGolden Raspberry Award for her role, Mortensen's performance as Command Master Chief John James 'Jack' Urgayle was favorably received.[33]
InThe Two Towers DVD extras, the film's swordmaster,Bob Anderson, described Mortensen as "the best swordsman I've ever trained." Mortensen often performed his own stunts, and even the injuries he sustained during several of them, including two broken toes, did not dampen his enthusiasm. At one point during filming ofThe Two Towers, Mortensen,Orlando Bloom, and Brett Beattie (stunt double forJohn Rhys-Davies) all had painful injuries, which led to Peter Jackson jokingly referring to the three as "the walking wounded."[37] Also, according to the Special Extended Edition DVD ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Mortensen purchased the two horses, Uraeus and Kenny, whom he had ridden and bonded with over the duration of the films.[38]
In 2004, Mortensen starred asFrank Hopkins inHidalgo, the story of an ex-army courier who travels to Arabia to compete with his horse, Hidalgo, in a dangerous desert race for a contest prize.[39]
Mortensen starred inDavid Cronenberg's 2005 filmA History of Violence as a family man revealed to have had an unsavory previous career. He was nominated for a Satellite Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for this role.[40] In the DVD extras forA History of Violence, Cronenberg related that Mortensen is the only actor he had come across who would come back from weekends with his family with items he had bought to use as props on the set.[41]
In September 2007, the filmEastern Promises, directed by David Cronenberg, was released to critical acclaim for the film itself and for Mortensen's performance as a Russian gangster on the rise in London. His nude fight scene in a steam room was applauded byRoger Ebert: "Years from now, it will be referred to as a benchmark."[43] Mortensen's performance inEastern Promises resulted in his winning the Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film award from theBritish Independent Film Awards.[44] He was also nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Actor.[45]
After two years, Mortensen returned to theater in 2011, starring inAriel Dorfman'sPurgatorio ("Purgatory") inMadrid.[49]Purgatorio is Mortensen's first play in Spanish. The play is about a man and woman confined either in a psychiatric hospital or prison together. During production, Mortensen's mother became ill and he pulled out of the initial premiere date, the first time he had ever done so for a project. The play premiered from November 4 to December 18.[50]
Mortensen starred in the 2016 filmCaptain Fantastic, for which he received his secondAcademy Award nomination.[52] Alonso Duralde ofTheWrap praised Mortensen's performance, saying, "The movie really belongs to Mortensen, who allows Ben to be exasperating, arrogant, and impatient but also warm, loving, and caring. He's a tough but adoring father, a grieving widower and a passionate defender of his wife's final wishes, and Mortensen plays all these notes, and more with subtlety and grace".[53]
In 2018, he starred in the filmGreen Book. Mortensen portrayedTony Lip, anItalian-American bouncer hired to drive and protect pianistDon Shirley (Mahershala Ali) on a tour through theJim Crow South from 1962 to 1963. Reflecting on the character, Mortensen stated, "I was attracted to playing Tony in part because it was a different kind of character, but the main thing I liked about him was his heart".[54] Mortensen received his third Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Lip.[55]
In 2020, Mortensen released his directorial debutFalling, which he also wrote, produced, composed the score for and starred in alongsideLance Henriksen at theSundance Film Festival.[56][57] Mortensen had based the story on his own family's history, including his parents suffering from dementia. The film is dedicated to his brothers, Charles and Walter Mortensen.[58]
Mortensen was cast as British cave diverRick Stanton in the biographical filmThirteen Lives directed byRon Howard which was released in July 2022.[60] Mortensen was taught cave diving by Stanton personally to prepare for the role.[61]
With part of his earnings fromThe Lord of the Rings, Mortensen founded thePerceval Press publishing house—named afterthe knight from the legend ofKing Arthur—to help other artists by publishing works that might not find a home in more traditional publishing venues.[67]Perceval Press is also the home of Mortensen's many personal artistic projects in the area of fine arts, photography, poetry, song, and literature.[68]
Mortensen is also an author, with various books of poetry, photography, and painting published. His poems are written in English, Danish, and Spanish. With anthropologists Federico Bossert and Diego Villar, he has written several works related to ethnography of Indigenous peoples in South America,[69] specifically in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Some of the published books co-authored by Mortensen areSons of the Forest andSkovbo. Mortensen's bibliography includes:
Documents Mortensen's first solo exhibition and includes a CD with music and spoken-word poetry. Introduction by Dennis Hopper.[70]
Errant Vine
2000
Poetry, Photos
Limited edition booklet of an exhibit at the Robert Mann Gallery.[70]
Hole in the Sun
2002
Photos
Color and black & white photographs of a back yard swimming pool.[70]
Sign Language
2002
Art, Photos
A catalog from an exhibition of his works, combining photographs, paintings, and poetry into a multimedia diary of his time in New Zealand while filmingThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Introduction by Kevin Power.
Mortensen is a painter and photographer. His paintings are frequentlyabstract and often contain fragments of his poetry therein.[77] His paintings have been featured in galleries worldwide, and many of the paintings of the artist he portrayed inA Perfect Murder are his own.[78]
Mortensen experiments with his poetry and music by mixing the two art forms. He has collaborated with guitaristBuckethead on several albums, mostly released on his own label (Perceval Press) or TDRS Music. Viggo was first introduced to Buckethead's work while working on sounds for an educational CD on Greek mythology. The finished product included a guitar part by Buckethead, which caught Viggo's ear and led him to initiate contact with the guitarist. The collaboration grew from there.[79]
Mortensen is featured onThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King soundtrack, singing "Aragorn's Coronation" (the name of the extended version of this song in the 3rd original sound track is "The Return of the King"), the words by Tolkien and the music composed by Mortensen.[81] In the extended DVD edition of the firstLord of the Rings movie,The Fellowship of the Ring, he sings the song "The Lay of Beren and Lúthien".[82]
Mortensen holds dual American and Danish citizenship.[1] He has stated that he was raised speaking English and Spanish, and sometimes feels that, when speaking Spanish, he "can get to the heart of the matter better".[83]
Mortensen met singerExene Cervenka in 1986 on the set of the comedySalvation! The couple married on July 8, 1987. On January 28, 1988, Cervenka gave birth to their son, Henry, who later played his on-screen son in the filmCrimson Tide in 1995. Henry graduated fromColumbia University in 2010 with a B.A. inarchaeology and has been working atPerceval Press, which was founded by his father.[84][85][86] Mortensen and Cervenka lived inIdaho for three years.[87] They separated in 1992 and divorced in 1997.[88] Since 2009, he has been in a relationship with Spanish actressAriadna Gil. Though the couple reside inMadrid, Mortensen spends much of his time in the United States, and has stated, "I am a citizen and longtime resident of the United States and am attached to its landscapes, history, and people."[89][90] He has owned property inSandpoint, Idaho, and spends time there when not filming movies.[91]
Mortensen has talked about his family's struggles withdementia, seeing both of his parents, three of his four grandparents, aunts, uncles, and his stepfather battle the condition.[92] In 2016, Mortensen traveled to New York to take care of his father,[89] who died a year later.[92] Two years earlier, Mortensen's mother had also died from complications of the condition.[92]
Mortensen was a close friend of Icelandic painterGeorg Guðni Hauksson until the latter's death in 2011. He had long been an admirer of Georg Guðni's work as a landscape artist, and the two published books together.[93]
During the press tour forLord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, which occurred between theSeptember 11 attacks and theSecond Gulf War, Mortensen appeared in an interview wearing a t-shirt on which he had written, "No More Blood for Oil."[104]
Mortensen endorsed SenatorBernie Sanders for U.S. president during the primaries for the2016 election.[107] After Sanders failed to win the Democratic Party nomination, Mortensen endorsedGreen Party candidateJill Stein.[108] He wrote an open letter just before Election Day 2016 in which he listed the reasons he disagreed withHillary Clinton’s policies and could not support her in the race againstDonald Trump, though he thought that Clinton would be elected president.[109] He went on to narrate a documentary,The Revolution Televised, about the2016 presidential election and the protests in the aftermath of theDemocratic National Convention.[110]
Since 2018, Mortensen has been a member of the Catalan NGOÒmnium Cultural, a pro-independence organization dedicated to promotingCatalan culture and language in the arts and the public sphere.[111] AfterVox, a far-right Spanish party, published a tweet depicting Mortensen asAragorn fighting various social movements, including pro-Catalan separatists, during the campaign for the2019 Spanish general election, Mortensen wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the depiction saying, "Not only is it absurd that I, the actor who embodied this character... and a person interested in the rich variety of cultures and languages that exist in Spain and the world, is linked to an ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist political party, it is even more ridiculous to use the character of Aragorn, a polyglot statesman who advocates knowledge and inclusion of the diverse races, customs and languages of Middle Earth, to legitimize an anti-immigrant, anti-feminist and Islamophobic political group."[112]
In May 2020, Mortensen signed an open letter urging Israel to end itsblockade of the Gaza Strip.[113] In October 2023, Mortensen signed theArtists4Ceasefire open letter to PresidentJoe Biden, calling for a ceasefire in theGaza war.[114] In May 2024, Mortensen criticizedJavier Milei's Argentine government, calling him a "clown" and "a puppet of the political right".[115]
Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee, screenwriter Joe Penhall, directorJohn Hillcoat and producer Steve Schwartz at the 2009 Venice Film Festival forThe Road
^abStone, Andrew; Carolyn Bain; Michael Booth; Fran Parnell (2008)."Cinema".Lonely Planet Denmark.Lonely Planet. p. 46.ISBN978-1-74104-669-4.Although [Mortensen] was born in New York and has lived outside of Denmark for most of his life, he retains Danish citizenship.
^Doyle, Macreena A. (2003)."Viggo Mortensen '80 REMEMBERS".St. Lawrence Magazine. St. Lawrence University. Archived fromthe original on September 24, 2015. RetrievedOctober 2, 2012.
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