Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen (born October 20, 1958 in New York City), is a Danish-American theater and movie actor, a published poet, photographer and painter.
He is best known for his role as Aragorn in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. He was a last-minute replacement for the role, and wouldn't have taken the part if it hadn't been for his son's enthusiasm for J. R. R. Tolkien's trilogy.
After several years of experience in live theater, he began his movie career as an Amish farmer in Peter Weir's Witness. He has also appeared in Jane Campion's film The Portrait of a Lady, Sean Penn's Indian Runner, Brian DePalma's Carlito's Way, Ridley Scott's G.I. Jane and Tony Goldwyn's A Walk on the Moon.
Mortensen's performance in Bent at the Coast Playhouse, Los Angeles, won him a Dramalogue Critics' Award.
Mortensen's bibliography includes
- Ten Last Night (1993), his first collection of poetry;
- Hole in the Sun (2002, ISBN 0972143610), color and black and white photographs of a back yard swimming pool;
- SignLanguage (2002, ISBN 1889195499), a catalog from an exhibition of his works, which combines photographs, paintings, and poetry into a multimedia diary of his time in New Zealand while filming The Fellowship of the Ring;
- Miyelo (2003, ISBN 097214367X), a series of panoramic photographs of a Lakota Ghost Dance.
His marriage in 1987 to punk rocker Exene (Christene) Cervenka, ended in an amicable divorce in 1998. They have a son, Henry, born in 1988.
Mortensen spent some childhood years in Venezuela, Argentina, and his father's native Denmark, before returning to high school in Watertown, New York (where he was captain of the swim team). He graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1980. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Danish.
