Mortensen could be on the road to an Oscar
LOS ANGELES – It was the third course, really, that did him in.
Viggo Mortensen was prepping for “Green Book” (in major markets Friday), in which he packs on the pounds to play a working class Italian-American, Tony Lip (real name: Frank Anthony Vallelonga). In the film, Lip checks his racism in 1962 New York to earn an income chauffeuring a world-class black pianist, Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), in the Deep South.
Mortensen, 60, who is DutchAmerican, recalls flying in from his home in Spain to meet Tony’s descendants at a New Jersey redsauce joint still owned by the family.
And the Italian food just kept coming. “Oh my God,” he says. “The first thing was, ‘Let’s go to the kitchen and have (Tony’s wife) Dolores’ meatballs.’ But I was already full. I hadn’t gained all that weight or expanded my stomach (yet).” Then came the antipasti, and a second course, and a third. Mortensen struggled to finish his plate. “And then they’re looking at me like, ‘He doesn’t like it.’ ... ‘No, no! It’s great!’ ”
“Green Book,” a flip on “Driving Miss Daisy,” is based on a true story and doesn’t cut corners: The film shows the blue-collar Tony hurling epithets common to the period and touches on police brutality.
But the movie, which is largely a road comedy, also is based on a real travel guide. The Green Book, which began publication in the 1930s, was a pamphlet that mapped where African-Americans could find safe lodging across the country. Before filming, the cast thumbed through old copies.
“They’re pretty straightforward,” Mortensen says. “And they’re not that thick, because obviously the farther South you get, there’s not that many places they could stay.”
As Tony and Doc Shirley drive farther South, where the classically trained musician’s wealthy, white audience throws open their salon doors but won’t let him use their bathrooms, a deeper appreciation of each other grows. “For me, it’s a movie about the limitations of first impressions,” Mortensen says.
Prognosticators are paving a road to Oscar for “Green Book,” which boasts a 92% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film entered the Toronto International Film Festival in September, emerging with the festival’s top prize.