Spotlight on actor Viggo Mortensen
The actor has earned his third Oscar nomination for new film Green Book
TRUE STORY Viggo plays Tony Lip, an Italian-American bouncer who’s hired as a driver and bodyguard for African-American pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali). Inspired by real events, Green Book looks at the friendship that developed between them while Tony drove Don on a tour of the Deep South in 1962 using a “green book” – a travel guide that helped African-Americans find safe places to stay during America’s era of racial segregation.
Tony’s son Nick Vallelonga cowrote the film and believes Viggo was the perfect choice to play his dad. “He hung out with us. We ate at my brother’s house. He had the audio tapes of my father.”
The film took home Golden Globes for best comedy, best screenplay and best supporting actor for Mahershala. It’s also been nominated for five Oscars, including a best actor nomination for Viggo. DOWN TO EARTH The 60-year-old describes himself as a “regular guy, not drawn to Hollywood behaviour” who took up acting at age 23 because he was interested in the art of storytelling.
“I found a need to address a growing curiosity about what the skill or trick was that allowed certain performances to occasionally move me to tears, laughter and even to a profound questioning of my place in the world.”
Viggo spent years as a jobbing actor. It wasn’t until he was cast as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy at age 40 that he found international fame. He went on to star in The Road (2009), A Dangerous Method (2011) and Captain Fantastic (2016), for which he received his second Oscar nomination for best actor after Eastern Promises (2007). Viggo takes on roles selectively so he has time to focus on his other interests, which include poetry, photography and painting. “I mean, how much money do you need?” MAN OF THE WORLD He was born in New York and moved with his American mother, Grace, and Danish father, Viggo Snr, to Venezuela, then to Denmark and Argentina. Thanks to this upbringing he’s fluent in Danish, English, French and Spanish. Previously married to US rocker Exene Cervenka (63) – with whom he shares a son, Henry (31) – Viggo now lives in Spain with his partner of 10 years, actress Ariadna Gil (50).