Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen is an actor who most moviegoers know as Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Synopsis
Viggo Mortensen’s film debut was in Witness (1985), and he became well known for his role as the brave warrior Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), and later films include Hidalgo (2004) and A History of Violence (2005) directed by David Cronenberg. He recently reunited with Cronenberg on the Russian organized crime drama Eastern Promises (2007) to critical success. After taking a break from acting, Mortensen returned with an Oscar-nominated role in the comedy-drama Captain Fantastic (2016).
Profile
Actor, born in Manhattan, New York, USA. Born to a Danish father and American mother, he spent much of his early childhood traveling with his family and spent several years in Venezuela, Argentina, and Denmark before returning to New York, where he studied at St Lawrence University. He took up acting and later moved to Los Angeles, where he earned critical praise for his stage performance in Bent. His film debut was in Witness (1985), and further work includes The Indian Runner (1991), Portrait of a Lady (1996), and 28 Days (2000).
Mortensen became well known for his role as the brave warrior Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003), and later films include Hidalgo (2004) and A History of Violence (2005) directed by David Cronenberg. He reunited with Cronenberg on the Russian organized crime drama, Eastern Promises (2007). Starring opposite Naomi Watts, Mortensen has attracted a lot of critical attention for his work on the film, winning a British Independent Film award for Best Actor and garnering an Academy Award nomination in the same category. Mortensen collaborated with Cronenberg for a third time in the film A Dangerous Method in 2011. For the next few years the actor took time out to focus on other projects he was passionate about, briefly returning to theatre, as well as launching his own publishing press, through which he published many of his personal works of literature, poetry, and photography. He is also an accomplished painter.
In 2016, though, Mortensen returned to acting with a bang, starring in the much praised comedy-drama Captain Fantastic, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Actor.
Mortensen married singer Exene Cervenka in the late 1980s, but they later divorced. The couple had one child together, a son named Henry.
