Viggo Rules

·Viggo's Biography according to IMDB·

Date of Birth

Birth Name

Height

Mini Biography

Since his screen debut as a young Amish Farmer in Peter Weir's Witness (1985), Viggo Mortensen's career has been marked by a steady string of well-rounded performances. Critics have continually recognized his work in over thirty movies, including such diverse projects as Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Sean Penn's The Indian Runner (1991), Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way (1993), Ridley Scott's G.I. Jane (1997), Tony Scott's Crimson Tide (1995), Andrew Davis's A Perfect Murder (1998), Ray Loriga's Pistola de mi hermano, La (1997), and Tony Goldwyn's A Walk on the Moon (1999).

Born in New York to a Danish father and an American mother, Mortensen spent the early part of his childhood in Manhattan. His family traveled a great deal and he spent several years living in Venezuela, Argentina and Denmark. He began acting in New York, studying with Warren Robertson. He appeared in several plays and movies, and eventually moved to Los Angeles, where his performance in "Bent" at the Coast Playhouse earned him a Drama-logue Critic's Award. Mortensen is also an accomplished poet, photographer and painter.

Mini Biography

Viggo is the eldest son of Grace and Viggo P. Mortensen. His father, who farmed in Denmark, met his mother, a New Yorker, in Norway. They wed and moved to New York where Viggo Jr. was born, before moving to South America where Viggo Sr. managed chicken farms and ranches in Venezuela and Argentina. Two more sons were born, Charles and Walter, before the marriage grew increasingly unhappy. When Viggo was seven, his parents sent him to a a strict boarding school, isolated in the foothills of the mountains of Argentina. Then, at age eleven, his parents divorced. His mother moved herself and the children back to her home state of New York. Viggo attended Watertown High School and became a very good student and athlete. He graduated in 1976 and went on to St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. After graduation, he moved to Denmark - driven by the need for a defining purpose in life. He began writing poetry and short stories while working many odd jobs, from dock worker to flower seller. But, in 1982, he fell in love and followed his girlfriend back to New York City, hoping for a long romance and a writing career. He got neither.

In New York, Viggo found work waiting tables and bar tending and began taking acting classes. Three years later, he made his film debut with a small part in Witness (1985). Moving to Los Angeles in 1987, he appeared in Salvation! (1987) and married his co-star, Exene Cervenka. The two had a son, Henry Mortensen. But after ten years of marriage, the couple divorced. In 1999, Viggo got a phone call about a movie he didn't know anything about: The Lord of the Rings. At first, he didn't want to do it, because it would mean time away from his son. But Henry, a big fan of the books, told his father he shouldn't turn down the role. Viggo accepted the part and immediately began work on the project, which was already underway. Eventually, the success of Lord of the Rings made him a household name - a difficult consequence for the ever private and introspective Viggo.

Trivia

He is the ex-husband of Exene Cervenka, the singer of the punk band X.

Had a book of poetry printed before he was known. The title: "Ten Last Night."

Speaks fluent English, Spanish, Danish, and French, but he also speaks Swedish and Norwegian reasonably well.

Father of Henry Mortensen.

He actually painted the large murals in his artist's studio in the film A Perfect Murder (1998).

Lived in South America from age 2 to age 11.

Is a photographer.

Has been photographing for years, recently debuted with an exhibition at the Robert Mann Gallery in NYC. -- American Photo, July/August 2000.

Writes poetry in his spare time.

Is also a jazz musician - he has released three CDs so far.

Worked as a truck driver while living in Denmark

Broke a tooth while filming a fight sequence for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

Replaced Stuart Townsend in the role of Aragorn/Strider in The Lord of the Rings, after filming began.

Got so into his character of Aragorn that director Peter Jackson once addressed him as Aragorn for over half an hour, and Mortensen didn't even realize it.

Was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002.

He has two younger brothers.

Graduated from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York in 1980 with a degree in Government and Spanish.

An accomplished horseman in his spare time, Mortensen requested that his "Rings" character Aragorn be given more saddle time than was originally scripted. He also kept his on-screen horse nearby during the entire principal photography schedule in order to ride in his off-hours and strengthen his relationship with the horse.

As Viggo lived in Argentina as a child, he is a fan of Argentine soccer team San Lorenzo (real name of the team: "San Lorenzo of Almagro", from Buenos Aires City).Viggo usually wear clothes and accessories with this team's colors (red & blue) the last time in public, at the Rome Festival, in the "Alatriste" Premiere.

Broke two toes during the filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), in the scene where he kicks an Orc helmet.

Owner of publishing company Perceval Press.

He is a New York Mets fan.

Visits Denmark at least 3 times a year. In 2003 he had a booksigning, an art exhibition opening and The Lord of The Rings premiere.

Has dual citizenship, American & Danish, as his father is a Danish citizen and his mother American.

Was in remakes of two Alfred Hitchcock films in the same year: A Perfect Murder (1998) - a remake of Dial M for Murder (1954) - and Psycho (1998).

Purchased the horses he rode in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and Hidalgo (2004) after the films were completed.

It is well-known that his father is Danish and his mother American, but also his grandmother was from Trondheim, Norway.

Worked as a translator for the Swedish hockey team during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and was at the 'miracle' game between the Soviet Union and United States.

While filming "The Lord of The Rings" trilogy in New Zealand, he would go surfing with the other actors in their spare time. One day he suffered an accident which left a bruise on the right side of his face. As a result, director Peter Jackson had to shoot only the left side of his face in the entire Moria sequence.

Dated Lola Schnabel, daughter of painter and film director Julian Schnabel, for nearly two years. Broke up in 2003.

Was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in June 2004.

Ranked #10 on VH1's Hottest Hotties.

At first, turned down the part of Aragorn of Lord of the Rings. His son convinced him to do the part.

Is one of four "Lord of the Rings" stars to star, pre-"Rings," with Harrison Ford. He starred with Ford in Witness (1985). Ford starred with John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Sean Bean (Boromir) in Patriot Games (1992) and Miranda Otto (Eowyn) in What Lies Beneath (2000).

While working on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he asked writer/director Peter Jackson to revise scripts so that his character Aragorn would be speaking in the Elvish language in several scenes of all three movies.

He became good friends with the close-knit stunt men on the "Lord of the Rings" films, but they were wary of doing fight scenes with him because, carried away with the intensity of his character Aragorn, he would frequently "really go at them" and leave the other combatants in bruises. Massive actor Lawrence Makoare, playing Lurtz under heaps of make-up which restricted his vision, also got carried away during their fight scene at the conclusion of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and, for once, Mortensen was left more bruised than the other actor.

Ranked #19 on Tropopkin's Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]

Shares a birthday with Tom Petty and Snoop Dogg.

Shares a birthday with actor Bela Lugosi and poet Arthur Rimbaud.

Although their divorce only became final in 1998, he and his former wife, Exene Cervenka, separated in late 1990/early 1991 after less than 3 years of marriage but remain close friends often working together and co-parenting their son.

Both his brothers are geologists.

Is a Montréal Canadiens fan.

Father's name is also Viggo. Mother's is Grace.

After his parents divorced when he was 11, he moved back with his mother and two younger brothers, Walter and Charles, to New York.

Born on the same day as director Danny Boyle.

The scar on his upper lip comes from a wild Halloween party where he got too close to a barbed-wire fence.

Is a fan of the Montreal Canadiens. When filming A History of Violence, he showed up on the Toronto set wearing a Canadiens' jersey.

Ranked #17 on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sex Symbols in the world.

Voted #14 in Elle (France) Magazine's "15 Sexiest Men" poll (June 2007).


中文Biography（半翻译，半原创）

1958年10月20日，Viggo出生在纽约曼哈顿，父亲是丹麦人，母亲是美国人。Viggo和他的弟弟们（现在都是地址学者）随父母定居南美洲（阿根廷和委内瑞拉），一直到1969年他的父母离异。Viggo和他的兄弟随母亲一起回到美国，住在纽约的沃特镇。

Viggo从父亲那里继承了对旅行的热爱以及语言上的天赋。他可以流利得说西班牙语和丹麦语，也会说一些法语、意大利语、瑞典语、挪威语。

Viggo在沃特镇高中的时候，加入了游泳和网球队。他爱上了摄影，总是拿着相机在社区里徘徊。17岁的时候，一场由“拳头和带铁丝网的栅栏”造成的意外在他的嘴唇上留下了现在那条性感的伤疤。1980年，他从圣劳伦斯大学政治与西班牙语系毕业，并移居丹麦，在他祖父的农场上度过了一段快乐的时光。那时，他尝试过不同的工作，包括做侍者和卖花。

1982年，Viggo回到纽约，并参加了两年的沃伦-罗伯逊表演班。他参演了一些舞台剧和电影，虽然最终他的表演都被剪辑掉了。最后他搬去了洛杉矶，并在那里因为在<Bent>中的表演赢得了一个奖项。他的电影生涯真正开始于1985年的Witness（《证人》），接下来10年中他又接演了25部影片。遗憾的是，他的多数表演为他赢得的只有喝彩而没有足够的收入，所以他又一次被迫干起了各种工作。

1987年，在拍摄Salvation!（《拯救》）的时候，他遇见了X乐队的主唱Christine Cervenka（即Excene Cervenka）并娶她为妻，并在1988年生下他们唯一的儿子Henry，不久后他们搬去爱达荷州，在远离聚光灯和名声的环境里抚养Henry。尽管他们的婚姻在1997年破裂，但他与前妻依然保持着亲密的朋友关系，共同抚养Henry。

90年代后期，Viggo的演绎生涯因"GI Jane"（《魔鬼女大兵》），"A Perfect Murder"（《超完美谋杀案》）以及"A Walk on the Moon"（《月球漫步》）而扶摇直上。而《魔戒三部曲》毫无疑问地使Viggo摇身一变，成为千万女性粉丝心中的偶像。他代替Stuart Townsend（斯图尔特-汤森德）成为了那个自我放逐的国王阿拉贡，在那之前，他只有一天时间来决定是否接下这个角色（并在新西兰连续拍摄了超过一年）。而要是没有他那个魔戒粉丝儿子Henry的相劝，我们可能就看不到这么一个完美的国王扮演者了。

在《魔戒》大获成功后，Viggo的光彩征服了全世界的影迷，也使更多导演向他伸来橄榄枝。2004年，由他主演的”Hidalgo”（《沙漠骑兵》）上映，虽然影片本身不能称为佳作，但是他的表演无可厚非，而他认真的工作态度更是被传为佳话。在影片拍摄结束后，他还买下了影片中与他形影不离的坐骑。2005年，他开始了与David Cronenberg导演的合作，这部”A History of Violence”（《暴力史》）上映后好评如潮，更是被多家媒体猜测为有可能会给他赢来人生第一个奥斯卡提名，不过最终未能实现。2006年，他参与的西班牙影片”Alatriste”（《佣兵传奇》）在当地反响热烈，并未他赢得了戈雅奖最佳男主角提名。而随之而来的2007年，已经成为了他事业的丰收年。2005年的那部《暴力史》使他与David Cronenberg建立了深厚的友谊，而Cronenberg也将新片”Eastern Promises”（《东方的承诺》）的男主角交给了他。而他则为了这个角色甚至远赴俄罗斯东部进行生活体验，学习他们的语言，研究黑帮纹身的学问，才使最终影片中的形象得到了广泛赞美。而在接下来的颁奖季节，他赢得了大大小小无数奖项的提名，金球奖最佳男主角提名、英国电影学院奖最佳男主角提名以及人生首个奥斯卡最佳男主角提名。虽然最终都不幸败给Daniel Day-Lewis，但他在《东方的承诺》中的精彩演出让人们完全承认了他精湛的演技。

而在2007年《东方的承诺》高调上映的同时，他的另两部影片也拍摄完毕。”Appaloosa”（《大西部》）和’”Good”都将于2008年和观众见面。而现在，他正在匹兹堡拍摄新片”The Road”（《末日危途》），这部改编自Cormac McCarthy（《老无所依》的原作者）2007年获得普利策奖小说的影片，将于2009年上映。