Viggo Mortensen

Viggo Mortensen was born in New York on October 20, 1958, and grew up in Argentina and Denmark, returning to the United States for high school. He attended college at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where he appeared in many school plays.

He continued in theater for several years, and first appeared on film in Witness (1985), starring Harrison Ford. He appeared in many more films, including Young Guns II (1990), Carlito’s Way (1993), and Crimson Tide (1995). He starred with Demi Moore in G.I. Jane (1997) and with Michael Douglas in A Perfect Murder (1998). He was in the remake of Psycho (1998), the 60’s era film A Walk on the Moon (1999), and the rehab film starring Sandra Bullock, 28 Days (2000).

Mortensen became a pop culture figure when he joined the cast of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. He played Aragorn, the rightful king of Gondor and Arnor. The movies kept him busy for several years, filming in New Zealand. The trilogy is made up of The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of The Rings (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). These films are the 14th, 7th and 2nd most successful of all time, respectively, as of 2007, and won 17 Academy Awards. Following The Lord of the Rings films would be difficult, but at least Mortensen had proved himself as a leading man. He starred in Hidalgo (2004), and the critically-acclaimed A History of Violence (2005). He re-teamed with director David Cronenberg (A History of Violence) for Eastern Promises (2007). In 2008 he’ll appear in Good and Appaloosa.