#Viggo IS king

[charlidos]

I keep thinking of everything Orlando said about Viggo in this interview from 2013, since it's so heartfelt. And I feel I need to delve a little deeper into his words. VERY deep.

"That's a very easy question for me to answer. VIGGO MORTENSEN."

Viggo is definitely in a category of his own, in Orlando's mind (and I think most would agree!). He answers Viggo so quickly, without any hesitation. He's without question the one who influenced him the most, despite working with all those other wonderful people. And I bet O would do anything to have a reunion on screen with Viggo. (As would I.)

"I sat next to Viggo Mortensen [...] every day for TWO YEARS nearly."

Viggo started filming mid-October 1999 and the original shoot ended at the end of December 2020. That's 14 months, not 24 months... (They didn't do any reshoots together, O only came over to see Viggo at those final reshoots and waded across a beautiful, moonlit river and O said he was in love with V... sort of). So O added a significant amount of time spent with V. Why? Because it felt like a lifetime? O himself spent 18 months in NZ, including those months of preparation, when Viggo definitely wasn't there, since we all know he arrived at the very last minute. I wonder if, in retrospect, it feels like Viggo was there the whole time? Or if O still remembers, for real, that there was a Stuart-phase too? (But that's a topic for a whole other post.)

"Viggo Mortensen had the biggest impact on me in terms of approach, dedication, intention and artistic outlook."

It feels like O would count basically everything included in life here... It feels like Viggo was his entirely world, for a while. It's actually weird how they ended up in quite different places in life, fame and work. Viggo lives mostly far away from Hollywood while O lives more or less in the middle of it. And I always wonder in what way O brought Viggo's role model with him to his work. Hopefully at the very least by being a good person, treating everyone with respect.

"I'm nowhere CLOSE to how gen.. how good he is as an artist. I wouldn't even put myself in the same category as an actor."

There really is no limit to O's admiration of Viggo. It's like he's a god. And maybe that also means a little unattainable, perhaps? There is something wistful about the way he speaks about Viggo, even when he's idolizing him to the max. Maybe because he fervently wishes to be near this genius artist again? To absorb his greatness again. Maybe because O feels he can't live up to his ideal/his idol? Because he lifts Viggo to the skies, but talks himself down, a bit.

"As a human being he had a very big influence on me. He's a very generous soul, a very dedicated soul."

It's obvious that Viggo's influence on him isn't at all limited to work, but also includes how to be as a human, how to live your life. O may be a buddhist, but really, V is his spiritual guide, his sensei, his god. His Viggod. (Let us worship.)

"He was like a mentor, without me even knowing that's what he was doing because I was probably too young to really understand and appreciate it at the time."

If you look at all the 2947294 times he's said how much he admires Viggo, how he was a mentor, how he wanted to BE Viggo, even back in 2001-2003, it's a little difficult to see that he didn't appreciate it at the time... I think he DID appreciate it, it's just now he's being sentimental about it. I think he just misses those days with Viggo, he wants to go back. Don't we all feel like that about a happy past memory? Like why didn't I see then how extremely good that was? Even though you did, since you were indeed happy. It's just that you want to go back to those moments, and truly savour them, since you don't know exactly how much they'll matter until they're gone.

"As I'm older now and I look back, I always think wow! Just the person that he was, the actor and how he was, with me, was so wonderful."

I kind of want to add O's own words "it makes me sound like I'm in love with the guy". Because yes, that is indeed what this sounds like. The way he says "so wonderful" just has this very "sigh! Viggo is such a dream!" tone. But again, it also sounds so very wistful. It's a cherished memory, but it's also something lost, I feel.

"We trade emails. We were out of touch for quite a while."

It really is no wonder he's feeling so very sentimental about those days with Viggo. They lost touch for "quite a while" (since around 2008 - since they both met new people...). In my ears, it sounds quite sad. From being a part of Viggo's every day life, to losing touch and trading a few emails (which neither of them seem to be that fond of). I wonder if Viggo got in touch to congratulate Orlando on becoming a dad? And that's why they started communicating again?

"But you know, Viggo's an artist. He's not just an actor, he's actually an artist."

To me, it sounds like he's explaining why they were out of touch for a longish period of time. Otherwise I don't understand the segue from saying they're trading emails. In my view, he's saying they lost touch because of this trait, because of Viggo's artist personality. Or perhaps just that he's very busy, having so many arts to pursue, so many talents to hone. Like Viggo is someone who is a little hard to hold on to. He had him daily, to himself sometimes even, for all that time in NZ, that the contrast must have seem huge. O was extremely busy after filming LotR, but I think what he's talking about is the period from around 2008 until a while before this interview. O wasn't quite as busy then, I believe, work-wise at least. Except for having a kid... But I sense that for O this smarted a bit, this absence. Of course, if you add the dimension of them possibly having a love affair before, then perhaps this distance happened because of a break-up. Which might have been painful. And would explain that trace of sadness in how he says this.

"He can paint, he can write, he can sing, he can dance, he can play music. He can do it all. He can take you fishing, he can take you into the wild. He's the guy who does it all."

I can't get over how much of a fanboy O really is. His admiration for Viggo is through the roof! The sky is the limit here, Viggo really is godly, the one you can't quite reach, the perfect man, the unattainable goal. O spent every day with him for so long, and yet he can't find fault with him. The only problem is that he's out of reach for O now. But perhaps O thinks that's his own fault, never Viggo's? Also, we know Viggo took O into the wild - and got lost. O doesn't blame him for that either. I guess that just turned into a magical adventure, particularly with time, Now he probably thinks of it as a perfect night, spent with the perfect man, forgetting the mosquite bites, being thirsty, being scared. I do wonder if O has a little shrine dedicated for Viggo at home. Incense and photos and all. And if they once were in love, O is definitely not over him. And will never be, I guess.

"Most men WISH they were Viggo Mortensen."

Again, Viggo has no bigger fanboy. He already said this once before, back in 2001. But then he said he himself wanted to be Viggo. So that never changed. Still hasn't changed, I imagine. When you see him press himself into Viggo at the LotR premieres, it's like O wanted to melt into him, become part of Viggo. Maybe that's what he meant by being Viggo? :)

"He's devastatingly handsome and cool."

O says this a little off-handedly, somehow. A little quietly. I love that he adds that extra adjective, he's not just handsome, he's devastatingly so. Nothing is ever normal with Viggo as far as O is concerned. Viggo is the perfect man, after all.

"He would hate me. Viggo, I apologise, I apologise, please don't hate me. It's all love. He would hate the fact that I've sad any of that, but he's that kind of guy too."

O knows Viggo pretty darn well. He spent such a long time with him, seeing his every day mood, seeing him under stress, working, on holiday, out in the wild. Really most aspects of life (except, I guess, normal life outside NZ - but then, what do I know? Maybe he did that too?). So he knows how self-effacing Viggo is, how humble and not prone to any narcissism. But it also implies that Viggo perhaps isn't that good at accepting compliments? He probably doesn't like being fawned over; maybe one reason he prefers to live outside of the rather narcissistic Hollywood bubble. O seems to regard this as another amazing trait Viggo has. Not only can he do anything, he also never brags about it. For some reason, this statement seems a little sad as well. The way he speaks to an imaginary Viggo - whom he hasn't seen in a long while, afraid (maybe not 100% seriously, but still, a little) of ruining their maybe frail rebuilt friendship.

All in all, as lovely and loving as O is about Viggo here, it's also so rife with melancholy. O adores Viggo so much, I definitely feel he misses him terribly. That maybe he feels he lost him along the way, regardless of whose "fault" it is, if anyone's. And regardless of what kind of relationship they used to have. There's a Viggo-shaped hole in O's life. I get the feeling this is still true for O. I hope they did rekindled at least their friendship at one point.

I would love to hear Viggo speak of O one day too.

[dilfgifs]

Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

[catronac7]

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

[k-wame]

JACOB ELORDI · Interviewed by Lynn Hirschberg for 🎭 W Magazine · 24 Feb. 2021

[tomcriuse]

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

[inthiskingdomwewillendure]

The Return of the King in 4k

[autistook]

Bernard Hill on Viggo pranking him, Cast Commentary, The Two Towers

[where-our-stories-start]

[letthefairyinyoufly]

[dumblefairy]

finally drew my boy estel

etsy link here

[alexandra-scribbles]

Humanity peaked when Viggo Mortensen was cast as Aragorn in LOTR.

We’ve gone downhill ever since.

[charlidos]

Viggo is like a hero of mine now. Such a generous actor, such a fantastic guy to work with. He's so brilliant, his attention to detail, his focus and his work ethic, the way he kind of puts everything he's got into his role. He was great, cause this was my first experience on a film and he was just a fantastic guide. He taught me so much, just by being around him and seeing him work. We would shoot a scene from the movie and at the end of that scene, Viggo would end up with his hand on his sword, looking out in the distance. At the end of that shot that would be his last stance. A week later we might have shot the following sequence. At the beginning of that sequence Viggo would be standing there with his hand on his sword. He'd be like, 'So hang on a minute, where were we last? We were there, okay, this is what I was doing.' For some actors maybe they'd just have their hand there. or their sword out. But Viggo allowed Pete to be able to use every moment. It was just brilliant.

Orlando's intense worshipping on Viggo in the DVD commentary.

I love this gif, because it looks like Legolas is following Aragorn around everywhere asking "Is this a good idea, Aragorn? Should I do it like this? Tell me what to do, Aragorn!" Kind of like how Orlando would follow Viggo wherever it may lead.

[ihearttseliot]

[catronac7]

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

[nkp1981]

Found On: Reddit

[velvet4510]

I gotta take a second to praise Viggo Mortensen’s delivery of “…For Frodo.” The whisper, the tears, the love, the loyalty, the hope, the courage, the resilience, the humility of acknowledging that despite being king he is not the main character in this story… all in two little words. Just perfect. I believe Tolkien would’ve approved.