Viggo Mortensen

"A History of Violence"

SGVN

Oct. 26, 2005

By Kyra Kirkwood

I was alone in Viggo Mortensen's Beverly Hills hotel room. And invited.

Crumpled chinos lay next to a pair of scuffed black cowboy boots, tossed haphazardly by the suite's French doors. It all looked so poetic, not sloppy (I'm sure my husband will now be thrilled to learn I find haphazardly thrown clothing beautiful). In reality, the items could have been from just about anyone who had access to this usually bustling hotel room, but in my imaginative writer's mind, I decided they were Viggo's.

Within minutes, the man returned, apologizing politely for his tardiness and looking almost sheepish with his thick sandy hair brushed off his face. He was ready for our...interview. Yes, it's all about business here.

He wore the same olive-green suit pants as he had donned at earlier press events, but without his fish t-shirt, signed by the cast and crew of his latest film, David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence." In fact, fish became quite the inside joke on the set. Why? No one really knows. But it was funny, I'm told.

Now, the gilled chemise was MIA and the suit pants were paired with a red and blue European soccer (excuse me: football) jersey and royal-blue socks. He tries to avoid wearing shoes, so there goes my theory about the cowboy boots. He may not be the most color-coordinated person I've ever run across, but somehow, Viggo pulls it off.

Sort of like he did in his latest movie, the critically acclaimed "A History of Violence." Viggo portrayed a compact, quiet man with a potentially dangerous past. His character was like a rubber band: sturdy and innocent, until snapped. In real life, Viggo appears quite the opposite. Soft-spoken, polite, Zen-like, he seems to take this post- "Lord of the Rings" fame in unassuming stride. But behind his green-blue eyes, I got the sense he's more than a standard Hollywood heartthrob concerned about babes and box-office bravado.

Reporters have nicknamed Viggo a modern-day Renaissance man, due to his intense talent and affinity for the Three Ps: painting, poetry, photography. His artwork is stunningly deep and beautiful. Remember the paintings on the walls in "A Perfect Murder," where he played the hot young lust object of Gwyneth Paltrow? Those were his creations. Seeing him in person, it wasn't hard for me to imagine Viggo as the struggling artist, somewhere deep within his mind as he wielded a paintbrush or pen, oblivious to the paint or ink spattered on his sturdy hands. But far be it from me to call him a Renaissance man to his face. I wasn't sure if he'd take it as a condescending label or a compliment (which it would be meantãit's refreshing to see a Hollywood persona not only be grounded, but deep and creative without the use of a scriptwriter, director and image consultant).

So instead, I settled down into the straight-backed chair in the Four Seasons hotel suite and struck up a conversation aboutä.socks. Of course, I could have been the astute professional/journalist and began a comparison between his "Violence" character of Tom Stall and those played by Gary Cooper. But instead, I told him that Nordstrom carries a great slipper-sock from Karen Neuburger that might fit his shoe-avoiding needs.

Sadly, we couldn't continue exchanging footwear tips forever. A studio executive from New Line Cinema would be knocking on the suite door any moment (well, in about 14 moments, and counting), so I had to maximize my time, getting the most out of this tired-looking guy without descending on him like a literary vampire in need of a feeding. Oh, and of course, all the while not looking like the dorky fan I really am.

"A History of Violence" opens up with two sinister men doing sinister things. Cut to Midtown America, where Tom Stall is living a bucolic life with his lawyer-wife Edie (expertly played by Maria Bello, with only a hint of "Coyote Ugly" popping up during Tom and Edie's cheerleader scene), working at his old-fashioned diner and generally being a pillar of the community.

But the sinister collides with the serene one night, and that act of violence propels the now-heroic Tom into the public's attention, and smack into the spotlight of some East Coast mobsters. Suddenly, it's unclear if Tom is who he says he is, or if he's the violent-prone thug the mobsters outlined him to be. They want him back to pay for his past sins, leaving Tom trying to fight for his family and the life he says is his.

David Cronenberg isn't known for his feel-good cinema (remember "Dead Ringers?"), but this one, while dark and graphic, touches on more basic emotions than some of this other works. Viggo helped navigate the waters of his complex character, giving him backstory and working to flesh him out. In "Violence," he peppered the set with chatchkis that Mr. America Tom Stall would have: fish heads, snatches of motivational writing, etc. He's known for doing this on the set, treating his time there like an archeological dig, looking for answers and inspiration. During "LOTR," it was rumored he carried around his sword incessantly. For "Hidalgo," he adopted the horse TJ (who he still has here in California. Gotta like a guy who is inspired by and loves animals).

"You won't lose sight of it as easily if you have little reminders," he said. He also looked within himself for inspiration. "I think that everybody has all of the ingredients all of the time inside them to behave in an infinite number of ways. But I'm not someone who's going to go to a bar and kill somebody because I want to keep it fresh."

Although this character was darker and grittier than some others he's played (like the jock in "28 Days"), Viggo was in no rush to ditch Tom Stall at the film's wrap party.

"I don't know what the hurry is, really," he said, his quiet voice almost a mumble. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't see that it ruins my life to have gotten involved with the character I'm playing. Our memories are finite. They decrease in their efficiency as we get older. So what's the hurry to forget something we learn something from and explored in an interesting way? I'm never in a hurry to shed it. I don't see it as a problem."

If absorbing life lessons from his fictional characters makes Viggo who he is, then the man should never stop acting. Multi-faceted doesn't begin to describe him. Take his photography, for instance. Abstracts, portraits, landscapes, horses, black-and-white, colorãthey're both surreal and comforting, be them in books or on gallery walls. His latest book is "Linger," a black-and-white photo/description exposÈ about loss, transition, change and renewal.

"Even when I shoot in color, I'm always thinking of contrast and composition," he said of the skill he picked up as a teen.

Although photographing people (some with a vintage 1904 4x5 camera as he did in the diary-like book "Sign Language") is what he loves doing, Viggo has found himself working more and more with landscapes, especially abstract landscapes. Busy doesn't begin to describe this thespian, who found little time to paint during his extensive and exotic movie shoots of late. So he turned to a quicker, cleaner, more portable artistic outletãphotography.

"[My recent photos] reflect how my life is," he said. "Over the last few years, it'säbeen a blur, so my pictures have been a blur. I'm making an effort to slow down a little. Certain things in my world and in my own life and family are becoming a little clearer in focus."

But even when he's riding horses through a desert, running through a Midwest field or helping Hobbits, Viggo found comfort in all branches of art.

"Weather you're taking a picture, painting, drawing, writing, actingãAll of those things are essentially the same thingãobserving, taking in your surroundings."

Drawing is one thing his son, Henry, seems to like, too. He's scored some bit parts on his father's films (including "LOTR), but even if he's not right by Viggo's side, he's still close as can be. Thanks to his drawing.

On the inside of Viggo's wrist is a small, lower-case "h."

"When [Henry] was a little boy, he used to draw [as he was learning] how to write. Obviously, he took an interest in drawing 'h' because that's his name. He drew an 'h' there once and I thought, that's cool." So he had a tattoo artist trace over the letter with ink, making his son's artwork permanent.

Throughout our chat about his various talents, Viggo shifts in his chair across from the coffee table, as if uncomfortable with having his artwork voiced out loud and analyzed. Talking about his son caused Viggo to grin sweetly, like he was remembering the day Henry, now 17, scrawled on his arm.

But then, the change.

On the mute television set, dialed in to CNN or some other news channel, horrific footage of a recent hurricane filled the screen. Viggo's voice cranked up, his posture shifted as he leaned in toward the set, his eyes practically burned with intensity. Irritation radiated from him as he expounded on his dismay at the government's response to Hurricane Katrina.

"All the excuses the government is making is just bullshxx. Sorry," he blushed at the profanity. "They have no honor. They can't even say 'I'm sorry, I'll do better.' They're just lying. As a parent, that's the worst king of example you can set for your kid. It's just bad. What it tells young people is that it's okay to lie if you can get away with it. That's really lame."

Viggo as a political warrior? I had this image in my mind of him as a poetry-spouting Mr. Sensitive, and yet here we were, discussing the state of our Union and how he feels about our current Commander in Chief (I think the word "boob" was used emphatically).

"If you were the CEO of a company, you [would be] fired," he said. "You've run this into the biggest debt, you've run this country into the ground. As far as us being safer, we're not safer. You've made a mess. As far as moral values, you lie all the time. How is that moral? As far as individual responsibility, you take none."

Somehow, I'd wandered into a Bill Maher television show. I can say, this wasn't the interview I thought I'd get, but those are always the best kind, aren't they? But with art comes passion, in many different forms. So surprised was I at Viggo's political point of view, I told him as muchãmost people don't realize how involved he is in our nation's happenings.

Well, he wants them to know now, he said. He's ready to start becoming more vocal, more outspoken on terms that anger and empower him.

"People have the courage to speak out, act on behalf of others and help in any way they can," he said, leaning back in his chair and sadly gazing at the news footage of rescue workers plucking a person off a nearly-submerged rooftop and mentioning how heartwarming it is to see people helping others out in dire times. "People are leading the wayä Americans have shown that they're just as good as anybody.

"Hopefully, those in government will stop yakking about it, complaining, making excuses and just get on board, follow the example the people are setting. Because it's a nation. Being patriotic is not about supporting the government, especially one like this, but any government. Being patriotic is about supporting your country."