Viggo Mortensen

Background

Born in Manhattan, New York, to a Danish father and an American mother, Mortensen lived in Argentina, Venezuela, and Denmark in childhood before returning to the United States and studying at St. Lawrence University.

Career

He took supporting roles for two decades before being cast as Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. He worked twice with David Cronenberg on “A History of Violence” and “Eastern Promises,” and earned Oscar nominations for Matt Ross’s “Captain Fantastic” and Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book.” He directed and starred in “Falling.”

Style

Mortensen is a multilingual actor — fluent in English, Spanish, Danish, and French — and has parallel careers as a poet, painter, and small-press publisher.