{"id":17065,"date":"2016-08-17T10:00:39","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T08:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/berlin030.de\/?p=17065"},"modified":"2016-08-17T10:00:39","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T08:00:39","slug":"die-nacktszene-gehoert-zu-dieser-geschichte-interview-mit-viggo-mortensen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/2016\/08\/17\/die-nacktszene-gehoert-zu-dieser-geschichte-interview-mit-viggo-mortensen\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Nude Scene is Part of the Story\u201d \u2013 Interview with Viggo Mortensen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Viggo Mortensen\u2019s breakthrough came as the noble hero Aragorn in \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d. He went on to appear as Sigmund Freud in David Cronenberg\u2019s \u201cA Dangerous Method\u201d, who also cast him in \u201cA History of Violence\u201d as well as the mafia thriller \u201cEastern Promises\u201d. Other films starring the Dane, who grew up in South America, include \u201cG.I. Jane\u201d, \u201cPsycho\u201d and \u201c28 Days\u201d. After taking on the role of Beatnik poet William Burroughs in \u201cOn the Road\u201d and appearing in the Patricia Highsmith adaptation \u201cThe Two Faces of January\u201d, Mortensen now features as a hippie father in \u201cCaptain Fantastic: From the Wilderness and Back\u201d, raising his six children in a self-sufficient way in the woods.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mr Mortensen, when you roam the forests in \u201cCaptain Fantastic\u201d, one is reminded of \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen:<\/strong> The children who acted in the film said the same \u2013 and they\u2019re huge fans! I have a beard and lead a group of little people through the forest (Laughs). However, my character Ben is a far better communicator than Aragorn.<\/p>\n

What interested you about this script?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen<\/strong>: I like surprises. Sometimes you laugh out loud or you are deeply moved \u2013 that\u2019s how I felt reading the script for the first time. Thematically, it\u2019s about the perfect father, who of course can never exist, but is a nice conceptual model. It\u2019s like democracy. Complete democracy is impossible, yet we should nonetheless strive for it. At least we live in a form of state that comes closest to democracy so far. Being a father and democracy are both ongoing processes that are never truly finished.<\/p>\n

How much do you need to have in common with your characters?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen<\/strong>: There are plenty of overlaps between me and this role. With every character you have to learn something new. At the same time, there are always things you already know, which of course makes acting much easier. For example, I\u2019ve known how to hunt and fish since I was a little boy. On the other hand, I did have some trouble with the climbing because I\u2019m afraid of heights.<\/p>\n

\"Captain
\u00a0Captain Fantastic: Viggo Mortensen likes quirky roles. \u00a9 Universal Pictures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How politically close do you feel to this hippie father Ben, whom you play?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen<\/strong>: I like Ben\u2019s parenting methods. He relies on open conversation and wants to encourage his six children to think for themselves. Such principles aren\u2019t unknown to me; I also raised my own son using these methods. It can be tiring at times and lead to surprising results. Kids who think for themselves sometimes say to their dad: \u2018You\u2019re completely mad.\u2019 But at least that leads to productive discussions.<\/p>\n

As well as acting, you also work as a painter, musician and photographer. How does one as an artist avoid commercial sell-out? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen<\/strong>: You have to keep reinventing yourself, not just as an artist, but as a person in general. Every morning when you wake up, you rebuild your engine, whether you realise it or not. And with every person you meet, you play a different role. You speak to your wife in the morning differently to, say, a police officer who stops you on your way to work.<\/p>\n

How helpful was \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d for your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen<\/strong>: If I weren\u2019t fairly well known, I probably wouldn\u2019t have got the part in \u201cCaptain Fantastic\u201d. Conversely, an actor\u2019s popularity can really help smaller films get made in the first place.<\/p>\n

Are you more proud of such smaller projects than of a blockbuster?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen<\/strong>: For some stars, the motto when choosing projects is: \u201cOne film for the studios. One film for me.\u201d I\u2019d prefer it if I could make all my films for myself! (Laughs) The budget doesn\u2019t really matter to me; I\u2019m mainly interested in the story that\u2019s being told. There\u2019s actually no plan for my career \u2013 maybe I should put one together sometime. But so far, I\u2019m quite happy with how things have turned out.<\/p>\n

\"Captain
\u00a0Art before commerce. Thanks to \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d, Viggo Mortensen can pick and choose his roles.\u00a0\u00a9 Universal Pictures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Would you recommend this job to your son?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen<\/strong>: I think he\u2019ll definitely work in a creative profession. He\u2019s a good musician and a very talented writer. He\u2019s also acted a few times \u2013 but I\u2019m not sure what path he\u2019ll eventually take.<\/p>\n

Can you still sit unnoticed in a caf\u00e9 and observe your surroundings?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen<\/strong>: I hardly have any trouble with that. It depends a lot on your own behaviour and how much you give away. People around you sense quickly if you\u2019re nervous. It happens completely unconsciously and has to do with our animal instincts. Others automatically notice if you\u2019re afraid of being recognised. If you clearly show that you want to be left in peace, that\u2019s usually respected.<\/p>\n

You have a funny nude scene in the film. Did you have any doubts about doing it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen:<\/strong> The nude scene is part of this story. We actually talked about it again before shooting. It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t want to do the scene. The real issue was whether it was important for the plot or whether it was just too distracting. In the end, there was no good reason to skip appearing nude. It shows how this family lives. And it demonstrates how shocked others are by their way of life.<\/p>\n

You have a reputation as Mr Cool \u2013 how true is that image?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mortensen<\/strong>: That\u2019s for others to decide. I just try to stay as relaxed as possible. Only when I\u2019m relaxed can I do good work.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaptain Fantastic\u201d in cinemas from 18 August.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Viggo Mortensen\u2019s breakthrough came as the noble hero Aragorn in \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d. He went on to appear as Sigmund Freud in \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview-kino","category-kino","post_format-post-format-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berlin030.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}