Analysing Viggo Acting may be play for grown-ups, but Viggo Mortensen’s methods are serious. By Kate Whiting
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ith his reputation for being a somewhat intense method actor, I’m half expecting the interview with Viggo Mortensen to take place with me perched on a psychiatrist’s couch. After all, we’re chatting about his recent role playing the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. Luckily, he’s not taking things that far. Instead, the 53-year-old silver fox is happy for me to ask the probing questions today. It’s not long before he makes a confession, revealing that he initially had major doubts about taking on the part in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, but that the director – with whom he previously worked on Eastern Promises and A History Of Violence – brought him round. “I had some reservations that I wasn’t the best actor for the part – I thought it would be a bit of a leap,” says Mortensen, in his soft, deliberate drawl. “If another director had asked me, I might not have, but I’m glad I did. I learned a lot about Freud and early 20th century Vienna.” The film tells the story of Freud’s friendship with psychologist Carl Jung, and its breakdown when Jung rejects his mentor’s theories.
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Mortensen’s approach to acting is allconsuming. For his role as a father in postapocalyptic film The Road, he lost weight and spent time with homeless people. To get under Freud’s skin, he hung out in Viennese antique shops, leafing through the kind of books that would have been in his library, and learned all about cigars – a favourite of the neurologist. He says: “I like to amass a whole bunch of research, because it gives you a feeling for the world you’re going to inhabit.” It’s this depth of research that makes Mortensen such an appealing actor to director Cronenberg, who wanted no one else for Freud: “I love Viggo for the way he prepares. It’s not method acting, he never brings that stuff on the set or makes people acknowledge it, it’s just the way he works,” the film-maker tells Scout. “I find it very congenial because it’s very similar to the way I work. For example, we exchanged about 25 emails just about Freud’s cigars.” Mortensen clearly has an equally strong understanding of Cronenberg. “You could say about David what The New York Times said about Freud shortly after he died, which was that he was the most effective
disturber of complacency of his time, and I would say David’s right up there.” Although Oscar-nominated for his role as a Russian gangster in Eastern Promises, Mortensen is most popular for his breakthrough as Aragorn in The Lord Of The Rings. But he didn’t approach Freud any differently. “No matter how much research you do, and how good the script is, how well known the character you’re playing is, in the end you’re going to be adding yourself, your body, your mind and your feelings to it,” he says. “People asked me if I felt a big responsibility playing Aragorn. No, I’m just playing this character, I’m trying to find out as much as I can about it, so I don’t make an ass of myself, basically, and the same goes for Freud.” Rather than feeling daunted, the actor revelled in Freud’s intelligence and “wicked sense of humour”. “Vienna was very straight-laced, the censorship laws were very strict and Freud appreciated wordplay and wit,” he explains Acting is, he feels, about having fun. “It’s not an excuse to behave badly, but it’s basically similar to what we all do when we’re children, make believe. “As an adult you can’t suddenly dress up like a pirate and go running down the street. Kids do that quite easily, they can imagine being many different kinds of people and that’s what you do as an actor ideally. “No matter how serious the movie, it’s worthwhile remembering that it’s play.” A Dangerous Method is out now
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