This Day in Horror History: Happy Birthday, Viggo Mortensen!
Mike Sprague
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On this day in horror history, actor, author, musician, photographer, poet, and painter Viggo Mortensen was born in Watertown, New York in 1958.
Mortensen is best known for his role as Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
But all of us horror fans know him for roles such as Edward “Tex” Sawyer in Jeff Burr’s Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Lucifer in Gregory Widen’s The Prophecy, and Sam Loomis in Gus Van Sant’s remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho.
Not to mention roles in thrillers like John Hillcoat’s The Road, Peter Weir’s Witness, Brian De Palma’s Carlito’s Way, Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide, Ridley Scott’s G.I. Jane, Rob Cohen’s Daylight, and Andrew Davis’ A Perfect Murder with Gwyneth Paltrow.
My personal favorite work he’s done has been under the direction of Scanners and The Fly director David Cronenberg such as A History of Violence and Sigmund Freud in A Dangerous Method with Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender.
Mortensen seems to have a love for westerns as he has starred in a few such as Geoff Murphy’s Young Guns II, Joe Johnston’s Hidalgo, and Ed Harris’ Appaloosa.
And let’s not forget before we wrap this up and the man has also snagged Oscar nominations for Best Actor for his roles in films such as David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises, Matt Ross’ Captain Fantastic, and Peter Farrelly’s Green Book.
What’s your favorite Viggo Mortensen movie? Make sure to let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!
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