- Purchased the horses he rode in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and Hidalgo (2004) after the films were completed.
- Is also a jazz musician - he has released three CDs so far.
- Speaks fluent English, Spanish, Danish, and French, but he also speaks yet not fluently Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Italian and Arabic.
- At first, turned down the part of Aragorn of Lord of the Rings. His son convinced him to do the part.
- Broke two toes during the filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), in the scene where he kicks an Orc helmet.
- While filming "The Lord of The Rings" trilogy in New Zealand, he would go surfing with the other actors in their spare time. One day he suffered an accident which left a bruise on the right side of his face. As a result, director Peter Jackson had to shoot only the left side of his face in the entire Moria sequence.
- He actually painted the large murals in his artist's studio in the film A Perfect Murder (1998).
- While working on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he asked writer/director Peter Jackson to revise scripts so that his character Aragorn would be speaking in the Elvish language in several scenes of all three movies.
- Got so into his character of Aragorn that director Peter Jackson once addressed him as Aragorn for over half an hour, and Mortensen didn't even realize it.
- A skilled horseman, he did all his own stunts in Hidalgo (2004), including a breakneck bareback ride that even the stuntman couldn't handle.
- He became good friends with the close-knit stunt men on the "Lord of the Rings" films, but they were wary of doing fight scenes with him because, carried away with the intensity of his character Aragorn, he would frequently "really go at them" and leave the other combatants in bruises. Massive actor Lawrence Makoare, playing Lurtz under heaps of make-up which restricted his vision, also got carried away during their fight scene at the conclusion of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and, for once, Mortensen was left more bruised than the other actor.
- Was on April 16th 2010 knighted by Queen Margarethe II of Denmark. He is now one of five knights from "The Lord of the Rings" production; the others being Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee and Peter Jackson.
- Elijah Wood said of him: "Everyone talks about how much integrity he has and how brilliant he is. And it's true. He's also completely insane.".
- Worked as a translator for the Swedish hockey team during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and was at the 'miracle' game between the Soviet Union and United States.
- He did all of his own stunts in the 1988 horror thriller "Prison." Stunt coordinator Kane Hodder even gave him a "Stunt Crew" T-shirt after filming wrapped.
- In 1998, he appeared in two remakes of Alfred Hitchcock films: A Perfect Murder (1998), a remake of Dial M for Murder (1954), and Psycho (1998), a remake of Psycho (1960).
- Mortensen did not participate in the pre-production stunt and sword training given to the actors in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy as he was cast as a replacement only two days prior to the start of filming. However, at the end of filming, the film's swordmaster, the legendary Bob Anderson, stated that Mortenson was the best swordsman he'd ever trained.
- Owner of publishing company Perceval Press.
- An accomplished horseman in his spare time, Mortensen requested that his "Rings" character Aragorn be given more saddle time than was originally scripted. He also kept his on-screen horse nearby during the entire principal photography schedule in order to ride in his off-hours and strengthen his relationship with the horse.
- Wore a Montreal Canadiens jersey under his costume during the filming of The Lord of the Rings films.
- Graduated from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York in 1980 with a degree in Government and Spanish.
- Broke a tooth while filming a fight sequence for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002); he asked the crew if they would glue it back on so he could finish the scene.
- His "Lord of The Rings" co-star Billy Boyd described him as 'mad as a fish.'.
- Replaced Stuart Townsend in the role of Aragorn/Strider in The Lord of the Rings, after filming began.
- Had a book of poetry printed before he was known. The title: "Ten Last Night."
- He's made movies where he spoke in English, Danish, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Italian.
- Worked as a truck driver while living in Denmark
- Writes poetry in his spare time.
- Lived in South America from age two to age 11.
- Although their divorce only became final in 1998, he and his former wife, Exene Cervenka, separated in late 1990/early 1991 after less than 3 years of marriage but remain close friends often working together and co-parenting their son.
- Spent a couple weeks in Russia prior to filming Eastern Promises (2007) to research his role and better understand his character.
- Admitted in an interview that when he first started out as an actor, his agents encouraged him to change his name to "Vic Morten." Obviously, he refused.
- He was among the actors considered for the role of Wolverine in X-Men (2000) before Hugh Jackman was cast.
- His father was Danish. His mother was American, born in Watertown, Jefferson, New York, in upstate NY. She was of English, and more distant Scottish, ancestry. Viggo's maternal grandfather, Walter Sidney Atkinson, was from Parrsboro, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada, and his maternal grandmother, Mary Annis (Gamble), was from New York, and had deep roots in NY and Connecticut.
- Has two younger brothers, Walter and Charles. They are both geologists.
- He was cut from his first two movies (Swing Shift (1984) and The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)), without being told by the filmmakers. He had encouraged his family to go see them in theaters, only to be told his scenes were not in the film, and he didn't appear in the credits. Viggo's mother became concerned that he had been caught up in New York's crack epidemic and was lying about his lifestyle.
- He has dual American and Danish citizenship.
- On December 4th, 2009, for the Montréal Canadiens centennial celebration at the Bell Center, Viggo Mortensen - a long-time Canadiens fan - came out in his red Habs jersey to introduce Guy Lafleur, "my all-time hero," in French.
- Speaks fluent French.
- After his parents divorced when he was 11, he moved to New York with his mother and two younger brothers.
- Has been photographing for years, recently debuted with an exhibition at the Robert Mann Gallery in NYC. -- American Photo, July/August 2000.
- As Viggo lived in Argentina as a child, he is a fan of Argentine soccer team San Lorenzo (real name of the team: "San Lorenzo of Almagro," from Buenos Aires City). Viggo usually wear clothes and accessories with this team's colors (red and blue) the last time in public, at the Rome Festival, in the "Alatriste" Premiere.
- He received the scar on his upper lip after scratching his face on a barbed wire fence at a Halloween party.
- Replaced Christoph Waltz in the role of Sigmund Freud in A Dangerous Method (2011) after Waltz backed out of the project in order to film Water for Elephants (2011).
- Is a big fan of the New York Mets and the Montreal Canadiens. When filming A History of Violence (2005), he showed up on the Toronto set wearing a Canadiens' jersey.
- For his role in Eastern Promises (2007), he stated that part of his performance was inspired by Russian hockey player Alexei Kovalev.
- Became a father for the 1st time at age 29 when his [now ex] wife Exene Cervenka gave birth to their son Henry Mortensen on January 28, 1988.
- In 2003 he visited Denmark and had a booksigning, an art exhibition opening and The Lord of The Rings premiere.
- In a relationship with Ariadna Gil since 2009.
- Was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in June 2004.
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