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Hidalgo’sViggo MortensenBy: Lynn B.
For our interview in L.A.’s Century City, the popular actor entered with his arms loaded with his photo and poetry books (“Miyelo” and “The Horse is Good”) and short DVD’s. All were created from his experiences while doing research for and starring in Hidalgo. He made sure everyone in the room got one of each. Still shunning a Hollywood stylist, the rugged blue-eyed actor wore a wrinkled blue shirt and casual black pants. He planted a big urn of tea on our table and took a big sip from that strange, etched goblet with built-in metal straw that he was using the last time we spoke. “Aragorn” is a talker. We’re giving you the short version… AGW: Do you feel you got this role because of your work in the LOTR films? Viggo: Well, “The Fellowship of the Ring” had just come out and was a big hit and I guess the studio thought it was a worthwhile gamble but (director) Joe Johnston had seen me in A Walk on the Moon (a romance co-starring Diane Lane) and I guess it made him think I could be right. “Two Towers” came out when we were two-thirds of the way through shooting. AGW: You’re the only face on the Hidalgo poster. Viggo: That’s marketing. That poster certainly wasn’t in the lunch tent every day saying, “Don’t forget we’re making the big fat [Viggo] head poster movie!” (laughter). A lot of people know Omar Sharif and me but this was an ensemble like LOTR and like that film, it’s a largely unknown cast of very fine actors and actresses. AGW: But being able to ride a horse must have helped a lot. Viggo: When I was a boy I rode a lot until I was about 11 and then I didn’t until I was in my 20’s. In Young Guns 2 I got to ride and then again 12 years later on LOTR. AGW: You kept the horse (T.J.) who plays Hidalgo? Viggo: Yeah. I've got two. From “Lord of the Rings” and then this one. I keep them just outside of LA. at a friend's place who has a horse also. The ones in New Zealand I haven't brought over yet because they were doing reshoots last fall. I've been on tour without stopping so I need to let the dust settle and go back there. AGW: So you really bonded with T.J. ? Viggo: Yeah. He was just involved. In rehearsals he’d be like, ‘I just want to eat’. Then they drove camera and he’d do something and we’d say ‘well, God, that was amazing. Was that on film? Was that in focus? That wasn’t in the script but why not’? He’d never been on a movie set either. For a stallion to be that calm and patient and receptive and interested, we were lucky. AGW: Do you feel a kinship with animals? Viggo: I just had a good streak of luck I think. I've worked with very good horses or got to be really good friends with them, I guess. Or maybe it's just because horses are interesting people. AGW: Hidalgo is an old-time action adventure. Is this a risk in today’s rapid-fire world? Viggo:
This movie respects the audience's intelligence. There's a lot you can
take from it beyond the pure adventure side of it. [If you] tell the story
in a straight ahead away, and then there's a lot better chance that the
audience can find things in there for themselves. It's both an adventure
and at the same time a thought-provoking movie. Viggo:
I studied the historical period and tried to get the cowboy thing right.
I already had an interest in native American culture and it was important
to me to seem as fluent in Lakota (Sioux) as in English and I made that
effort. I had played around with the idea of being a cowboy or Indian
as a kid. Here I get to do both (Hopkins was half English and half Lakota
Sioux). I’m related to Buffalo Bill Cody on my mom’s side.
Viggo: I pretty much got to do it. I worked hard with the trainer and the stunt guy. I rode as a kid so I was comfortable. I’m sure the producers sometimes were sweating it but sometimes you take some chances in order to get something that you can’t really buy digitally or otherwise. You can follow me in one shot without cutting. You can be close on me and see what I’m doing. AGW: Any accidents? Viggo: Apart from getting really sore, I didn’t have any really bad spills or anything. The most dangerous thing we did was the start of the race. The Arabians are a pretty high-strung breed and we’re all packed together knee to knee. Once the horses realize what we’re up to, they’re wanting to go and they’re all wanting to kill each other. I’m on this little horse, which is effective visually, but he’s a stallion who thinks he’s pretty tough so he’s wanting to pick fights. Some people did get hurt. AGW: Do you actually play the harmonica? Was that you in the film? Viggo: Yeah, that was me playing but I don’t know if, viewing that, you would say I can play the harmonica but good enough to seem like someone who does it for his own enjoyment I suppose. AGW: Of all your passions, what is closest to our heart? The art, photography or writing? Viggo: I like them all equally I think. They’re all kind of the same impulse. It’s a way to disengage sometimes when I’m on a movie set. I’ll go write something or take pictures. Art lets me take part in my own life. If I don’t make some effort to be involved, my life goes by and I don’t remember to hear, or see or be involved. AGW: Some people might think that this is an Arab-bashing film since an American horse beats Arabian stallions in the big race. Viggo: Yeah. Although this was greenlit two years before September 11th and finished shooting before the war in Iraq, some people think ‘oh, Americans want to make another big movie, a cowboy going over there to Arabia, sure, I know what this is’. People that I've spoken with traveling around the country, whether they be Muslim or Native American, have been pleasantly surprised. They’ve thought that ‘it's an entertaining Hollywood movie, that treats my culture with some dignity and respect’. The story [shows] that we are connected to other people and the horses themselves are connected. It is one world. |
 
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“Return
of the King” launched soft-spoken actor Viggo Mortensen into a fame
stratosphere that few inhabit and, although grateful for the chances he’s
been given, the actor couldn’t care less. Called “No Ego Viggo”
by the writer of his new adventure film Hidalgo, Mortensen is
more interested in and excited about his research into the American West,
Arabian culture and the character he plays than the fact that his “big
head” poster is selling the movie. He’s passionate about his
characters and cowboy long-distance rider Frank Hopkins is no exception.
Like every good cowboy, Viggo loves his horse! After bonding with T.J.,
the little mustang he rides in Hidalgo, Viggo bought him so they
could stay together.