Mortensen Quotes & Sayings

I'm an optimist; I always hope that each new script is going to be a great story. — Viggo Mortensen

As a kid I read Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, and a few others. As an adult have admired Leonardo da Vinci's drawings and notebooks. — Viggo Mortensen

When we shot 'The Lord of the Rings,' we had special permission to film in wild areas of New Zealand that could be accessed only by helicopter. They would drop us off and we would work all day, and they'd pick us up and take us out again. — Viggo Mortensen

I have a multicultural background, so I tend to have an open mind about things, and I find other cultures interesting. — Viggo Mortensen

Do not even suggest jazz. I saw Newsies and was traumatized for, like, five years. — Richelle Mead

You can't really go back to where you came from. I don't think any of us can. — Viggo Mortensen

You know, Freud accepted his lot very stoically and very well and with a sense of humor. He aged and died gracefully, and there's a lot to be said for that. — Viggo Mortensen

I played Lucifer once, which is sort of a difficult character to research. I thought to myself, "We all have the potential to be selfish, to be cruel - at least to think evil thoughts, even if we don't ever act out on them. Even if we don't ever think we behave badly, we probably do more than we realize." — Viggo Mortensen

Adult characters are all the things they've encountered over time. But kids haven't accumulated all the life experience, all the regrets. They tend to be more in the moment, more willing to play, to be joyful. — Viggo Mortensen

People talk about method actors, meaning someone that's prepared very, very well, or whatever they mean when they talk about it. But the right method is whatever works for you. And what works for me on any given day is going to be different. — Viggo Mortensen

I was born in New York but as a baby moved to Venezuela and Argentina. I've also lived in Denmark, where my father's from. I've traveled a lot, and having that sort of background probably increased the chance that I was going to remain curious as an adult about people who are different. — Viggo Mortensen

You can't really divorce yourself and your life from the world you live in. — Viggo Mortensen

Any nominations a movie gets helps to raise the level of curiosity in the public, so in that sense awards and nominations are important. — Viggo Mortensen

To be an artist, you don't have to compose music or paint or be in the movies or write books. It's just a way of living. It has to do with paying attention, remembering, filtering what you see and answering back, participating in life. — Viggo Mortensen

This basic thing I always do: 'What happened between the character's birth, and page one of the script?' Anything that's not in the story, I'll fill in the blanks. — Viggo Mortensen

It's true that I have a wide range of interests. I like to write and paint and make music and go walking on my own and garden. In fact, gardening is probably what I enjoy doing more than anything else. — Viggo Mortensen

I hate divers, like Cristiano Ronaldo, who might be the greatest athlete in the sport, but he's a big baby. If things are going well he's great, but when things are going badly it's the ref's fault, it's his teammates' fault. — Viggo Mortensen

I grew up with horses when I was a kid in Argentina. I like them. I respect them. I'm careful around them. You never know what they're going to do. They're endlessly interesting. I've had some good acting partners that were horses over the years. — Viggo Mortensen

Each time I make a movie, it's like a paid scholarship to a different university course. — Viggo Mortensen

We all experience many freakish and unexpected events - you have to be open to suffering a little. The philosopher Schopenhauer talked about how out of the randomness, there is an apparent intention in the fate of an individual that can be glimpsed later on. When you are an old guy, you can look back, and maybe this rambling life has some through-line. Others can see it better sometimes. But when you glimpse it yourself, you see it more clearly than anyone. — Viggo Mortensen

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren't enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress. — Viggo Mortensen

One of the most effective tools that the Cheney-Bush junta has used to marginalize dissenting or even mildly inquisitive American citizens has been the accusation of being unpatriotic. — Viggo Mortensen

To be honest, I don't really care about any pope. It's not something I think about much, to be quite honest with you. — Viggo Mortensen

Kids accept where they are because they don't know the past. They know what they have; they know where they are. — Viggo Mortensen

Toronto Film Festival is one of those festivals where there are 400 movies, and unless you have a distributor who is super confident and puts a lot of money into it, sometimes movies can go unwatched or unnoticed. — Viggo Mortensen

If you tell the story emotionally in a truthful way, then you start naturally looking at the landscape and thinking "Wow, we have to watch out." — Viggo Mortensen

In a lot of places in the United States and certainly even more places around the world, the image of the cowboy has become, for some people, a negative one. The word 'cowboy' implies a strong, stubborn individual whose individualism depends on pulling down other people's individualism. — Viggo Mortensen

I'm not a great fan of monarchy in general, but I have to say the Danish monarchy is closer to the people; it's not as stuffy as the English one. — Viggo Mortensen

I'm sort of contrary and stubborn sometimes. When everybody says, 'You have to read this book! You have to read this book!' I'm like 'Oh, I'll get around to it.' — Viggo Mortensen

Photography, painting or poetry - those are just extensions of me, how I perceive things; they are my way of communicating. — Viggo Mortensen

Awards for arts, where you make comparisons, don't make much sense. — Viggo Mortensen

He [Viggo Mortensen] was standing behind the camera throwing the apples ... And I've never seen him so happy. — Billy Boyd

When I was 11, I moved to the United States with my two brothers and my mom. We moved to northern New York, up near the Canadian border, from Argentina, and there was nobody there that spoke Spanish, and because there was no internet at the time, not even cable TV yet, I lost the connection with my childhood friends and the culture I had been brought up with for my first decade completely. — Viggo Mortensen

Those who have the power and should be the most responsible are often the least responsible. — Viggo Mortensen

I would literally climb out of the cradle while my parents slept, go and crawl off. I did this a couple of times apparently. I'd cross the road and into someone's house, wake them up banging pots and pans in the kitchen. — Viggo Mortensen

The money I earn from films means I can help the people I want to help - you can do a lot of good if you want to. — Viggo Mortensen

Jesus," I said. "That was bad."
Seth looked startled - and then hurt. "Bad?"
"No, not performance bad - more like dirty, wicked bad. The kind of stuff that gets an R rating."
"What, we can't do that?" He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my waist, nuzzling my neck.
"Well, yeah ... er, well, damn it. We're not supposed to be. Not at all. It's just that last time, it was like ... I don't know. It was making love. This time it was ... "
"Fucking?" he supplied.
"Oh God," I groaned. "Seth Mortensen just said 'fucking' out loud. The end times are near. — Richelle Mead

At the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century in Austria, there was a lot of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism in Austria was much more pervasive than in Germany. And Austrians took to Nazi ideas and anti-Semitism much more readily than Germans did, really. — Viggo Mortensen

I'm very comfortable in Argentina. I was raised there as a baby and stayed there until I was 11 years old, so the first decade of my life or my formative years were spent in Argentina. I stayed in tune with the food, music and language. — Viggo Mortensen

In principle, I think the idea of rewarding a good effort is interesting, but movies are generally different from each other as are performances and the conditions on how the performances are given and how they're edited and so forth. — Viggo Mortensen

'The Road' was a movie that has a good reputation, even though it wasn't released very well, but that's a movie I'm very proud of. — Viggo Mortensen

Life is short and the older you get, the more you feel it. Indeed, the shorter it is. People lose their capacity to walk, run, travel, think, and experience life. I realise how important it is to use the time I have. — Viggo Mortensen

Photography, like any other art, is a form of communication. The artist is not blowing bubbles for his own gratification, but is speaking a language, is telling somebody something. — William Mortensen

There might be people out there who wouldn't hire me because they thought I should keep my mouth shut, but I'm not aware of that. Even if I saw evidence of that, it wouldn't really concern me. — Viggo Mortensen

I've been naked physically in movies - but it's a whole other thing to be naked emotionally in a way that's not just a distraction or a character. — Viggo Mortensen

Freud was the son of a Jewish merchant who had to move his whole family to Vienna because he couldn't get work. He, as a boy, had to watch his father be mocked and abused on the street for being Jewish ... You develop a thick skin and you develop a certain kind of wit to defend yourself. — Viggo Mortensen

In other words, I'm against cheating, greed, cruelty, racism, imperialism, religious fundamentalism, treason, and the seemingly limitless capacity for hypocrisy shown by Bush and his administration. — Viggo Mortensen

A lot of people can forget about you in Los Angeles. — Viggo Mortensen

Most actors can't make any kind of living. — Viggo Mortensen

1. The picture must, by its mere arrangement, make you look at it. 2. Having looked - see! 3. Having seen - enjoy! The — William Mortensen

I'm certainly curious about people. As a kid, I moved around a lot. I was raised in a lot of different places, and thanks to working in the movies, I've gotten to keep traveling. I've always been interested in other cultures and languages. — Viggo Mortensen

When I heard Puerto Ricans in New York City, it sounded very strange. And the first time I heard someone from Spain, I thought they had a speech impediment! — Viggo Mortensen

It's not the end of the world if I can't get a film job, or if a movie doesn't turn out well - even though I don't like it when that happens. There are other things I enjoy doing, and I involve myself in them. — Viggo Mortensen

I've just done a movie - Albino Alligator - with Viggo Mortensen, who's an actor I idolize. He influenced me in a way that has helped me move toward getting lead parts instead of supporting parts, merely through his presence. So now I tell everyone, as a joke, that I'm entering my Viggo Mortensen phase. — Skeet Ulrich

I really enjoyed working with New Zealanders as crew members, as teammates. They're great, and it's a beautiful country. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and I've traveled quite a bit. — Viggo Mortensen

I know people who prepare their roles in such a way that they technically look ahead and memorize their gestures, and then they stick to it. Those that are technically proficient enough can make it seem natural, but they do that and don't really take in what other people are doing. — Viggo Mortensen

We all have secrets, some secrets bigger than others, is a normal human thing. — Viggo Mortensen

Bless you, daugher of man, Carter said, his eyes luminous and almost silver now. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes and caught my breath. His lips were both burning hot and icy cold. — Richelle Mead

Jung viewed Freud as a mentor, but he never wanted to be anybody's disciple. — Viggo Mortensen

Nobody really knows anybody completely, even if they've been married to 'em for 53 years, you know? — Viggo Mortensen

Travel is one of the best anti-war weapons that there are. I've been to Iran, and if you're there you see little kids, cops, old people, cemeteries. Once you see that, you can't say, 'Oh, Iran, let's bomb them.' — Viggo Mortensen

I did the David Cronenberg film, A History of Violence, with Viggo Mortensen and I played a real sociopath. For the next seven years, I played the psycho-of-the-week. — Greg Bryk

Be kind. It's worthwhile to make an effort to learn about other people and figure out what you might have in common with them. — Viggo Mortensen

Is it true? You had a clean getaway and risked it all for me?"
I Swallowed. "It wouldn't have been a clean getaway without you. — Richelle Mead

With few exceptions, one ought always do what one is afraid of. — Viggo Mortensen

Further devastation of the air, land and sea is obviously a very real possibility, unless the attitudes of politicians and all who irresponsibly exploit our natural resources change significantly in the very near future and all collaborate and sacrifice for the good of the planet. — Viggo Mortensen

You know, 'Viggo' is a pretty dorky name in Denmark. It's like 'Oswald' or something. It's a very old Scandinavian name, at least 1,000 years old. — Viggo Mortensen

Can you join, ask sincerely for affection
without sweaty hand of expectation,
understanding and accepting
if it never is given? — Viggo Mortensen

I prefer the smaller acting than big histrionics. It's about reacting and looks, which is often underestimated. — Viggo Mortensen

America is an empire in decay. But we don't have to lash out and do damage on the way down. We can reverse some of the damage we've done. It's possible. — Viggo Mortensen

On a practical level, poetry isn't something anybody has really made a great living at. I might sell some books and, once in a while, someone might pay to hear me read. — Viggo Mortensen

More often than not, the experience of shooting the movie has been disappointing and the end product has been a mere shadow of what I hoped it would be. But immersing myself in the story - that's what I like best of all. — Viggo Mortensen

You are the world, Letha.. — Richelle Mead

Hey," he replied. "You look beautiful today."
I glanced down and laughed. Along with my limited wardrobe, I was also discovering that not doing laundry decreased my clothing options even further. I was in jeans and a plain black T-shirt today, and my hair had been lucky to get a quick brushing, let alone any real styling. I'd overslept and figured beachcombing didn't require much primping anyway.
"Liar," I said. "I practically rolled out of bed this morning."
"You forget that I've seen you in just about every state imaginable. You don't have to have every detail primped and perfect. You're beautiful even when you're disheveled. Sometimes more so. — Richelle Mead

I take my work seriously, but it's not the only thing that exists in the world. — Viggo Mortensen

I know I said I wanted to live forever and I would never be bored, but the reality is, it's probably kind of sad to live forever if you're the only one sticking around. — Viggo Mortensen

No," he said, voice thick and husky. His fingers dug into the chair's arms. "You'd better not get too close."
I stopped, laughing softly. "You don't strike me as the assaulting type, Mortensen."
"Yeah, well, there's a first time for everything. — Richelle Mead

I have a work ethic. If I say I'm going to do something, I do it. — Viggo Mortensen

I became a member of the faculty at Northwestern University in 1965 but did not complete my thesis until two years later at a graduate ceremony at which Carnegie Institute of Technology became Carnegie-Mellon University. At Northwestern, I was mentored by the 'three Bobs:' Robert Eisner, Robert Strotz and Robert Clower. — Dale T. Mortensen

For 'Hidalgo,' I just spent as much time around horses as I could, which made sense. — Viggo Mortensen

You see people on the street yelling and think they're crazy, but maybe they're just happy and expressing what they feel at all times. — Viggo Mortensen

People will like to say that 'Eastern Promises' is brutal, but the only reason they say that is because the scenes stick with them. They are realistic. They are in-your-face and you see the consequences. It's not a bunch of quick editing cuts. — Viggo Mortensen

I like movies that leave you with something to think about, to discuss, to debate, you know? — Viggo Mortensen

Joseph Campbell said the privilege of a lifetime is being yourself. That's his feeling. And I guess it's mine too. — Viggo Mortensen

I'm not that involved in personal grooming. But I try not to be offensive to people. — Viggo Mortensen

If you don't find some way to discuss what's going on inside you, it can come out in other ways that are self-destructive. — Viggo Mortensen

In a movie, you're raw material, just a hue of some color and the director makes the painting. — Viggo Mortensen

Seth's quote from his book:
"And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God and I'd get Him to swap our places"
-"Running up that Hill" by Kate Bush — Richelle Mead

In a lot of ways, I envy someone like Omar Sharif who lived in a hotel for decades. — Viggo Mortensen

I've never played a Dane in a movie. I've had offers to be in Danish movies, including for some good directors, but I either had a job at the time or, when I was available, the movie just didn't happen. Hopefully someday I'll do one. — Viggo Mortensen

You have a moral obligation to finish the job you said you would do. — Viggo Mortensen

When I make a movie, I don't break it down and analyze it. I could but it would get in the way of doing a job - on instinct based on all the research we did going in. you want to trust yourself and your director and your acting partners in the circumstances you're shooting. I don't like to have any kind of overview. — Viggo Mortensen

I'm not afraid of death, but I resent it. I think it's unfair and irritating. Every time I see something beautiful, I not only want to return to it, but it makes me want to see other beautiful things. I know I'm not going to get to all the places I want to go. — Viggo Mortensen

Over the years, the technology of trade has changed in response to advances in the ability to communicate. From its origins on the streets of Chicago, the Board of Trade moved to a building housing 'trading pits' for the open-outcry exchange by brokers representing buyers and sellers. — Dale T. Mortensen

I grew up listening to my father argue politics into the night and taking trips every Saturday to the Hood River library where my mother maintained her interest in reading and encouraged the same from her sons. — Dale T. Mortensen

What art does is it makes you feel alive and makes you feel like you're connected. — Viggo Mortensen

I have no idea what 'method actor' means. — Viggo Mortensen

If tone is granted to be subjected to control, why not line also, which has equal emotional significance? And if line, why not shapes and forms? And if shapes and forms, why not allow elision or emphasis of detail? And if all these things are allowed, what becomes of the record of actuality ? ... Sunk without a trace! — William Mortensen

I like a twisted sense of humour. On 'A History of Violence,' David Cronenberg and I would be doing the grimmest scenes and laugh a lot. — Viggo Mortensen

In response to the drop in wealth suffered as a consequence of the 2008 financial crisis, homeowners and firms did attempt to increase savings in financial assets by reducing expenditure on durables. — Dale T. Mortensen