Zitat des Tages von Viggo Mortensen:
Some people who like dogs don't like cats, but I'm not like that.
I love rehearsing, but a lot of directors don't, and some actors don't.
I don't like the 'must', the 'always', and the 'never' words. I don't like 'no' either.
There's no sense in doing something, especially if it's a hard job, if you can't have a little fun.
If you're trying to please everyone, then you're not going to make anything that is honestly yours, I don't think, in the long run.
Kids accept where they are because they don't know the past. They know what they have; they know where they are.
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.
It's just like with people. You're going to get along better working with them - human or equine - if you ask politely rather than demand that they do things.
I have a roof over my head. I had a breakfast, and a lot of people in the world can't say that. I'm not going to complain about being interviewed.
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.
The best thing an actor can be is flexible, because all directors are different and all actors are different.
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.
Like most people I can be lazy, so it's nice to have a goal or deadline or reason to work out. I feel better when I get to exercise, or when I'm outdoors. I like to hike, swim and run, and I love to play soccer.
I'm not afraid of death, but I resent it. I think it's unfair and irritating.
I think that people who get to a certain position, and then try to ferociously defend it or build on it, it's kind of a dead-end street. You see people becoming miserable that way.
When I land in a country and they ask for 'occupation,' I always just put 'artist.' I think that covers all of it.
In terms of the movie business, being in a 'Lord of the Rings' has given me more interesting options as work.
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.
When I have a day off, I won't spend it at a Hollywood party. I'd rather be at home with paints and a blank canvas.
I mean, any movie or story that makes you accept and be grateful for something about your life is doing something right.
I like the detail work of telling a story in small pieces, as is done in movie-making, and also the long leap of faith needed to see a theatre performance through each night. Both require focus and self-discipline.
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.
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.
I've never been conscious of having any real career plan, and I do not have a wish-list of actors, directors, screenwriters, or cameramen I'm hoping to work with. Life, I feel, has a way of leading us to the right situations and people, or at least to interesting ones.
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.
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.
Anyone can identify with those moments in life where circumstances or people inform us that we've strayed from the path of our better nature and intentions. We know what that's like, and we resist it - so as not to feel like we're bad people.
I'm just looking as always for something that's stimulating and I hope to find a good story that's a challenge, whether it's big or small. Or that it finds me. I don't have like a career plan. Maybe I should, but I don't.
I have never been in a natural place and felt that it was a waste of time. I never have. And it's a relief. If I'm walking around a desert or whatever, every second is worthwhile.
It's always interesting to play a character that obviously has a secret.
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.
Those who have the power and should be the most responsible are often the least responsible.
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. If you allow yourself to be somewhat curious - and if you get into the habit of doing that - it's the first step to being open minded and realizing that your points of view aren't totally opposite.
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.
I've been lucky to learn by playing all kinds of roles and watching all kinds of really good cinematographers, actors, and directors for many years before people were even aware of me in terms of audience.
I like naturally occurring film grain, and what happens to film when it's under- and over-exposed.
