- The 65-year-old actor worked steadily throughout the 1980s and 1990s before his breakthrough role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings made him a star
- Mortensen was promoting his new movie The Dead Don’t Hurt when he told The Jess Cagle Show he would return to Middle-Earth if asked
- ‘It’d be great to revisit that universe. But I don’t know how that would happen exactly. Of course I’m open to it,’ he said
Just weeks after Warner Bros. revealed a new Lord of the Rings movie is happening, one of the original trilogy’s stars – Viggo Mortensen – would be up for returning.
The 65-year-old actor worked steadily throughout the 1980s and 1990s before his breakthrough role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings made him a household name.
Mortensen was promoting his new movie The Dead Don’t Hurt (which he also wrote and directed) – in theaters May 31 – when he told The Jess Cagle Show he would return to Middle-Earth if asked.
‘It’d be great to revisit that universe. But I don’t know how that would happen exactly. Of course I’m open to it,’ he said.
He starred in all three films – 2001’s Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2002’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and 2003’s The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the last of which won 11 Oscars including Best Picture.
Just weeks after Warner Bros. revealed a new Lord of the Rings movie is happening, one of the original trilogy’s stars – Viggo Mortensen – would be up for returning.
The 65-year-old actor worked steadily throughout the 1980s and 1990s before his breakthrough role as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings made him a household name
The actor confirmed that he keeps in touch with all of his co-stars, though he admits he’s not as social media savvy as his cohorts.
‘I think the other guys, which are much more social media savvy than I am, they may have more things, and I know they go to conventions and do lots of things involved in that universe, but we stay in touch,’ Mortensen said.
‘We just lost one of our best friends, Bernard Hill, who played King Théoden, who appears first and the second and the third. Great actor, really good friend. And we all communicated about him,’ Mortensen continued.
‘That’s been our most recent communication. So several of us do stay in touch. It’s really nice,’ he added.
He also spoke to British GQ about his new movie, where he was asked if he would return for the recently-announced The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
Little is known about the story or where in the Lord of the Rings timeline the story is set, though Mortensen teased in the second interview that he would return again.
‘I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard. Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually,’ Mortensen said.
‘I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot. I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth. I would only do it if I was right for the character. It would be silly to do it otherwise,’ he admitted.
The actor confirmed that he keeps in touch with all of his co-stars, though he admits he’s not as social media savvy as his cohorts.
‘We just lost one of our best friends, Bernard Hill (center), who played King Théoden, who appears first and the second and the third. Great actor, really good friend. And we all communicated about him,’ Mortensen continued
He also spoke to British GQ about his new movie, where he was asked if he would return for the recently-announced The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
Mortensen’s new film The Dead Don’t Hurt follows two pioneers fighting for their lives during the Civil War
Mortensen played Aragorn in all three movies in the trilogy, who was a Ranger of the North first known as Strider.
It is later revealed that he is actually Aragorn, and the heir of Isildur to the throne of Arnor and Gondor.
All three films earned nearly $3 billion at the box office from a then-unheard-of budget of $281 million, with director Peter Jackson filming the entire trilogy together.
Mortensen’s new film The Dead Don’t Hurt follows two pioneers fighting for their lives during the Civil War.
