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Mania Interview: Viggo Mortensen Talks THE ROAD
Star of The Road Sits Down With Mania By
Rob Vaux
November 23, 2009
Viggo
© Mania.com
Fame has never sat entirely well with Viggo Mortensen. He has a creative life beyond Hollywood and the trappings of celebrity appear to weigh uneasily on his shoulders. That may be why he has continued to chose unusual and challenging roles--even after becoming an international movie star for his indelible portrayal of Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings saga. His latest endeavor may be the most difficult yet: an unnamed father trying to protect his son in the post-apocalyptic world of The Road. He spoke to Mania and other members of the press about bringing Cormac McCarthy's celebrated novel to life, and how the experience affected him.
Question: How did you prepare for this role mentally?
Viggo Mortensen: I tried to do things I thought would be helpful, like listening to certain kinds of music, watching certain kinds of movies--keeping an eye on what I thought they were headed for visually--and reading certain things. Things that might get me into a certain state that might let me go to those places that the character demanded emotionally. I always do that to some degree. But really, in the end, there wasn't anything you could do. It was very different from any other role in that sense: how much I had to just throw away. It's really just about being naked emotionally and being honest about it. It had to be very real, very organic, which was the most important thing. I knew I was going to need some help, especially from the boy. Kodi [Smit-McPhee] really understood the story in a way that the other kids didn't. He's a joyful, well-adjusted kid, but there was something sad and knowing in his eyes when we did those scenes.
Q: Rumor has it that you spoke to some homeless people while preparing for the role.
VM: I did speak to them, just to ask them how they got that way, and how they felt about it. Not all of them wanted to talk. It was very rare, but some were living that way by choice. Some lost their jobs and that started a descent. For some it was drugs. But mostly it was just financial hardship. I asked them how they felt about it, and how they kept alive, and what they were worried about. Like us. You go to sleep, you've got to figure out where you're gonna sleep, and where somebody can't do you any harm or steal your stuff.
Q: Did they know who you were?
VM: I don't think any of them did.
Q: There were some really tough scenes in this film. How did you and the crew go about protecting Kodi in those moments?
VM: They were hard emotionally, and it was so cold and wet all the time. That actually proved helpful, and he was aware that it was helping too, even though he didn't like it at the time. The cold, in particular, was bad, because he was from southern Australia, and he had never seen snow. It wore him out very quickly, but it also pushed our emotions closer to the surface. We just had to get through the day and the next day and the next. Like the story. It just wouldn't have been the same if we had used green screen and the like.
Q: How do you persevere during a hard shoot like that?
VM: You just have to trust what Cormac McCarthy wrote. The script was a very faithful adaptation, and you just have to trust that book. There are inherently dramatic situations and moments that posit these essential questions. When everything gets stripped away, what do you do? How do you behave when you have good reason to behave badly? How do you treat others? Do you even care anymore about being alive? Do you know why you want to stay alive? Do you find a reason to stay alive? And that ultimately is what the story is about.
Q: How tough was it jumping in the ocean?
VM: It was cold.
Q: One take?
VM: Yeah. I asked for another one, but they didn't want me to. They were terrified, they had ambulances and everything. The water was about 41 degrees Fahrenheit. The air temperature was about the same, and it just happened to be really blowing at the time.
Q: Do you worry about a scenario like this happening?
VM: Sure I do. And I think that--because you believe the emotional journey and you believe in the landscape--it's real. We shot in real places that have been devastated by nature and man. Of course you're going to think about what might happen. It made me think more about my son, my family, and how fleeting life is. It's worth making that effort to see more, learn more, and just appreciate it. It's very simple, but if you make this journey honestly--as a spectator or as a filmmaker--you earn the right to come to that simple conclusion, and you understand it in a profound way.
Q: What did you draw from Cormac McCarthy in how you played the role?
VM: I just talked to him one time on the phone before I took the role. We had a relatively long conversation. We just talked about his kid and my kid, and being dads. I had tons of notes to ask him about--ready to pick his brain--and at the end of the conversation, he asked me if I had any questions about the book. I just said, "no." The conversation we had was enough to get going. There is something universal about this adult and this child that anyone can understand. I think that's why this book has had such a reach--even more than No Country for Old Men with its Oscar success--because it's so heartfelt and so free of any gimmickry.
Q: There's talk of an Oscar nomination for you for this role. Do awards like that hold any currency with you?
VM: On a practical level, it helps people see this movie. It's very much a word-of-mouth movie--when you see it, you're there, but because of the subject matter it may take some prodding to get people into the theaters--and there's no better word of mouth than reading in the newspaper "nominated for Best Picture" or "Best Director" or "Best Actor." It would help this movie get seen, I know that. It helps any movie, but especially a movie like this. As far as the likelihood of that happening… I don't know. I was sure that A History of Violence would be nominated for Best Director and Best Picture, but it didn't. And then with Eastern Promises I ended up being nominated for every ceremony. I don't know how they make those choices, but I know that with a movie like this it would be really helpful.
Read Mania's The Road Movie Review
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Viggo kicks ass and this movie is going to be bad ass. He is so humble for a man with so much raw talent. Long live Viggo. He is one of the new gems that acting has to offer. I think this is also one of those rare movie that might just make me cry as I have a daughter. It is going to be a rough emotional ride that is for sure. It is also going to go down as one of the new Sci-Fi classics of out time I can tell all ready.