Top 160 Viggo Mortensen Quotes (2024 Update)
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51. “Jung viewed Freud as a mentor, but he never wanted to be anybody’s disciple.”

— Viggo Mortensen

52. “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

53. “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

54. “Joseph Campbell said the privilege of a lifetime is being yourself. That’s his feeling. And I guess it’s mine too.”

— Viggo Mortensen

55. “It’s hard not to get depressed when you pay attention to the world and how strangely and corrupt the people in it sometimes behave.”

— Viggo Mortensen

56. “The Holocaust movie is almost a genre in itself these days.”

— Viggo Mortensen

57. “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

58. “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

59. “I think, on a surface level, people are surprised to see me playing such a passive role in ‘Good.’”

— Viggo Mortensen

60. “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

61. “There are people that grandstand and seem to be publicly politically engaged because they like the attention, more than because they’re genuinely concerned about the world. But I don’t think that’s the majority.”

— Viggo Mortensen

62. “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

63. “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

64. “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.”

— Viggo Mortensen

65. “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

66. “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

67. “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

68. “Saying you are a patriot does not make you one; wearing a flag pin does not in itself mean anything at all.”

— Viggo Mortensen

69. “There’s no sense in doing something, especially if it’s a hard job, if you can’t have a little fun.”

— Viggo Mortensen

70. “If in my twenties I’d gotten one of the two-dozen roles that I did screen tests for and almost got, I think I would have become bored with the awards circuit, the whole hype machine.”

— Viggo Mortensen

71. “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.”

— Viggo Mortensen

72. “Because of the internet, satellite TV, and the digital world, you can stay in touch, you can learn about other people from a young age.”

— Viggo Mortensen

73. “Yes, I would agree that America, just like Spain was in the 17th Century, is the main empire of the world and they are the ones who, on the surface, are the most pushy: pushing their language, pushing their culture – or what there is of it – pushing by force their system on others.”

— Viggo Mortensen

74. “I think you have to be flexible above all as an actor; different characters have different demands, actors that you work with are different in their approach, or how you get along or don’t get along with them.”

— Viggo Mortensen

75. “It’s very rare you get a great script just handed to you, or sent to you, by someone you don’t know.”

— Viggo Mortensen

76. “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

77. “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

78. “In the end, the actor’s main power is the power to say, ‘No.’”

— Viggo Mortensen

79. “If you daren’t enter the forest, or cannot find it, then perhaps you might find one tree, or a place where a tree could be, and just stop for a quiet moment to see what happens.”

— Viggo Mortensen

80. “I don’t think special attention should be given to an actor or a singer or a baseball player or a soccer player more than anyone else, but they do have an opinion like anyone else.”

— Viggo Mortensen

81. “If I can get a day to myself, I won’t answer the phone, I’ll read or go for a walk. Simple, basic things. People think there’s always time to do that but there isn’t. Life is short.”

— Viggo Mortensen

82. “I was raised in Argentina until I was 11 and now I go back there a lot, at least twice a year. It’s a country where I feel very comfortable and it represents an important period in my life.”

— Viggo Mortensen

83. “Pinochet and Barack Obama both have the same primary goal, and that’s to be president and stay president as long as allowed.”

— Viggo Mortensen

84. “A little recognition is not a bad thing because it means people appreciate your work. The only problem is when you can’t walk down the street or have a meal without people looking at you. I want to be the one looking at people.”

— Viggo Mortensen

85. “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.”

— Viggo Mortensen

86. “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

87. “I’m not afraid of death, but I resent it. I think it’s unfair and irritating.”

— Viggo Mortensen

88. “I try to avoid conflict. I don’t want people to be unhappy.”

— Viggo Mortensen

89. “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

90. “I don’t like people who get into fights about football – or anything else.”

— Viggo Mortensen

91. “I look at my job as looking at the world from points of view that are different from mine – sometimes radically different from mine.”

— Viggo Mortensen

92. “I’ve never had a problem with people paying attention to what you’re doing and say they find that they liked it.”

— Viggo Mortensen

93. “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

94. “I realise how important it is to use the time I have. I respect people who want to do that by watching television. I happen to want to read books. But I know I can’t read all the books or watch all the movies in one lifetime.”

— Viggo Mortensen

95. “When people say that entertainers should “know your place,” they might as well say the same thing about plumbers and teachers and cab drivers. We all should be able to express our views.”

— Viggo Mortensen

96. “I don’t think Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell fear competition from me in their arena.”

— Viggo Mortensen

97. “A lot of times, movies that are in the top 10 lists or maybe even win Baftas or Oscars, you then watch them a year later and you go, ‘Maybe it wasn’t so great.’”

— Viggo Mortensen

98. “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

99. “I take my work seriously, but it’s not the only thing that exists in the world.”

— Viggo Mortensen

100. “I try to research or make up for myself what happened in any character’s life. From when he was born until the first page of the script. I fill in the blanks.”

— Viggo Mortensen