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In December Of 2002, The Late Richard Corliss, A Respected Movie Critic With A Long And Illustrious Career, Wrote An Embarrassing Letter Of Support For The Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq And Afghanistan In The Guise Of A Time Magazine Review Of Peter Jackson's The Two Towers.

-Viggo Mortensen

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In December Of 2002,

Viggo Mortensen

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In December Of 2002, The Late Richard Corliss, A Respected Movie Critic With A Long And Illustrious Career, Wrote An Embarrassing Letter Of Support For The Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq And Afghanistan In The Guise Of A Time Magazine Review Of Peter Jackson's The Two Towers.

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I Have A Multicultural Background, So I Tend To Have An Open Mind About Things, And I Find Other Cultures Interesting.

It's Always Interesting To Play A Character That Obviously Has A Secret.

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.

The Holocaust Movie Is Almost A Genre In Itself These Days.

Each Time I Make A Movie, It's Like A Paid Scholarship To A Different University Course.

You Know, Real Life Doesn't Just Suddenly Resolve Itself. You Have To Keep Working At It. Democracy, Marriage, Friendship. You Can't Just Say She's My Best Friend. That's Not A Given, It's A Process.

I Pursue The Things I Do Because I'm Interested In Them.

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.

When I Was A Little Boy, I Rode, But I Didn't Own Horses.

Most Movies Are Lucky To Have One Moment, One Shot That You Look At And You Always Remember That Moment And That Scene.

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'm Not Afraid Of Death, But I Resent It. I Think It's Unfair And Irritating.

I Like Stories That Leave You Wanting More, Leave You Wondering, But Don't Tell You Everything.

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.

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.

In The End, The Actor's Main Power Is The Power To Say, 'no.'

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.

I Like Naturally Occurring Film Grain, And What Happens To Film When It's Under- And Over-exposed.

Even The Implication That The Lord Of The Rings Is A Mythic Story About Western, White Supremacy - Regardless Of The Political Leanings Of Anyone Who Tries To Make That Case - Is A Load Of Self-justifying, Destructive Horseshit.

There's No Sense In Doing Something, Especially If It's A Hard Job, If You Can't Have A Little Fun.

In December Of 2002, The Late Richard Corliss, A Respected Movie Critic With A Long And Illustrious Career, Wrote An Embarrassing Letter Of Support For The Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq And Afghanistan In The Guise Of A Time Magazine Review Of Peter Jackson's The Two Towers.

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.

I Think We're On The Wrong Path In This Country And Have Been For A While. People Are In Their Camps Divided By Region, Economic Situation, Race, Religion, Ideology. And There's A Lot Of Just Staying In Your Camp Using Technology To Bolster Your Case Without Actually Debating With Other People, Without Discussing.

I Campaigned For [dennis] Kucinich In 2008. I Continue To Be In Touch With Him And I Really Admire Him. I Think He's Very Brave And Honest - Unusually So For A U.s. Politician.

In 2016 We Are Faced With A Particularly Bizarre And Unappetizing Choice As Regards The Two Main Political Parties' Presidential Candidates, In My Opinion.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

My Job As An Artist, As I See It, Is To Understand And In Some Cases To Take On Various Ways Of Thinking About People And The World That Are Different From My Own, Sometimes Radically Different.

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.

My Goal Is Just To Make Movies, Whether They're Big Or Small, That I'd Like To See 10 Years From Now.

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.

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.

One Of The Most Recent Things We Did [in Perceval Press] Is A Reissue Of A Fantastic Documentary About Russian Prison Tattoo Culture By Alix Lambert Called The Mark Of Cain. We've Done Books From Twilight Of Empire, That Actually Has Forewords By Howard Zinn And Dennis Kucinich And Others, To Books Of Poetry, Photography, Painting - All Kinds Of Books.

Usually The Characters I Play Are Men Of Few Words, Who Communicate In Non-verbal Ways.

I Trust Hillary Clinton About As Far As I Could Throw Donald Trump.

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.

'the Road' Is About That Fear That All Parents Can Have. What's Going To Happen To Your Child If You're Not Around? It Takes Those Concerns To An Extreme. In The Film, Without Me The Boy Has No Food, No Shelter, No Resources At All.

I Think If You Don't Say Something It's Lying By Omission. I Personally Think It's Immoral.

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.

Captain Fantastic Touches On That [division]. You Meet This Family That Lives Off The Grid In The Woods And You Go, "oh, It's Some Kind Of Liberal Utopian Fantasy. The Enemy Is Gonna Be All These Conservative Types That They'll Probably Run Into, And That's Going To Be The Story."

People Like To Pigeonhole You. It's Easier.

I Have Friends Who I Get Along With Who I Know Get Very Uncomfortable Being Alone, Unless They're With People, Talking All The Time. Whether It's On The Phone, Or In Person, They're Never By Themselves. Whereas I Could Be Alone For Months.

You Should Always Do The Things In Life That Are Both Interesting And Make You Afraid.

When You're Under Stress As A Human Being, You Behave Oddly And Your Relationships With People Become Strained.

Sometimes You Look At A Movie And You Can See That The Actor Or Actress Said, 'i'm Taking This Onboard Because I'm Making A Ton Of Money, And Not Because It's Going To Be Something Special.'

Some People Who Like Dogs Don't Like Cats, But I'm Not Like That.

I Take My Work Seriously, But It's Not The Only Thing That Exists In The World.

If You're Not Optimistic On Some Level, Then You've Given Up.

In A Lot Of Ways, I Envy Someone Like Omar Sharif Who Lived In A Hotel For Decades.

You Do Need To Get Lucky, No Matter How Talented You Are.

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.

I Try To Avoid Conflict. I Don't Want People To Be Unhappy.

I Have A Work Ethic. If I Say I'm Going To Do Something, I Do It.

Life Is Short And The Older You Get, The More You Feel It. Indeed, The Shorter It Is.

That Is To Say, Hillary Clinton Is Not, In My Mind, A Satisfying Or Calming Alternative To Donald Trump.

Here's Where We Are, This Is What's Happening. So Do Something, Or Get Out Of The Kitchen.

You Can't Really Go Back To Where You Came From. I Don't Think Any Of Us Can.

I Want To See What The Green Party Looks Like. I Think If People Don't Start Voting What They Feel, If That's Something Other Than The Democratic Party Or The Republican Party, Then Nothing's Going To Change. You Need More Political Parties That Actually Have A Chance.

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.

The Best Thing An Actor Can Be Is Flexible, Because All Directors Are Different And All Actors Are Different.

We Often Live In The Past A Lot More Than We Probably Realize.

Being An Actor, Imitating To The Point Of Inhabiting The Lives Of Others, May Simply Be A Way Of Continuing To Do What I Learned To Do As A Boy - To Travel, Mentally And Physically.

I'd Like To, When It's All Said And Done, Say That I Have At Least A Few Stories That I Feel Proud Of.

Pinochet And Barack Obama Both Have The Same Primary Goal, And That's To Be President And Stay President As Long As Allowed.

Looking At Acting, In The Movies Or The Theater, And The Way I Like To Look At It, It’s Just An Extension Of Childhood Play… Kids Play And Imagine In A Very Intense Fashion And They Don’t Need Any Director Telling Them “you Really Have To Believe In It.” They Believe In It Completely.

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.

Joseph Campbell Said The Privilege Of A Lifetime Is Being Yourself. That's His Feeling. And I Guess It's Mine Too.

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.

I Don't Think Adam Sandler Or Will Ferrell Fear Competition From Me In Their Arena.

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.

I Look At My Job As Looking At The World From Points Of View That Are Different From Mine - Sometimes Radically Different From Mine.

What Art Does Is It Makes You Feel Alive And Makes You Feel Like You're Connected.

Those Who Have The Power And Should Be The Most Responsible Are Often The Least Responsible.

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.

The Only Thing That I Always Do - Is Once I've Taken On A Job, Even Just To Do One Scene In A Movie, I Ask Myself, "what's Happened The Moment The Kid Was Born, Until Page One Of The Script?" To Answer That Simple Question, I Have An Infinite Amount Of Work To Do. And I Enjoy That Part As Much As I Enjoy Any Part Of Making Movies.

As You Get Older, You Get Stuck In Your Ways; Just As You Become Stiffer Physically, You Also Become Stiffer Mentally And More Narrow-minded Unless You Make A Conscious Effort To Keep Yourself Flexible.

The First Decade Of Your Life Is Really Important; It's Formative.

Jung Viewed Freud As A Mentor, But He Never Wanted To Be Anybody's Disciple.

Every Year I Hear People Complain That The Quality Of Screenplays And Movies Is Declining. In My Opinion, The Vast Majority Of Scripts Written - As Well As Most Movies That Are Released - Are Not Very Original, Well-written, Or Interesting. It Has Always Been That Way, And I Think It Always Will Be.

Most Actors Can't Make Any Kind Of Living.

To Find A Good Story, You’re Generally Going To Find It In Independent Or Lower Budget Movies... I Wouldn’t Mind Doing A Big Budget Movie If It Had A Great Story.

Like Most People - Unless They're Very Practised At It Or Have No Warm Blood At All In Their Veins - I Feel A Little Apprehensive About The Red Carpet. It's Always A Bit Bewildering When People Are Taking Pictures And Asking Questions Before The Ceremony.

Asking Questions

I Met Cindy [sheehan] Near Crawford, Texas. I Went Out To Personally Thank Her For Waiting Patiently By The Road In Front Of George And Laura Bush's Ranch For An Answer From Her President As To Why And For What Her Son And Others Had Been Sacrificed In The Unlawful Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq.

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.

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.

I Don't Like People Who Get Into Fights About Football - Or Anything Else.

I Like Movies That Leave You With Something To Think About, To Discuss, To Debate, You Know?

Ignorance Breeds Antipathy. Until I Got To Know How Computers Worked, I Didn't Want Anything To Do With Them. I Said, 'well, Why Do I Need Them? I Write Letters.' Which I Still Do.

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.

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.

People Are Becoming More Intimately Acquainted With People Who Are Different Than Them - It's Not So Unusual Anymore.

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.

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.

I'm An Optimist; I Always Hope That Each New Script Is Going To Be A Great Story.

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 To Say That I Think Bernie Sanders Is The First Politician Since Dennis Kucinich That I've Been Truly Inspired By. Where You Actually Are Truly Speaking Truth To Power, In A Legitimate Way And In An Unpretentious And Very Straightforward Way.

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.

I'm Optimistic About People And About The Planet And About Nature. I Think It's Resilient, Like People Are.

Sometimes A Scene Works And Acting Is The Easiest Thing In The World And You Don't Have To Do Much Of Anything - Just Enjoy Yourself And Listen To The Other Actor. When It Doesn't Work, Then Every Actor Has Different Ways Of Dealing With The Impasse. Sometimes You Use Memories From The Past. Whatever. It Depends From Job To Job.

When I Land In A Country And They Ask For 'occupation,' I Always Just Put 'artist.' I Think That Covers All Of It.

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 Now Realize That I Was Very Fortunate To Have Grown Up In Many Different Places, Surrounded By All Kinds Of People, All Kinds Of Points Of View.

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.'

As Far As Money Goes, There's A Saying In Denmark: 'your Last Suit Doesn't Have Any Pockets.' You Can't Take It With You. You Can Make All The Money You Want, But Who Cares?

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.

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.

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.

I Don't Speak Up About Something Unless I Feel Strongly About It And Until I've Researched A Subject Extensively And Have An Informed Decision About It.

Photography, Painting Or Poetry - Those Are Just Extensions Of Me, How I Perceive Things; They Are My Way Of Communicating.

With Any Character I Have Played There’s Infinite Possibilities For How They Might Behave, Depending On Who They Are Talking To Or How They React To Things.

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.'

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.

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.

In A Movie, You're Raw Material, Just A Hue Of Some Color And The Director Makes The Painting.

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.

In A Way, Editing Is Not Unlike The Movies. The Best Books, Just Like The Best Movies, Are A Collaboration. They're Only As Good As The Compromise Made Between The Artists Involved.

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.'

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.

Awards For Arts, Where You Make Comparisons, Don't Make Much Sense.

[captain Fantastic] It's A Great Story. It's One Of The Better Scripts I've Read, Ever, As Far As Being Great From Beginning To End. It Handles A Variety Of Characters. You Have Six Children Who All Stand On Their Own, They're All Individuals. And It Touches On A Very Real Issue, Which Is The Lack Of Cohesion And Communication In America Right Now.

If There's One Thing I've Learned From Traveling, It's That It Is Definitely More Important How You Are Than Where You Are. You Can Say, 'oh, I Hate X City, I Hate That Country, Or I Prefer This City,' But It's A Little Bit Up To You To Find Some Kind Of Happiness.

Any Nominations A Movie Gets Helps To Raise The Level Of Curiosity In The Public, So In That Sense Awards And Nominations Are Important.

With Few Exceptions, One Ought Always Do What One Is Afraid Of.

Every Once In A While, Someone Would Call Me A Foreigner Or A Yankee, Or Whatever. In The United States, Someone Might Say Something, Like How Kids Do, To Point Out That You're Different. That Would Come As A Surprise To Me. As You Get Old, You Either Get Defensive About It Or You Accept It And You Reach Out, Because You Realize The World's Full Of People Like That.

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.

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.

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.

Kids Accept Where They Are Because They Don't Know The Past. They Know What They Have; They Know Where They Are.

Speaking More Than One Language And Living In A Multicultural Family And Environment Did Not Seem Like Anything But What It Was: The World I Lived In.

As Martin Luther King Said, "passively To Participate In An Unjust System Is To Accept That System And To Participate In Its Evil."

You Don't Have To Make Something That People Call Art. Living Is An Artistic Activity, There Is An Art To Getting Through The Day.

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.

In Terms Of The Movie Business, Being In A 'lord Of The Rings' Has Given Me More Interesting Options As Work.

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.

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.

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.

Some Actors Learn The Habit Of Promoting Themselves As A Brand - By Dressing In A Certain Way, By Going Out With A Certain Person - It Gives Them What They Obviously Want, Which Is To Keep A Level Of Fame. I'm Not Putting It Down.

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.

Perceval Press A Publishing House I Founded In 2002 And It's Still Going Strong. Strong For Us Means Not So Many Books Per Year, But Each One We Very Carefully Design And Print.

It's Very Rare You Get A Great Script Just Handed To You, Or Sent To You, By Someone You Don't Know.

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.

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.

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.

For 'hidalgo,' I Just Spent As Much Time Around Horses As I Could, Which Made Sense.

It's Easy To Get Depressed And Think, "well, What's The Point?" But It's The Same As, "well, We're All Going To Die, So What's The Point In Brushing My Teeth Or Even Saying Hello To Anyone Or Obeying Traffic Lights." You Can Do That, But That's Certainly Not Going To Take You Anywhere.

I Suppose A Good Director Is Like A Teacher. I Think That Someone Like David Cronenberg Was Very Much Like A Teacher, Because There's An Openness, But A Certain Set Of Rules Of Behavior, And A Certain Conduct Expected. But There's An Atmosphere That's Relaxed And Conducive To Exploration, And That Is Created By Someone Like Cronenberg.

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.

I Was Raised Speaking English And Spanish. And I Also Speak Danish. And I Can Get By In French And Italian. I've Acted In Spanish And English, But When Something Has To Do With Emotions, Sometimes I Feel I Can Get To The Heart Of The Matter Better In Spanish.

Walking Down The Street In Any Town Or City In The World And Having People Look At You And Start Talking To You, Convinced That They Know You As Well Or Better Than They Do Members Of Their Own Family, That's Just An Odd Phenomenon. But I Mean, I Wouldn't Say It Was A Bad Thing. It's An Interesting Thing.

Cities In The World

It's Amazing To Me That Glenn Beck Can Be On The Cover Of 'time,' And There Can Be A Whole Article About Him Basically Saying, 'well, You Know, He's Controversial.' It's Like, 'no, He's A Dangerous Idiot Who Needs The Help Of A Good Psychiatrist!'

Having A Mixed Background And Feeling A Little Bit Like A Fish Out Of Water In Most Places Can Be A Benefit.

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.

You Know, Real Life Doesn't Just Suddenly Resolve Itself. You Have To Keep Working At It.

I Think Maybe Because I Do Other Things And They Mean As Much To Me As Movie Acting, It Takes The Onus Off Me. 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.

The Black Lives Matter Movement, The Various Occupy Movements In Spain And The Rest Of Europe, In This Country, And Elsewhere Serve As An Example Of What Can Be Done, And How Strong The Voices For Positive Change And Truly Democratic Progress Can Be.

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.

Bernie Sanders Has Inspired Millions Of People In This Country.

I Don't Have A Blackberry Or Whatever You Call It. And There Is Something To Be Said For Being Isolated And Out Of Phone Range, Because You Can Fall Into A Habit To Such A Degree That You Don't Even Realise That You've Lost Something: Silence.

Perhaps The Itinerant Upbringing My Brothers And I Had Has Something To Do With My Continued Interest In Perspectives Different From My Own.

A Lot Of People Can Forget About You In Los Angeles.

I Mean, Any Movie Or Story That Makes You Accept And Be Grateful For Something About Your Life Is Doing Something Right.

When There Is Conflict, It's Good To Step Away, Even For Five Minutes, Because You Could Say Terrible Things That You Can't Take Back, So It's Best To Walk Away.

You Can't Really Divorce Yourself And Your Life From The World You Live In.

I Think The Older You Get The Harder It Is To [lose] Probably. Your Metabolism Slows Down, Whatever, But I'm A Pretty Active Person.

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!

It Is Important To Keep Protesting, To Keep Forcing A Conversation In The Public Arena. In Any Case, When You Know What The Right Thing To Do Is, Or That Something Must Be Said, It Can Be Immoral And Dangerous Not To Act.

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.

To Strive For Something Better - At Least There's A Chance.

Something Better

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.

One Of The Main Ways That Leadership Stays In Power Is By, In Various Ways, Convincing People That They Should Just Let Those Who Are In Government Govern: 'trust Us. Trust Me. Just Let Us Take Care Of Things. Stay Out Of It.' Your Opinions Don't Really Matter. You Are Isolated. You Are Insignificant.

I Think That Every Person Has Many, Many People Inside Of Them. We Change Our Personality Depending On Who We Are Talking To Or What Situation We Are In.

I Don't Think You Get To Be Pope Without Making Some Enemies, Like You Do When You're President.

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.

There's No Excuse To Be Bored. Sad, Yes. Angry, Yes. Depressed, Yes. Crazy, Yes. But There's No Excuse For Boredom, Ever.

It Doesn't Take That Many Years For A Kid To Realise That They're Going To Die. It's Always There In The Back Of Their Mind The Rest Of Their Lives.

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.

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."

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.

I Have A Publishing Company Of Books By Me And Books Of Others. It Drew People To Poetry Readings And Photo Exhibitions And Painting Exhibitions That I've Been Doing For Years Before That.

Can You Join, Ask Sincerely For Affection Without Sweaty Hand Of Expectation, Understanding And Accepting If It Never Is Given?

I Prefer The Smaller Acting Than Big Histrionics. It's About Reacting And Looks, Which Is Often Underestimated.

Kids Are Shy And They Often Don't Want To Make Eye Contact Or Say "thank You."

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.

I Think, On A Surface Level, People Are Surprised To See Me Playing Such A Passive Role In 'good.'

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.

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.

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.

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.

I Think Every Family Is Dysfunctional, And Some Manage To Control It Better Than Others.

You Have A Moral Obligation To Finish The Job You Said You Would Do.

Nobody Really Knows Anybody Completely, Even If They've Been Married To 'em For 53 Years, You Know?

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.

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.

Once You Learn The Idea Of What A Good Guy Is, You Want Your Dad To Be A Good Guy, And When Your Dad Lets You Down And Doesn't Act Like A Good Guy, It's Disappointing And Can Make You Angry As You See It Happen, Which Is Beautiful And Very Believable.

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."

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.

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