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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.

-Viggo Mortensen

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It's Easy To Get

Viggo Mortensen

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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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

It Doesn't Matter How Bad Things Are, Something Good Could Happen Always. And It Doesn't Matter How Many Excuses You Have For Behaving In An Unkind Manner Towards Others. There's Never Any Excuse For Not Being Kind And It's Always Better To Be Kind Even If It Seems Pointless And That In Fact Is The Highest Wisdom - Being Kind. It Sounds Like A Very Noble, Ethereal, Simplistic Idea But It's True.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

I Have No Idea What 'method Actor' Means.

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

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.'

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.

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 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 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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

We All Have Secrets, Some Secrets Bigger Than Others, Is A Normal Human Thing.

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.

As [john] Tolkien Himself Said, The Story [lord Of The Ring ] Is Not Allegorical. He Said So When People Tried To Make Analogies To World War Ii And The Fight Against Hitler And His Fascist Coalition.

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

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."

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.

Bernie Sanders Has Inspired Millions Of People In This Country.

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.

The Road Was A Movie That Has A Good Reputation, Even Though It Wasn't Released Very Well, But That's A Movie I'm Very Proud Of.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

I Think It's My Job To Like Any Character I Play - To Understand And Appreciate A Character, To Look At The World As Much As Possible From Their Point Of View. I Don't Look At It Just Technically: Learn The Lines, Figure Out What Gestures I Want To Bring And Play, And That's It. I Like To Learn As Much As I Can About The Person, And See What Happens.

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.

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

I Love Rehearsing, But A Lot Of Directors Don't, And Some Actors Don't.

As Regards Hillary C;inton's Foreign Policy Actions And The Powerful Vested Interests She Seems Gleefully Beholden To, Including All The Biggest Players In The Military-industrial Complex, I Feel That She Would Be No Better An Actor On The World Stage Than Trump And Whatever Coalition Of Managers He Might Cobble Together.

As Aragorn Said At Helm's Deep, "there Is Always Hope."

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.

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!'

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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.

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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 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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.'

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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."

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.

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.

[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.

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.

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.

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

It's Almost A Standard Tactic, Really, To Try To Minimize Any Effort That People In The Entertainment Business Or In Any Public Occupation Make To Express Themselves.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.'

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

I'm Not A Great Fan Of Monarchy In General, But I Have To Say The Danish Monarchy Is Closer To The People; It's Not As Stuffy As The English One.

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.

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.

I Don't Like The 'must', The 'always', And The 'never' Words. I Don't Like 'no' Either.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

The Efforts Of Black Lives Matter To Bring Attention To The All-too-frequent Instances Of Unjustified Violence Being Used By Policemen May Not Be Paying Off As Quickly As Some Might Hope.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

I've Never Had A Problem With People Paying Attention To What You're Doing And Say They Find That They Liked It.

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

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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'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.

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.

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.

Most Actors Can't Make Any Kind Of Living.

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.

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

Something Better

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.

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.

Saying You Are A Patriot Does Not Make You One; Wearing A Flag Pin Does Not In Itself Mean Anything At All.

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.

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.

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!

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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 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.

'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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

I'm Not That Involved In Personal Grooming. But I Try Not To Be Offensive To People.

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.

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 Wrote A Letter To The Magazine [time Magazine] Pointing Out That [richard] Corliss's Comparison Of Christopher Lee's Saruman To Osama Bin Laden, And The Vastly Outnumbered Defenders Of Helm's Deep United Against The Orcs To The "coalition Of The Willing" Fighting The Good Fight Against Muslim Hordes, Displayed The Simplistic, Xenophobic, And Arrogant Worldview That Makes The Government Of The United States Feared And Mistrusted Around The World. The Editors Claimed They Had No Space To Print My Brief Letter, Which I Felt Was Dishonest And Cowardly.

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

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

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.

People Like To Pigeonhole You. It's Easier.

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

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

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.

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

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

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