Saturday 24 May 2008

Hunk of the Month: The many faces of Viggo



Most people would recognize him from his role as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings, but I saw him first in A Perfect Murder playing the sexy 'other man' to Gwyneth Paltrow's unhappy wife character. He was contemptible yet utterly compelling to the point where I could easily - easily - understand how a woman confronted with someone like him could fall hard. He was exactly the sort of guy you should run from, but don't. He had the fascinating charm of the serpent, of the rebel, the dropout, the nonconformist. He radiated sex and danger. He was irresistible. I asked back then: Who is this guy? Who is he?



Then I saw G.I. Jane and didn't even recognize him in the role of hardass Master Chief John James Urgayle. When the credits rolled I did a double take. He's that good! Hidalgo followed, and that cowboy was the stuff of dreams. **sigh**



So what exactly do I like about him? What's there not to like? I particularly love the intensity in his eyes, the aura of self-possession. To put it in local parlance, he's 'mucho hombre'.



Mr. Mortensen's offscreen persona is no less fascinating. Born in New York in October 1958 to a Danish father and American mother, Mortensen spent the early part of his childhood in Manhattan. He speaks fluent English, Spanish, Danish, and French, and also speaks Swedish and Norwegian reasonably well. This man has:
  • worked as a truck driver while living in Denmark.
  • been photographing for years and debuted with an exhibition at the Robert Mann Gallery in NYC.
  • is a poet, and published a book of poetry before he became well known.
  • owns a publishing company, Perceval Press.
  • has been named one of the sexiest men by a number of magazines, and ranked number ten on VH1's Hottest Hotties.
  • is a jazz musician (has released three CDs so far).
  • is a painter - he actually painted the large murals in his artist's studio in the film A Perfect Murder (1998)
As I said, what's there not to like? Awesome. Awesome.

18 comments:

Jenny Beattie said...

OH.MY.GOD.

Wordtryst, I'll fight you for him!

Going to search out A Perfect Murder, RIGHT NOW.

Liane Spicer said...

NO! Back off, JJ!

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

Have you seen EASTERN PROMISES?

Viggo is very uhmm intense in the movie.

sheepish said...

Oh he is just too gorgeous for words, and all those lovely pics.Must keep my eyes open for his other films.

Karen said...

Funnily enough, just watched him in Eastern Promises last night. Sigh. Think I need a lie-down now...

Zinnia Cyclamen said...

And you know what? He looks very much like Top Bloke. *Zinnia assumes smug expression*

Liane Spicer said...

Nyc/caribbean, no, but I'm going to. Intense, huh? **groannnnn**

Sheepish, too, too gorgeous!

Karen, I'm sighing myself!

Zinnia, you are NOT serious! You show off, you! Come on, post a pic and share the goodies!

The Anti-Wife said...

Yum!

Flowerpot said...

He is gorgeous but there's something about those looks I don't quite trust...! cynic, moi??!

Liane Spicer said...

Flowerpot, you're right. That's what makes him... dangerous. Great stuff onscreen, but not recommended for real life.

Anonymous said...

If he were a woman I would like her ;)

Fiona Mackenzie. Writer said...

Now he does look good, very good, but does nothing for me so I'll leave him to you and JJ. Share nicely girls.

Liane Spicer said...

akalol, :)

Fiona, different strokes... and I'm not sharing!

CC Devine said...

Wow! You're spoiling us. Scrumptious specimen of a man ;)

Sandra Cormier said...

I first saw him in a non-speaking role in Witness with Harrison Ford.

I fell deeply in like with him on LOTR.

I like him better with dark hair.

I love that he loves horses.

He was a teensy bit of inspiration in The Space Between. His face alternated with William Petersen's while I was writing the book. Mmmm....

Liane Spicer said...

CC, absolutely!

Chumplet, you. Are. Not. Serious! Now, that's what I call inspiration! Do you know that he bought some of the horses from the Hidalgo movie?

**sigh**

Zinnia Cyclamen said...

I have some great pics, but sadly Top Bloke would NOT be in favour of me posting his face on the web. Sorry - you'll just have to take my word for it. (It's true, though. When LotR II came out, my brother-in-law sent Top Bloke a text saying 'great job at Helm's Deep, mate'!)

Anonymous said...

The first time I saw Viggo was in this TV movie called AMERICAN YAKUZA.

I knew there was something about him then, I just didn't know what.

YOWzaaaaa.