Viggo Mortensen criticises movie franchises as “predictable” and “not usually well-written”
Viggo Mortensen has criticised movie franchises as “predictable” and “not usually well-written” in a new interview.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Mortensen was asked why he never made another franchise film after starring in Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings as Aragorn.
He said that while he has nothing against franchises per se, he says many aren’t well written enough to capture his attention.
He explained: “I don’t really look for or avoid any kind of genre or any size budget. I just look for interesting stories. It doesn’t matter to me what the genre is or what the budget is or who’s making them. I would never do a movie just because so-and-so is directing it. It has to be about the story. And if I think I’m right for the character, that always comes first.”
“That goes for franchises,” he continued. “If somebody came to me with X movie, the third part or the ninth part, and I thought it was a great character and I wanted to play that character and I thought I had something to contribute, I’d do it. I’m not against it.
“But they’re not usually that good. I mean, to me, they’re not usually that well-written. They’re kind of predictable. I mean, of course, there’s always the issue of if I run out of money.”
Recently, it was spotted that Mortensen’s new film, The Dead Don’t Hurt, contained a subtle Lord Of The Rings Easter egg.
In one scene in the movie, Mortensen is seen wearing full medieval armour, complete with a helmet and breastplate. However, there was one element of the costume missing, which Mortensen was able to fix with a souvenir from his time on the mega franchise.
In an interview with GQ magazine, the Green Book star explained: “We had everything for this sequence with a knight. We had found this great, spirited horse, the right kind of saddle, and we made a medieval kind of blanket, and we had the costume for the knight.”
He continued: “Everything was right, and then I said, well, we should have a sword. And I did look and there were some good ones and I thought, well, it might be kind of good to use [Aragorn’s sword] that I had because it’s really good.”
“But I knew I would have to ask permission because I’m sure somebody would notice it, even if you only see it for a few seconds, it’s not really essential to the scene and certainly not to the movie, it’s just something in passing that you either see or you don’t.”
Mortensen did ask both the Lord Of The Rings director himself, and the movie company for their approval of the use of the prop: “I did ask Peter Jackson if he’d be all right with it, and he said, ‘Well, is it very important in the story?’ I said, no, it’s not, actually,” Mortensen explained.
“You hardly notice it, but somebody will, probably. He said it was okay with him but that I should ask the movie company,” he continued.
“So I contacted them and they were fine with it. They realised it wasn’t essential, it wasn’t going to draw a lot of attention to itself.
“And they were very nice about it, and they gave us permission,” he added. “That’s why we did it, just because it seemed right. It was kind of a last-minute accident.”
Elsewhere, Mortensen has shared his thoughts on possibly returning for the new Lord Of The Rings movie.
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Elizabeth Aubrey
NME
