“He is a maniac for detail”: David Cronenberg on why Viggo Mortensen is the perfect actor
Some directors have a penchant for working with the same actors, forging creative partnerships where the actors become muses, inspiring new layers of storytelling. Whether it’s Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro or Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, these collaborations foster a unique sense of trust and artistic risk, enabling them to explore new emotional depths with each project.
David Cronenberg has followed a similar pattern throughout his career. Renowned for his dark, unsettling narratives that delve into primal and often taboo aspects of human relationships, Cronenberg frequently explores these themes through the lens of body horror—a sub-genre he helped define with his 1986 masterpiece The Fly.
But despite working with some of the greatest actors, Cronenberg has highlighted the work of one person who is, perhaps, his greatest muse.
Viggo Mortensen displays a level of duality that can be seen through his commercial work on studio franchises such as the Lord of the Rings and his independent work, frequently working with Cronenberg on A History of Violence, Crimes of the Future and A Dangerous Method. Together, they have pushed the boundaries of the medium by exploring the relationship between heavy subject matters, looking at the parallels between sexuality, violence and technology and the darkest parts of humankind.
Crimes of the Future was their most recent collaboration, following a near-distant future in which people have lost the ability to feel pain and have started using surgery for sex. It is a nightmarish fever dream focussing on organ transplants and surgery, with an evocative message about beauty, the dangers of technology and the threat of modernity.
After again reuniting with Mortensen, Cronenberg described their creative process and why he admires the actor so much, saying, “Viggo is my kind of actor. I like to work with actors who are not just leading men, but also character actors. They tend not to be afraid, because they’re not trying to protect some image they see of themselves as traditional leading men, and this gives them a much bigger palette to paint from, because they have all kinds of edges. I like a kind of eccentricity that is more typical of a character actor than a leading man, and yet still has a leading man presence and charisma”.
Eccentric is definitely the right word to describe Mortensen, with an almost terrifying ability to delve into the depths of any character and draw out the ugly truth, which makes him perfect for the layered story worlds that Cronenberg creates.
When describing the actor’s entrancing qualities, the director said, “He is not only a charismatic leading man, but also the combination of other qualities that made me feel he had the depth to play a very complex role. He is a maniac for detail, which I love. He is very focused and obsessed with details of how his character would move, speak and dress. It’s really quite spectacular to watch him work and to interact with him. After two weeks of working closely, we felt like brothers”.
