Talk:Viggo Mortensen

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Contents

[edit] Language Skills & Background

I've never heard of anyone being "somewhat fluent" in a language before, example: "somewhat fluent in Norwegian"; you're either fluent or you're not. Personally I've never heard him speak Norwegian, only somewhat simplified Danish (replacing particular Danish words and numbers with more generally comprehensive words for Norwegians that don't understand Danish that well)

Also shouldn't his background appear before career highlights?Fcf1 08:38, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

In a sense, you can be considered "somewhat fluent" meaning you speak the langauge well, however, you're not extremely well off. I do understand what you are saying though, background should be before the rest. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by IronCrow (talkcontribs) 03:43, 31 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Photos

I think someone change the picture of Viggo to it just being him and not one of his characters.


[edit] Heritage

in the article, his mother is listed as "half Norwegian American"? presumably this means 1/2 Norwegian and 1/2 "American", except in the sense of being 1/2, "American" doesn't really mean anything.


[edit] This article does not mention the musical career of Viggo Mortensen at all. He has recorded six albums with some other artists -- most notably Buckethead:

http://www.bingeandgrab.com/onemansmeat.html

http://www.bingeandgrab.com/thisthatandtheother.html

http://www.bingeandgrab.com/onelessthing.html

http://www.bingeandgrab.com/pandemonium.html

http://www.bingeandgrab.com/otherparade.html

http://www.bingeandgrab.com/pleasetomorrow.html


It might also be good to mention the conflict raised by his "controversial" political views and his role as Aragorn in the LOTR. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-01-12-commentary_x.htm) The article this links to is obviously biased opinion and non-encylopedic. The link has been removed. - 4.157.71.119


The hockey thing I saw last night on ET Canada Tuesday 27 September 2005... don't know how to source in Wiki yet.


The article says "In 1992 Viggo went to Ireland during a break in shooting, without the consent of the production company, to watch Denmark play the semi-finals." What semi-finals? What sport? Ireland have never held any major football tournament so it can't be that. Must be talking about Euro 1992 which was held in Sweden. NB - glad to know about his 'political activism'. I'll be sure NOT to buy or watch any of his output in the future. Typical leftie luvvie nonsense. 88.105.114.97 19:11, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Aragorn II

I suggest not calling Mortensen's 'most famous role' Aragorn II. Only a hard-core Tolkien fanatic is aware that it is Aragorn II; most others would simply call him Aragorn. --johnsemlak 17:25 15 March 2006 (UTC)

That makes a lot of sense. There's no need to specify "Aragorn II" except in articles about the fictional world of Middle-Earth. Aragorn II is a redirect to Aragorn anyway. —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 02:13, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Actual Date of the Viggo/Henry (Hank) reading

Joint reading was not March 2006, (maybe this date could be updated in the original Account) though many people converged on Venice, California, in the waning days of March from Europe and the US as well as local people and a few celebrities for the combined 220 seats available for both readings (110 at each reading with video feed into bookstore and the lobby).

The reading was called Three Fools for April, held at Beyond Baroque in Venice California.

This event was April 1, 2006. The first one was supposed to have started at 7:30 but was "fashionably late", making the second reading also late getting started. The third reader in the group was Scott Wannberg.

In January 2006, Mr. Mortensen had a joint art/photography show at Track 16 in Santa Monica with Georg Gundi, an Icelandic Artist.

And in February 2006 he was promoting his new Art book Linger and Linsey Brice's Photography book Supernatural, both books published by Perceval Press, at International Center for Photography (ICP) in New York City near Times Square.

Starting in September he will be actively promoting Alatriste.

[edit] Aragorn POV

The line about him being most well known for his role of Aragorn is absolutely POV, it isn't common sense. I'm not implying that I represent the majority or even minority of people, but I don't recognize Viggo Mortensen as being Aragorn. I more recognize him from GI Jane. Once again just so there's no confusion, I am not implying that I represent the majority or even minority of people. However, the statement you make is absolute POV. It may seem to you and your group of friends that Viggo is most remembered for his role in Lord of the Rings, but how is your opinion indicative of the entire population.

If you can get a credible source citing that Viggo Mortensen is most well known for his role in Lord of the Rings, I'm more than willing to let it stay but without a credible source, it is pure POV. If you do not respond within 3 days, I will revert your changes. Bubbleboys 18:10, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Where to start? Well, for one thing, the vast difference between the receipts of the Lord of the Rings films (over $3 billion) and G.I. Jane (about $50 million) suggests that a lot of people saw The Lord of the Rings films who didn't see G.I. Jane. Of course, that's not definitive proof, so...
A Google search for "Viggo Mortensen "best known" Aragorn" provides a plethora of choices. The most credible source, I suppose is this bbc.co.uk article, which says, "If Stuart Townsend hadn't relinquished the role of Aragorn in Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Viggo Mortensen might be best known now for his performances in the likes of G.I. Jane, Daylight, and A Perfect Murder. Luckily for him his turn as oh-so-serious Aragorn have made him an unlikely star in his mid-40s." Also worth consideration is this self-described "approved fanlisting", which says "He is best known for his memorable role as Aragorn in The Lord of The Rings trilogy." If that's not sufficient, you could try this or this or this... and that's skipping the dozens of fan sites and fanlistings which identify him as best-known as Aragorn.
A similar Google search for "Viggo Mortensen "best known" G. I. Jane" provides far fewer useful links. The most reliable-looking is the cover text from his book Recent Forgeries and the associated gallery showing — which happened in 1998, before Lord of the Rings began filming. I did find one blog saying that he's best known for his role as the Master Chief in G.I. Jane: but the consensus among the replies to that blog entry was that the author was joking. Another BBC news story identifies him as "previously best known for his role as a tough, poetry-spouting naval officer in GI Jane". I think it's fair to say that before the Lord of the Rings films, he might have been best known for his G.I. Jane role, but The Lord of the Rings has eclipsed that.
If you insist, I can put one of these (dozens of!) citations in the article, but I still maintain that "best known for his role as Aragorn" is common sense and doesn't need citation. If you still disagree, we can open the discussion up to the other editors of this page to see what the consensus is, or get a third opinion if discussion isn't forthcoming. —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 19:03, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
One more thought: you seem to acknowledge that the opinion that Mortensen is best known for his role in G.I. Jane doesn't reflect a majority or significant minority. WP:NPOV#Undue weight says "Articles that compare views need not give minority views as much or as detailed a description as more popular views, and may not include tiny-minority views at all." I think the question is whether the perspective you suggest is that of a significant minority (in which case it could be mentioned in the article's body) or that of a tiny minority (in which case it shouldn't be mentioned at all). Either way, I think the opinion isn't widespread enough to merit exclusion of "best-known as Aragorn" from the lead. —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 19:14, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
I see your point Josiah and it seems that he is more well known for his role as Aragorn, enough so that it warrants placement in the article. Earlier you mentioned that he was previously best know for his role as a tough... Maybe get that in there. I'll add in that part about being previous best known as the Master Chief from GI Jane. Sound good? Bubbleboys 22:02, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
Could you please add in the citation (this one Another BBC news story). I still don't know how to add citations after all this time. *sheepish* Bubbleboys 22:03, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
Done. I reworded your addition slightly, too. —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 22:47, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Picture caption

The world premiere of Fellowship was not in Wellington. I don't remember where it was, but only Return of the King had its world premiere in Wellington. I do not know where or when the picture was taken, so I have just removed most of the caption.

--> what's with the picture caption claiming he was charged with rape and child abuse???

(Gyles) I saw this and Googled/Yahoo! to check truth of claim as I had heard nothing of this on news. There were no cuhc charges. I looked at source and source said "Viggo Mortensen at a premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, December 1, 2003" but the http:// page said the stuff about molestation charges. I didn't think to clear cache (until I write this)in case issue was caused by cached page at ISP but deleted the caption in its entirity and saved the page. This re-set the http:// to no caption. I then pasted in above HTTP and saved again. Page now displays correctly.

[edit] Err

So the infobox states that he was born in New York, while the introduction grammatically impaired states that he was first born in Argentina, then in Denmark. What's it gonna be? --Joffeloff 17:05, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lutheran

Given his heritage, I have no doubt that it is true; however, lacking a citation (or even mention of it in the article), I am removing Mortensen from the Lutherans category. -- Pastordavid 16:12, 29 March 2007 (UTC)