Viggo Mortensen may be an actor, painter, poet, musician and photographer but for thousands of Lord of the Rings fans he is Aragorn.As a child Viggo was very well travelled living in Argentina, Venezuela and Denmark before his parents divorced.After the divorce he went with his mother to live in New York but after he completed high school he returned to Denmark where he was a truck driver before going back to America to pursue his acting dreams.Before going into film Mortensen had a successful career in the theatre earning himself a Dramalogue Critics Award for his 1987 performance in Bent, a play about homosexual concentration camp prisoners.He made his movie debut in Peter weir’s Witness as Moses Hochleitner, an Amish farmer, in 1985 alongside Harrison Ford.From this he went on to star in Prison, Fresh Horses and Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III throughout the late eighties.

But prior to his role in Lord of the Rings he was perhaps best known for his role as Master Chief John James Urgayle in G.I. Jane.

G.I Jane follows Jordan O’Neil (Demi Moore) as she is put through a punishing navy seals regime.

However it was the role of Aragorn which made him a global name.

Mortensen was a late addition to the Rings cast as a replacement for Stuart Townsend and I was only his son’s enthusiasm for the Tolkien novel that made him take the role.

The Lord of the Rings was a risky project as all three movies were shot a once resulting in a tough shoot which saw the cast remain in New Zealand for well over a year.

Mortensen’s role of Aragorn played a central part to the Rings trilogy as the reluctant heir to the throne of Gondor.

He travels with as one of the Fellowship on the journey to Mordor and do what his ancestors failed to do – destroy the ring.

The third movie in the trilogy The Return of the King went on to win eleven Academy Awards.

Since then Mortensen has formed a successful partnership with director David Cronenberg first in 2005 in A History of Violence.

Mortensen starred as Tom Stall whose criminal past catches up with him when he becomes the local hero.

This week sees the release of Mortensen and Cronenberg’s latest collaboration Eastern Promises which centres on the Russian mafia in London.

Viggo will next appear in Good, alongside Jason Issacs, which focuses on the rise of National Socialism in Germany and Appaloosa with Renee Zellweger both will be released next year.

Eastern Promises is released 26th October.

Helen Earnshaw

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