Noticias de Viggo

The list of categories actors could be broken into is seemingly endless. Just in the last month or so here at Cinema Blend, we've done itemized editorials celebrating the great supporting actors and disgracing those who no longer care. The possibilities are exhausting. Who's the most bankable star in Hollywood? Will Smith? Who's the best actor in the world? Johnny Depp? Who's the smarmiest villain of all-time? Eric from Billy Madison? But, it seems to at least us, there's one single factor which matters more than all others. It's all about whether or not you care.

It may seem downright obvious to most, but people who genuinely care about their craft are, in any industry, increasingly rare. Like any generic, run-of-the-mill, cubicle-infested business Hollywood is composed of all types. There's the guy who does just enough not to get fired, the guy who seems chiefly concerned with pleasing his boss, the guy who only really cares about how his work will further his career, the guy who doesn't seem to care at all. Sometimes those people get the job done, sometimes they don't. But the worker you know you can count on, the one who's there every day, putting in the extra hours simply because he loves what he does, because he respects it, that's the guy who deserves your money.

This list, the one you're about to read, is a celebration of the stars who still consistently give a shit. It's for the guys who miraculously bat .750 in an age when the majority of actors are content with sacrifice flies or swinging so hard they either hit a home run or strike out. Some of these men and women are old standbys; some are promising upstarts frantically fighting upstream. They don't always get it right, but all of them seem to, for their own reasons, care. This is our thank you. Cinema Blend supports these men and women; we suggest you start (or continue) supporting them too…

Viggo Mortensen [second name on the list]

Viggo Mortensen is a smolderer. He opens those intense, I-know-how-to-build-my-own-kitchen eyes, and he wins my girlfriend over every time. Obviously, I want to hate him because anyone that ruggedly handsome has to be despised on principal alone, but like Paul Newman and his absurdly delicious salad dressing, there comes a day when you just have to admit a dude's alright. Viggo Mortensen could have gone the way of Eric Bana, it certainly would have been expected by this writer, but since The Lord Of The Rings climaxed, he's done nothing but take intense borderline indies and one movie about horses. Turns out that's excused because he's reportedly just real into horses. I would write a movie about polish sausage if someone paid me, a man can't change who he is. Viggo Mortensen is a character actor at heart, he's a method, no-restraint genius who looks like a mechanic, crossed with zoo keeper, crossed with a brooding former model turned emotionally-tortured bad boy. I need to stop holding that against him. If not for my own credibility, so he won't steal my girlfriend and kill me with his bare hands in my sleep on his way to winning at least three Oscars before he's done.