Oct 20, 1958

New York City, NY

After several years of experience in live theater, he made his first movie appearance playing an Amish farmer in Peter Weir's Witness. (Mortensen had actually been cast in two prior films — Swing Shift and The Purple Rose of Cairo — but his scenes in both of these films were deleted from the final cuts.) Prior to his casting in The Lord of the Rings, Mortensen appeared in Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III Sean Penn's Indian Runner, Brian DePalma's Ca... ... (read more...) rlito's Way, Tony Scott's Crimson Tide, Ridley Scott's G.I. Jane, Tony Goldwyn's A Walk on the Moon, Philip Ridley's two filmsThe Reflecting Skin and The Passion Of Darkly Noon, Andrew Davis's A Perfect Murder, Betty Thomas's 28 Days and The Prophecy with Christopher Walken. Before Mortensen took the role of Aragorn, he was probably best known for playing Master Chief John Urgayle in G.I. Jane.
<br/><br/>

Mortensen's 1987 performance in Bent at the Coast Playhouse, Los Angeles, won him a Dramalogue Critics' Award. Coincidentally, the play, about homosexual concentration camp prisoners, was originally brought to prominence by Sir Ian McKellen, with whom Mortensen later co-starred in The Lord of the Rings.<br/><br/>

According to the Special Extended Edition DVD of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Mortensen was a last-minute replacement in the role of Aragorn for Stuart Townsend, and wouldn't have taken the part if it hadn't been for his son's enthusiasm for J. R. R. Tolkien's trilogy.<br/><br/>

In 2004, he starred as Frank Hopkins in Hidalgo, the story of a Pony Express courier who travels to Arabia to compete with his horse, Hidalgo, in a dangerous race for a massive contest prize. In 2005, Mortensen starred in David Cronenberg's A History of Violence. He was nominated for a Satellite Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for this role.<br/><br/>

In 2006, he starred as Captain Diego Alatriste in Alatriste, a Spanish film based in the series of novels The Adventures of Captain Alatriste written by the Spanish writer Arturo Perez-Reverte. This is the most expensive Spanish-language film ever made.