Does Viggo Mortensen Have Any Kids?
Danish-American actor Viggo Mortensen has numerous film credits to his name. The movie star also has considerable talent, as evinced by the critical acclaim he’s received over the years. But, does Mortensen have any kids? Here’s what we found out.
Viggo Mortensen’s early years
Viggo Peter Mortensen made his earthly debut in New York City on October 20, 1958. When he was a young boy, his parents took him to live in South America where his dad, Viggo Sr., managed ranches and poultry farms in Argentina and Venezuela. During their time in South America, the Mortensens welcomed two more sons, Walter and Charles.
When Viggo was 7 years old, he was sent to live at an isolated boarding school in Argentina. Four years later, Viggo’s mom, Grace, took Viggo and his brothers back to her home state of New York and divorced the family patriarch.
Mortensen graduated from Watertown High School where he was by all accounts a skilled athlete and dedicated scholar. After graduating in 1976, he enrolled at St. Lawrence University. Following his graduation, he packed up and moved to his father’s native country of Denmark.
Young love
The young expat worked at numerous odd jobs, from florist to dock worker, while penning poetry and short stories in his spare time. In 1982, he became smitten with an American tourist and followed her back to the Big Apple. The romance didn’t last, nor did it produce any children. The breakup did, however, inspire Mortensen to take acting classes under the tutelage of Warren Robertson. Mortensen made a few appearances on New York stages and in small movies before taking his acting dreams to Los Angeles.
Once in LA, Mortensen got right to work
It didn’t take long for Mortensen to pass an audition for a part in a Coast Playhouse production of Bent. In fact, the Dramalogue Critics Award he won for the role put his name on the map – and in the minds of movie makers, explains Fandango.
Around the same time, Mortensen found himself enchanted by the burgeoning punk rock scene in Los Angeles. In 1986, he began dating one of the scene’s most interesting and enigmatic performers.
Enter Exene
In July 1987, Mortensen married a rockabilly-punk performer named Exene Cervenka. Born Christine Cervenkova in Chicago on February 1, 1956, Cervenka was previously married to John Doe who was the founder of their Los Angeles-based band, X. The mid-80s were wild times in the City of Angels, and it’s no wonder than the flamboyant rock star made waves with the handsome, well-traveled actor. They even had a kid together.
According to the UK Daily Mail, Cervenka and Mortensen stuck it out until 1992. It took the troubled couple a long time to make the end official, though. Viggo and Exene were not divorced until 1997.
During the course of their
Shortly before Exene and Viggo split up, Sean Penn hired Mortensen for the part of a morally bankrupt brother to David Morse’s character in his 1991 film, The Indian Runner. Two years later, Mortensen was cast as a paraplegic ex convict who blows the whistle in Carlito’s Way. The movie also starred veteran actor, Al Pacino.
In 1995, while still married to but not living with Cervenka, Mortensen gave a stellar -and creepy- performance of Lucifer in The Prophecy. As part of the cinematic festivities, Mortensen ripped out and ate the heart of the character portrayed by always weird, always wonderful, Christopher Walken.
Viggo Mortensen on working with kids
In Captain Fantastic, the actor best known as Aragorn in the stupendous Lord of the Ringstrilogy played dad to six amazing kids. Shot partly in Washington state. Captain Fantastic also starred Naomi Watts, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, and Shree Crooks. While on location in the Pacific Northwest, Mortensen described director Matt Ross as an extraordinary and told The Seattle Times that he found the young cast of childhood actors to be a “constant source of amusement and inspiration.”
“That thing that we all are until a certain age: You don’t need a director or a second take, you just believe what you’re doing and you are Superman or a princess or a Viking or whatever you want to be. You don’t need the trappings, you don’t need someone telling you how to do it; you believe it. That’s something as adults we all lose; we get rigid physically but also mentally. As an actor, you have to keep that with you.”
With a grown son and decades of experience under his belt, we expect to see plenty more of the breathtaking acting skills of Viggo Mortensen.
