FROM:The Movie Chicks Online Mag February 2004

Viggo Mortensen comes across as an introspective, peaceful person. As he sits quietly talking, it's hard to picture him battling to save Middle Earth or riding 3000 miles across a desert, but that just goes to show how good an actor he must be. As he talks he reveals an inner strength and inner peace that makes him stand apart from other Hollywood glamour boys (but that depth doesn't take away from the fact that he's easy on the eyes and looks especially good in person). He's just more serious than many people that come in town to chat up their latest projects. He did get lively talking about the horse TJ that he rides in the movie, and it's no surprise to find out that he got along so well with TJ, that he bought the horse.

Can you talk about how this film came about?

Let's face it, without the success of that first part of the [Lord Of The Rings] trilogy, there's no way would I have been given this part or the responsibility of playing Frank Hopkins in a big budget movie. Frank Hopkins, the cowboy, with his horse Hidalgo are the ones that take us to these different places; let us meet these different people, different cultures, see these different landscapes, but it's just as much an ensemble, in my opinion, as Lord Of The Rings was. It's a similar situation in terms of the cast, where you've got largely unknowns. And they're going to be in the same position as most of us from Lord Of The Rings were when the first movie came out and struck a chord with people. Whether it's Louise Lombard, Zuleikha Robinson… well Omar Sharif doesn't need much help, a lot of other actors in this story are going to get opportunities, I think, from this experience because I have a feeling that people are going to embrace the story. The movie company seems to be fairly confident in that they're adding more cities, more countries. I'm going to go to more places and spending more time discussing this movie, so it's a good thing I like it.

What attracted you to this story?

I liked the story because it's old-fashioned in the telling. It's not like a message movie, it's not a revisionist western, it's just an entertaining adventure story but there's a lot of stuff to think about in it. The audience is treated with a certain amount of respect and allowed to make up their own minds what they think about it and what they get out of it beyond just the adventure. There are some things that interested me in principal before even doing any research and that was Buffalo Bill was in it to whom I'm related through my mom. So, I'd read about him, heard about him as a kid, and I've always watched the different cinema impersonations of him and I thought that J. K. Simmons did an outstanding job even though it's not a movie about Buffalo Bill per se. He was a character that obviously knew what he was talking about: he was a good shot, a great horseman, knew the West, a scout of note, yet he knowingly changed certain things. Fudged it a lot. You see that touched in the movie to appeal to what he thought was the taste of the people in the east, in the country in general. He sort of followed the media's lead with regard to what happened at Wounded Knee, to completely change in the telling. For most people there wasn't any awareness, until the 70's, that anything had happened at all and certainly if it did, it was a battle. Those things are touched on without it ever being a message movie. It's that period of time in history, showing both the real deal and the "wild west" version. Also, the idea that Omar Sharif was going to be in this movie was really interesting, especially since we were going to film in some of the same places as he shot Lawrence of Arabia. Those are two historical [figures] and horses I like, I've liked them since I was a boy, so that was interesting.

How did you prepare for the Hopkins character?

I was interested in all those things and I also was interested in cowboys. No less than playing Aragorn was interesting to me because all those games, imagining I was a knight or a Viking when I was a little kid with a wooden sword fighting the laundry hanger in the backyard, and then all of a sudden I'm fighting real monsters with a real sword, or seemingly real. It's fun. This movie, too - playing a cowboy was interesting as hard as the shoot was. I thought about [all those things] in preparing but what I spent the most time doing was riding as much as I could, every day, as many different horses as I could - I rode everything. The more different horses you ride, the better your balance is and the better you're able to adjust to the unexpected. I rode bareback a lot and just hung around with cowboys and watched them. Just seeing the way they treat horses, which is not so different from the Lakota horsemen and women that I went up and visited and rode with in Pine Ridge Reservation. Then I watched [the horse trainer] Rex Peterson and others who were from the Northern plains because that's where Hopkins was from. There's a certain way of speaking, just being with the horse. Keeping in mind the period, I'm not going to use terms or equipment or tack that's not period correct. I guess by osmosis, by hanging around these people, I could see how they dealt with horses and dealt with each other. I liked being part of taking the cowboy image and shining it up a bit without being some cornball. He's got his flaws and his doubts and his weaknesses; he messes up here and there. Takes stock of the situation and tries to make an improvement or... the horse straightens him out. One way or another he stumbles his way through it and I like that.

Can you talk about the horse? We all loved the horse.

Good I did too. Well obviously, the name of the movie isn't Frank Hopkins, it's Hidalgo, so the horse is somewhat important. The horse has a very distinct personality that isn't made up by imposing human characteristics on him. You read into his behavior from a human point of view, but it's not animatronics, it's not Mr. Ed, it's just a horse being a horse and that's pretty interesting. A lot of what his personality is and what helps him as a character work as Frank Hopkins' conscious, he's the one that keeps him going or pulls him down a peg when he's not doing things right, has to do with the horse named TJ. His actual participation, his interaction, the first few times it happened on set where he would react appropriately, it seemed. In a jealous or possessive way, or just keeping an eye on things, or being annoyed with me if my character was acting foolish or drunk or something, he would have a very strong reaction - gestures, sounds he would make, he'd pin his ears back. At all times, he did that. There's a point during the story where Frank's made a compromise in his mind and decided to quit (if you've seen it you know where I'm talking about) and the horse sort of looks back and that's a typical TJ thing to do. It's not a digital effect - so all these things that he did really helped us and Joe Johnston was smart enough to realize that a horse just being a horse, and by good luck being into the story, keeps happening; it's not a coincidence. Let's just pay attention and film it.

So it was a pretty amazing horse then that you were working with?

Yeah, we were lucky.

How much prep time did you have before the shooting began and did you use that to get to know this horse beforehand?

Yeah, and there were some other horses, too, other paints, just in case - sometimes one, sometimes two, sometimes all four others. It was weird, in the morning early as we were getting ready and dressed, there was this guy that would be there and he would paint carefully each horse - add the spots in the same color to match TJ. It was really bizarre, but he did a great job. Sometimes they would be used and sometimes they wouldn't be used, but you can't run a horse that hot all day long every day. So there'd be some of the longer shots that are in the movie, when they're running hard, sometimes the other horses would double. The paint job was good enough that you couldn't tell. And I rode all of them. I had a month or so before, which was interrupted by having to go back for re-shoots for Lord Of The Rings and even during the shoot I had to do interviews in the evenings after work. Being in the Sahara Desert, I remember several times going out by a sand dune trying to get cell phone reception, way out by the Algerian border, saying "Yeah, The Two Towers, let me think back on that." Then hang up the phone and it's just dead quiet. It was weird.

What was the toughest part about making this movie, I was told you don't complain much?

Not too much, and if I do it's privately or talking to myself. There were certain places physically that were hard for everyone. The windstorms, just the dryness, Morocco was tough sometimes. It bothered me a little bit that the horses were kind of struggling at times, so we'd alternate them a little for certain shots if it was possible. It was so dry, that not being raised there like the Arabians they were racing against, their feet tended to dry up and crack and that was tough. Also, their lungs - the dust was so fine. A lot of people, including myself, had a few days (I kept working) but I would have to between takes just lie down, I couldn't breathe very well - so much dust and sand in the air all the time. Some people, including Rex Peterson the horse trainer, he got really sick - he ended up in the hospital; he couldn't breathe. He came back a couple days later and had lasting consequences that only just recently he's gotten past with difficulty breathing from that. Some of the horses suffered from that quite a bit. TJ got through it all right, but his feet got very brittle. The terrain is not only very dry, but really hard even when there weren't lots of rocks everywhere the ground would just be like concrete. So when you're riding hard and pounding on that it's hard on them - so I felt bad about that. I guess that was probably the toughest thing just seeing the animals feeling that way and trying to figure out a way to ease their discomfort and give them rests when we could. It got to where most of the way I was in the saddle all day long. I got to the point where I would get off after a take and walk the horse back and stay off of him until the last minute just to lighten [his load]. We limped to the finish.

How much was TJ trained?

He was not a horse that had ever been in movies or trained for anything like this. There was another horse, one of his doubles that was trained to work at liberty by Rex to do all kinds of tricks including picking up a hat and things like that. And he did it really well, but as an example of how bright TJ is, the other horse was doing a thing where I'm washing and I look up and he's picked up my hat which means, "Let's get outta here." The other horse was doing it and we realized that it's so close you're going to tell it's not TJ. So we said, "Let's let him try it, you never know" because he's just sitting there watching. Sure enough, bam, immediately, and not only did he pick it up just as well, but he didn't shake it violently, he just picked it up and just looked at me as you see in the movie. He did it take after take. He's a really fast learner. And he seemed to be happy to be around the set. I would almost say he's a bit of a ham really. In rehearsals he's like dead and as soon as they say action, he's like [perked up]. For a stallion to be that relaxed where he could take in what's going on and interact is remarkable. If you know horses at all, for a stallion to be putting up with that - lights, cameras, crews, repetition, not to get bored with it if he's buddies aren't around or some nice looking fillies aren't around, "Enough of this, I've already learned this, you guys are the ones that can't get it right," but he was very patient and really good.

When you're working, do you also write, paint, or are you just focused on one thing at a time?

No, I do the other stuff too, when I get a chance. Typically, the end of a day's work on Hidalgo, especially when we were out in those out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere kind of places, I would stay in the trailer which would give me an hour and a half more sleep. And it'd be quiet and it's nice after a day of interacting with everyone to just have some quiet time and take advantage of a really unique opportunity being in the middle of the Sahara Desert - it doesn't happen to me everyday. They'd go away and then after washing up, getting something to eat, going up on the sand dune doing an interview for Lord Of The Rings, I'd go back in there and sit with the door open. It was just nice and quiet, there are a lot of stars, and I might write something down. During the shoot, when I had saddlebags, I'd have a camera in there usually and I took a fair amount of pictures from that point of view - which is interesting from horseback.

In your recent movies, you've played characters with such courage and strength and even though they're not perfect they are so inspiring to a lot of people. How does that make you feel?

I wish I was as courageous as they are. But when you see, particularly Frank, when he's a bit bumbling sometimes, that's definitely the actor coming through. No, it's great fun to play them. I learn from that too - I'm inspired by certain things that happen. Also by other people, by TJ, he was just really interesting. But you always can learn something from other people and if you're lucky enough to play characters like Frank T. Hopkins or Aragorn then it's a chance to go on a journey and think about it. Look, if I'm playing someone that on paper is just out-and-out evil, I'm always going to try to find, I think that's part of my job and makes the job more interesting, what is not evil about him or how did he get that way or what could be his reason for being so extreme. And if someone is heroic or takes on a challenge then in what way is he afraid or doubtful or does he hesitate along the way as we all do, even when we decide to take the bull by the horns or do something difficult. That's interesting to me.

Final thoughts on storytelling:

These kinds of stories are really ordeals - they're classic challenges to adventure. It's the same kind of story that's been told and will always be told - where you're faced with a challenge or a call to adventure. You can say yes or no, you're not obliged to go usually, unless you're drafted. Usually in these kinds of stories, it gets a lot worse before it gets better. Whatever you're afraid of, it's even worse and you realize after awhile (certainly after seeing it or reading it), that it was more about how you got through it than whether you got there, or got there first or last, to the end of the journey. These ordeals point out how people react in difficult situations. Any ordeal that you can survive as a human being is an improvement in your character, and usually an improvement in your life. In situations like this, you get to observe a character like Frank Hopkins or a horse like Hidalgo - do they keep their composure, their dignity including how they treat others, in really stressful difficult situations and if they don't at times, do they have the good sense and decency to recognize that and make amends or at least have it in mind the next time around. Those stories are always interesting to me. Before I even thought of becoming an actor, those were the kinds of stories I liked to go see. Not exclusively, maybe. I didn't just like adventure, big epic stories, and I don't feel that way as an actor either, but I think even the little kitchen sink kind of drama stories that you can tell with movies usually involve some extraordinary event or a series of unusual situations that test people. That's what drives people to tell stories or make movies about that. When you talk to kids, a lot of times to make your point, just as a preacher will do in church, or an elder will do among the Lakota people, or people all over the world, storytelling is a way of making a point and remembering or cherishing certain values that are generally universal or just common sense no matter where you go. But the test is what's interesting to me and finding a way to show different sides of a person as they go through an ordeal is what it's about to me. Not just he's a hero or he's the devil himself… which I've played.

Final thoughts on Hidalgo:

It's interesting to have a cowboy be the character along with his horse that takes you through this period and then travels overseas at a point where Americans are looking beyond our borders and thinking, "What's our place in the world?" How are we going to take part in world affairs? It's interesting to have someone go who doesn't have much understanding or knowledge but makes up for his lack of information about these places by being somewhat curious about it. Which I think is a dignified way to be and certainly the first step toward being open-minded about the possibility of finding common ground with seemingly very different types of people with different points of view. I like that a big budget movie would do that. Be about an American and an American horse that go to the 3rd World. They behave more or less with respect and dignity toward others. Hidalgo is pretty together before he even goes, but Frank certainly learns a lot about himself during the course of this journey, probably as much or more about himself than he does about the people he encounters. He returns home with the benefit of that knowledge and the experience - that's refreshing.