Viggo Mortensen Explains Why He’s Avoided Franchises Since ‘Lord Of The Rings’

Viggo Mortensen explained why he hasn’t appeared in any franchise films since his turn as Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy between 2001 and 2003.

The 65-year-old actor told Vanity Fair that he’s been looking for an equally worthy project but hasn’t been able to find one yet. 

“I don’t really look for or avoid any kind of genre or any size budget. I just look for interesting stories,” Mortensen told the outlet. “It doesn’t matter to me what the genre is or what the budget is or who’s making them. I would never do a movie just because so-and-so is directing it. It has to be about the story. And if I think I’m right for the character, that always comes first.”

“That goes for franchises,” he continued. “If somebody came to me with X movie, the third part or the ninth part, and I thought it was a great character and I wanted to play that character and I thought I had something to contribute, I’d do it. I’m not against it. But they’re not usually that good.”

Mortensen said, “I mean, to me, they’re not usually that well-written. They’re kind of predictable. I mean, of course, there’s always the issue of if I run out of money.”

The three-time Academy Award nominee said earlier this year that he’s open to reprising his role for Jackson’s newest “Lord of the Rings” project, which has a projected release date in 2026.

“I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard,” he told the UK version of GQ Magazine of “The Hunt for Gollum.”

“Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually,” Mortensen added. “I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot. I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth. I would only do it if I was right for the character. It would be silly to do it otherwise.”

Though he hasn’t starred in any franchise films since “LOTR,” Mortensen did work on several projects over the past two decades, including “A History of Violence” (2005), “Eastern Promises” (2007), “A Dangerous Method” (2011), “Captain Fantastic” (2016), and “Green Book” (2018). 

The actor made his directorial debut with “Falling” in 2020.