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Why does Viggo Mortensen work with David Cronenberg so often? For one thing, he reminds him of his mom
It may be the first time body horror maven Cronenberg has been compared to anyone's mother, but hey - whatever works to get Viggo Mortensen into your movies

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Long before he was Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen was a little kid who liked going to movies with his mom, Grace Atkinson. "I remember our conversation during Lawrence of Arabia," Mortensen said during a recent career retrospective, "And at in the intermission she was like, 'What do you think's going to happen now?'" The story is from when Mortensen was only 11, but years later, the actor would form a deep friendship with a filmmaker who reminded him of his mother's story sensibilities: Crimes of the Future director David Cronenberg.
The career retrospective we're talking about happened at the Glasgow Film Festival 2024, where Mortensen was asked why he was so eager to work with the famous body horror director. In case you weren't aware, the pair have collaborated on such films as the aforementioned Crimes of the Future, as well as History of Violence, Eastern Promises, and A Dangerous Method.
"It's just the way he talked about the story," Mortensen explained, "It was kind of like the way my mom would. You know, [he would ask] logical, common sense questions. I thought, 'Wow that's nice.'"
But it's not only the similarities he finds with his mother that draws The Prophecy actor to working with The Fly director.
"I just like his way [of directing]," Mortensen expounds, "He's extremely well prepared, and preparation is everything. It allows you to relax; it allows you to interact with the other actors, with the crew, to think outside the box. If you get the day's work done and there's a little extra time, you can try something else. And just - he's a gentleman, you know? He's kind; he has a good sense of humor as far as I'm concerned. He treats people well and he listens, that was the the main thing. He welcomes ideas from anyone. [...] Most of the ideas he's not going to take on board, but every once in a while he might take something on."
"I think that's crucial," he concludes, "When I saw how David worked and prepared things, I thought, 'This is the way to do it."
Crimes of the Future is streaming on Hulu now.
In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." We couldn't agree more, which is why we've cobbled together a couple pieces to send a chill up your spine. Join Popverse as we explore:
- The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
- The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
- All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond
And much gore. Er, more. Much more.
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