Some observations on the truly amazing actor, Viggo Mortensen:

For those of you who know this actor only from the Lord of the Rings trilogy (which, until recently, included myself), you owe it to yourself to see some of this other roles / movies.

Quite by accident, I stumbled across two movies on cable that included performances by Mortensen: "Albino Alligator" and "The Young Americans."

In "Albino Alligator," Mortensen plays Guy Foucard, an arms dealer caught in the middle of a job-gone-wrong by three small-time crooks. At first, I did not recognize Mortensen in the role: he wore glasses and sported a very thick accent. "Hey, isn't that the guy from Lord of the Rings? I thought. Yep. sure was.

Though the movie was, on the whole, somewhat disappointing, I was really intrigued by Mortensen'a performance -- and especially, with his chameleon-like ability to morph so convincingly into such a (literally) foreign character.

A few weeks later, I popped a long-time favorite, "Carlito's Way," into the DVD player. For those of you who have seen this movie, there's a scene where a wheelchair-bound informant, Lalin, tries to get the goods on Carlito. I kept having this deja vu moment as I watched the scene unfold: "Where do I recognize that guy from?" Holy *&%*! is that Viggo Mortensen again?! Yep. sure was.

There was the chameleon again -- this time sporting a convincing Puerto Rican accent and altogether different mannerisms that the last time I watched him.

So another few weeks goes by and my wife and I catch a movie on IFC called "The Young Americans." Once again, Viggo appears, this time as the menacing American gangster, Carl Frazer. His portrayal of the brutal character bordered on creepy at times. When I pointed out to my wife that "Carl" was the same guy from the LOTR, she was stunned.

Fast forward to last week. At this point I'm actually seeking out Mortensen films, and lo and behold, Circuit City has David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" on sale for $3.99. Once again, Mortensen's character was both riveting and starkly different from the other flms. The chameleon strikes again.

I have a new-found respect for this actor and am surprised he has remained below the radar screen (except for LOTR) for so long.

Directors should be scrambling to get this guy. He can play just about any character imaginable.
If you haven't seen some of his other films / lesser roles, seek them out. He is a truly gifted performer.

If anyone has any recommendations on some of his other movies, please let me know!