Viggo Mortensen, who famously played Aragorn in the LOTR franchise, requested his iconic sword as a prop for his new Western epic. The three-time Oscar-nominated actor spoke to the film’s director, Peter Jackson, to see “if he’d be alright with it.” Check out his response!
Viggo Mortensen asked Peter Jackson permission to use his LOTR sword in his new movie
So, did Mortensen get to use Aragorn’s sword in his film The Dead Don’t Hurt? The answer is yes! However, he had to get a few nods of approval for that. During an interview with GQ, the actor recalled the moment. When the Green Book actor reached out to the director to pitch the idea, Jackson asked whether the sword had a significant impact on the film.
“I said, ‘No, it’s not, actually. You hardly notice it, but somebody will, probably,’ ” Mortensen said, and the LOTR director agreed but urged him to consult the film’s company. “So, I contacted them, and they were fine with it. They realized it wasn’t essential. It wasn’t going to draw a lot of attention to itself,” Mortensen added.
The Captain Fantastic actor recalled that the people at the company were super nice about it, so they ended up using the sword. “It was kind of a last-minute accident,” he added.
Will Mortensen return to the LOTR film series?
When asked if he would like to reprise his role if the Academy Awards-winning film series returns with another sequel, he said the door’s open for possibility. “Sure. I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard. Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually. I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot,” he told GQ.
However, the story would have fit his boxes in terms of the age and maturity of the character. He added that he wouldn’t be interested in playing a silly role.
Jackson became a renewed director through his three-picture film Hobbit between 2012 and 2014 and, of course, the Lord of The Ring franchise. He will produce the next LOTR project with Dame Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens in collaboration with Warner Bros. for distribution.
The film’s working title is Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and Andy Serkis, who played Gollum, will be returning to the play titular character.
The Dead Don’t Hurt will be released on Friday.
