06/02/2015 - The actor, who had his first Danish-language lead role in Argentinian director Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja, will receive a Bodil for his achievements

Danish-American actor Viggo Mortensen and Danish actress Ghita Nørby at Cannes, with Jauja

Danish-American actor Viggo Mortensen, who got his big international break in New Zealand director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (2002-2003), will receive an Honorary Bodil from the Danish film critics at the awards gala on 28 February at Copenhagen’s Bremen Theatre.

“He is an inspiring role model as an actor – already famous worldwide, he works tirelessly to renew himself, and to keep film alive as an experimental and curious art form. We are proud to have a half-share in him,” said chairman Jacob Wendt Jensen, of the Danish Film Critics’ Association.

Mortensen, who was knighted by Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II in 2010, has performed in 55 features, recently in Argentinian director Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja [+see also:
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film profile], where he had his first Danish-language lead role with Danish actress Ghita Nørby, among other performers.

The Argentinian-Brazilian-Danish-US production, which won the international critics’ FIPRESCI Prize at last year’s Cannes Festival, will have its Danish premiere in April. Mortensen plays a Danish general, Gunnar Dinesen, who emigrated to Argentina in the late 19^th century.

Born in New York to an American mother and a Danish father, Mortensen was cast in Australian director Peter Weir’s Witness (1985) and US director Sean Penn’s The Indian Runner (1991), before Jackson called him and asked if he could take over as Aragorn and start the next day.

His other credits include Canadian director David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence (2005) and Eastern Promises [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2007) – for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor – Australian filmmaker John Hillcoat’s The Road (2009) and, most recently, US director Matt Ross’ Captain Fantastic.