Viggo Mortensen Says He Is NOT Retiring From Acting! Exclusive Video Interview for THE ROAD - TIFF ‘09

While I get to interview a lot of people for Collider, I rarely get nervous or excited. But when I found out I’d be speaking with Viggo Mortensen at this year’s Toronto Film Festival for his new movie “The Road”, I was practically jumping up and down like a kid after too much soda. What can I say…I’m a huge fan of this amazing actor and I’d always wanted to meet him. Thankfully, the interview went great and I even got him to address the rumors that he’s retiring from acting. Don’t worry…he isn’t!

But the reason I got to speak with him was for “The Road”, and after the jump you can learn more about the movie and also watch the interview:

If you aren’t familiar with “The Road”, the film is based on Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and it stars Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, and Guy Pearce. The movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and it’s a tale of survival of a father (Mortensen) and his young son (Smith-McPhee) as they journey across a barren America that was destroyed by a mysterious cataclysm.

While this is clearly not your typical subject matter from Hollywood, I was absolutely mesmerized by the world director John Hillcoat created and think it’s a powerful film worth seeing when it gets released November 25th. If you’re curious, here’s a link for 5 movie clips you can watch right now. You’ll get a feel for how dark the subject matter is.

Anyway, below is my interview with Viggo. He talks about preparing for the role, does he still get nervous, what was it like on set dealing with this kind of subject matter, and he talks about what else he’s working on. If you’re a fan of this brilliant actor, you’ll love the interview. Take a look:

Viggo Mortensen

• How did Viggo prepare with Kodi Smit-McPhee for the roles
• Does he still get nervous when preparing for a role
• What was it like on set dealing with this kind of material
• I ask if the rumors about him retiring are true (he says he is not)
• He talks about his other artistic endeavors like photography and his book publishing company

–