The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Viggo Mortensen returns to the oasis of his poetry

2022-01-13T03:16:47.867Z


The versatile actor makes his debut as a poet in front of the public, in a recital this Thursday at the Niemeyer Center in Avilés, where he will read some of his own creations


He has done almost everything: he has acted in about 50 films, he has directed one - of which he has also composed the soundtrack - and he is a great fan of photography and painting. With this background, it is not surprising that Viggo Mortensen (New York, 63 years old) is now making his public debut as a poet. This Thursday, January 13, he opens reading poems of his own creation in an act of the Word Cycle, at the Niemeyer Center, in Asturias, at 8:00 p.m. Although he has already sold out the tickets to attend his recital, Mortensen is surprised at the attention he receives. "I hope people come tomorrow," he says on the phone humbly, as if he were oblivious to the commotion that awaits him.

More information

Viggo Mortensen: "The first thing I think about when I wake up is death"

The organization had already invited the artist two years ago, but its premiere has had to wait until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although he did not pass the confinement in vain. Mortensen continued to write: poetry, short stories, and simmering the script for his next film, a western of love and revenge that he can still reveal little about. “I wrote a lot and watched a lot of movies. The thing I like the most is reading and being transported by what I read, especially poetry. But I also like creating and telling film stories, either as a director or as an actor ”, says Mortensen.

For him, poetry and cinema are two disciplines that go almost hand in hand.

He explains that, from his point of view, both require two conditions “to do them well”, which are precision and abandonment: “You have to be free to express yourself when making a movie or telling a story.

It takes a lot of precision to avoid the kitsch, to try to tell what one wants to say in a disciplined way, with orderly thoughts.

But also abandonment, letting some freedom and experimenting to do something that you did not expect to do.

It is important not to feel tied down, to express yourself in a free way ”.

Viggo Mortensen starred in 'Alatriste' in 2006.Photo: Cordon

Although his most outstanding career is in acting, where he became one of the most famous actors on the planet with his role as Aragorn in the

Lord of the Rings trilogy.

(2001-2003)

,

Mortensen is also comfortable in the field of writing.

Born in New York, he grew up in Argentina until he was 11 years old, where he developed perfect Spanish that he began to capture on the pages since he was little: at the age of seven he was already making his first stories, and he admits that he has been writing for much longer than acting in front of the cameras.

"Distill what I feel"

In 2018 he already published his first verses in

What cannot be written

(2018, Perceval Press). When you write poetry you do not have a clear thematic line or a predefined form. He feeds on the things that happen to him in his day-to-day life and on other works, which make him want to continue creating: “I see a good movie and I want to make a movie. I read a good poem from someone else and I feel like writing. Not from writing a poem like that or making a movie like that, but from doing something, the act of writing, using my imagination and trying to create something. Sometimes something I see on the street can inspire me, or something that happens to me personally. Many times I say 'today I want to distill what I feel', and I don't think of other references ”.

Nor does he think of other poets when composing, but he admits that having grown up in different places helps him to have a more complete range of references, from Walt Whitman and the authors of the Beat Generation, to Alejandra Pizarnik, Julio Cortázar, Fabián Casas and Oliverio Girondo .

In his portrayal of the film adaptation of

Alatriste

(2006), he soaked up as much of the Spanish Golden Age as he could, which has also enriched him.

A fan of so many artistic fields, he says he has never suffered from the impostor syndrome, whereby a person can feel worthless and unable to recognize their own achievements, especially when exploring other fields: “One always has doubts.

There are also ideas that suit you and another day you come home and think 'I'm useless'.

Or you don't get any work and you think you're finished.

But I am stubborn.

I like to do other things and try to make them work, and that is what amuses me the most, be it drawing, photographing or even editing the texts of others ”.

These days, what he hopes to have fun with is with his recital in Avilés, but also with the Spanish Super Cup, which, a Madridista at heart, trusts that it will also turn out well.

Source: elparis

All life articles on 2022-01-13

You may like

Life/Entertain 2024-02-16T10:42:19.191Z
Life/Entertain 2024-03-09T13:18:07.722Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.