Viggo Mortensen may forever be known as Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, but the New York City native has built a decades-long career that is just as impressive as Peter Jackson's fantasy films. From his first movie role opposite the legendary Harrison Ford to his recent work with directing legends Ron Howard and David Cronenberg, Mortensen has always found a way to choose memorable roles.
A famously private individual, Mortensen would rather let his work do the talking than spend time in the spotlight or on social media. He's also famously picky about the roles he chooses. That's why his career is highlighted by both blockbusters and obscure art films that aren't even in English. Those films span multiple genres and a wide variety of characters that Mortensen often loses himself in. Those roles have earned him three Academy Award nominations, all for Best Actor, and a reputation as one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood.
Following are Viggo Mortensen's 20 best films, ranked by their Rotten Tomatoes "Tomatometer" rating, calculated by critics' positive reviews of the film. For this list, we will only include films in which Mortensen had a leading role or a significant supporting role.
20 A Walk on the Moon (1999) - 72%
A Walk on the Moon is a romantic drama and actor Tony Goldwyn's directing debut. Diane Lane plays a wife who has a torrid affair with Mortensen's character, a blouse salesman, while her family is spending the summer of 1969 at their cabin in the woods. Strong performances from the cast, including Anna Paquin, give the film an emotional core.
19 The Road (2009) - 74%
Based on Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Road is an apocalyptic drama from Australian director John Hillcoat (George & Tammy) and features Mortensen as a father trying to find a safe refuge for his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) after a natural disaster kills all of Earth's plants and animals. Mortensen gives a touching performance, but the film is incredibly bleak. It's an interesting watch, although the tone is rarely pleasant or enjoyable. The film's impressive cast also includes Charlize Theron and Robert Duvall.
18 The Indian Runner (1991) - 74%
Sean Penn wrote and directed The Indian Runner, a drama about the strained relationship between two brothers. Joe (David Morse) is a sheriff's deputy in his hometown, and Mortensen gives a fine performance as his brother Frank, who just returned from Vietnam but is struggling with mental issues. Frank's erratic and often violent behavior causes problems for Joe, which are compounded by several family tragedies. The film flopped at the box office initially but has gained a solid reputation in the years since, thanks to the outstanding performances.
17 Appaloosa (2008) - 76%
Based on the Robert Parker novel, Appaloosa features Mortensen and Ed Harris as two friends hired to be the new lawmen in a small town in 1880s New Mexico. They are hired to bring a rogue rancher (Jeremy Irons) to justice after he kills the town's previous lawmen. Renée Zellweger plays a widow who complicates the duo's relationship, as they must trust each other to see justice done. Directed and co-written by Harris, the film is a sincere, understated western with some fantastic performances, particularly Mortensen, who plays a quiet, dedicated deputy.
16 Green Book (2018) - 77%
The winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2018, Green Book tells the true story of an Italian bouncer (Mortensen) who drove a noted African American piano player (Mahershala Ali) throughout the South to play gigs. The film garnered controversy even before the Oscar ceremony, with some critical over the film's handling of racial politics. Mortensen himself blasted the criticism, saying the film was being unfairly maligned. Despite the blowback, Mortensen was nominated for Best Actor, and Ali took home the award for Best Supporting Actor.
15 A Dangerous Method (2011) - 78%
Viggo Mortensen has made four films with noted director David Cronenberg, and all four are on this list. 2011's A Dangerous Method is a real-life story of the friendship between legendary psychoanalysts Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Mortensen). Keira Knightley plays a troubled Russian woman who the pair both attempt to treat. It's a different film from Cronenberg's usual darker fare, but the cast is exceptional. Mortensen's Freud may be a supporting character (Fassbender and Knightley are the central characters), but he makes the most of his screen time.
14 The Two Faces of January (2014) - 80%
In The Two Faces of January, Viggo Mortensen plays a crooked businessman hiding out in 1960s Greece with his wife (Kirsten Dunst) after defrauding his clients. A chance encounter leads to murder, so the pair turn to a young American living abroad (a pre-Star Wars Oscar Isaac) to help them escape. This surprisingly entertaining thriller features great performances all around, particularly Mortensen, whose character turns darker and more desperate as his poor decisions eventually catch up to him. Audiences weren't particularly taken with the film, however, and gave it a much lower 48% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
13 Crimes of the Future (2022) - 80%
Crimes of the Future is Mortensen's only film with David Cronenberg in which the director is working in the genre he is best known for: body horror movies. Set sometime in the future, Mortensen plays a performance artist exploring the concept of trans-humanism, replacing parts of his body with synthetic ones in a series of increasingly disturbing public displays. The film, in true Cronenberg style, is mesmerizing, provocative, and stomach-churning, and viewers either loved the film or despised it.
12 Captain Fantastic (2016) - 83%
Matt Ross' oddly charming comedic drama Captain Fantastic finds Mortensen playing a Bohemian neo-hippie father raising his six children off-the-grid in the forests of Washington state. When a family tragedy forces them to return to civilization, the clash of cultures and ideals is apparent. Raised with a radical leftist mentality that despises capitalism, the children suddenly find themselves drawn to the very thing they have been raised to abhor.
Mortensen is absolutely perfect and earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Actor for the film. The actors playing the children are also top-notch, particularly George MacKay, who would go on to star in Sam Mendes' Oscar-winning epic 1917. Annalise Basso (Snowpiercer) and Nicholas Hamilton are also standouts.
11 Far from Men (2014) - 84%
The French film Far from Men (Loin des hommes) isn't the type of film you'd expect to see Mortensen in, even with his reputation for doing smaller independent films. Here, he plays Daru, a French soldier-turned-teacher in a small mountain village in Algeria in 1954, in the midst of the war between the French and the Algerians. Daru is tasked with escorting a villager (Reda Kateb) to the city to stand trial for murder. Along the way, the two form a bond, especially when the relatives of the man he killed come looking for revenge. With all the dialogue in French and Arabic, the film isn't always easy to follow, but the performances connect deeply.
10 Thirteen Lives (2022) - 86%
Ron Howard directed Thirteen Lives, the true story of the rescue of a boys' soccer team and their coach from a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018. Mortensen plays Rick Stanton, a British cave diver who leads the attempted rescue with his diving partner John Volanthen (Colin Farrell). Joel Edgerton also stars in a thrilling film that provides more insight into the daring rescue than we ever saw on the news. Fantastic performances by the leads and the supporting cast of Indonesian actors.
9 A History of Violence (2005) - 87%
A man's past returns to haunt him in David Cronenberg's A History of Violence, based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke. Mortensen plays Tom, a seemingly mild-mannered husband and father who owns a diner in a small Indiana town. When two violent criminals try to rob the diner, Tom is forced to kill them both, and the media proclaims him a hero. However, the press coverage captures the attention of the mob, who come to town looking for Tom, who is revealed to be a former hitman with past sins to answer for.
Cronenberg crafts interesting characters, and a cast that includes Maria Bello, Ed Harris, and William Hurt provides fine performances. When Tom resorts to violence, it is shocking and brutal, and the tension builds to an epic conclusion. Cronenberg chose Mortensen specifically for the role, for his ability to be both a Gary Cooper-like leading man and a character actor at the same time. Hurt was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor playing a mobster with ties to Tom's past.
8 The Reflecting Skin (1990) - 88%
The Reflecting Skin is an odd but riveting gothic drama about Seth (Jeremy Cooper), an eight-year-old living in 1950s rural America. The story involves dead children and Seth's belief that a vampire is responsible. Writer/Director Philip Ridley tells the story through Seth's perspective, so some plot points are kept vague or nonsensical, which only adds to the film's off-kilter tone. Mortensen plays Seth's older brother, an army veteran returning home. He doesn't show up until well into the film's second act, but he becomes a significant part of the plot. The film has gained a cult following in the years since its release, as fans discover Mortensen's excellent performance.
7 Jauja (2014) - 89%
Viggo Mortensen took a particular interest in director Lisandro Alonso's Jauja, despite its small independent film budget, obscure premise, and no English dialogue. That's because the film, set in the high desert of Argentina in the 1800s, has a personal link to Mortensen. The actor grew up in the country until he was about 11 years old. He speaks fluent Spanish, and in this film, he plays a Dutch military officer stationed in rural Argentina, who goes on a search for his young daughter, who has run off with a soldier. Despite the slow pace and long camera takes, Mortensen gives the film enough energy and momentum to keep your interest. The ending, however, may be too open-ended and metaphorical for some.
6 Eastern Promises (2007) - 89%
Mortensen earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for Eastern Promises, a uniquely entertaining thriller from director David Cronenberg. Mortensen plays Nikolai, an enforcer for the Russian mob, ordered to silence Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife who learns of a mob boss' sexual assault of a girl. When Nikolai resists the order, it puts him and the woman he hopes to protect at risk. Armin Mueller-Stahl gives a great performance in one of the best films of 2007, which blends Cronenberg's signature shocking violence with some tense dramatics.
5 Crimson Tide (1995) - 89%
Director Tony Scott's (Top Gun) blockbuster undersea thriller Crimson Tide is set aboard a United States Navy nuclear submarine during an international standoff on the brink of World War III. Gene Hackman plays the sub captain ready to launch his nukes after an encoded order is received. Denzel Washington plays the First Officer who leads a mutiny to stop the launch until he is sure the order is correct. Mortensen plays Washington's friend and an officer aboard the sub, who is forced to take a side. The film ranks among the best of the action films Jerry Bruckheimer produced during the 1990s.
4 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - 91%
Peter Jackson's first entry in The Lord of the Rings trilogy was one of the most anticipated films ever, a momentous cinematic undertaking of one of the most beloved fantasy book series of all time. The Fellowship of the Ring delivered on the hype, with a fantastic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic and a near-perfect cast. That included Mortensen, whose Aragorn is introduced as the roaming ranger Strider, who is hiding his true identity as the descendant of Isildur and heir to the throne of Gondor. When he commits to escort Frodo and the other Hobbits to Mordor, however, he begins to see denying his destiny is futile. It is best seen during Boromir's (Sean Bean) last stand, in which he pledges, with his final breath, his heartbreaking loyalty to Aragorn: "I would have followed you my brother, my captain, my king."
3 Witness (1985) - 93%
Mortensen made his big-screen debut playing Moses, an Amish farmer in Peter Weir's thriller Witness. The film centers around Philadelphia cop John Book (Harrison Ford) who discovers that the young Amish boy (Lukas Haas) who witnessed a murder identifies a fellow cop (Danny Glover, pre-Lethal Weapon) as the killer. With crooked cops out to get him, Book goes into hiding in Amish country, and falls in love with the boy's widowed mother (Kelly McGillis, pre-Top Gun). Besides kick-starting Mortensen's film career, Witness is notable for giving Ford his only Oscar nomination (for Best Actor).
2 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - 93%
In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Mortensen's Aragorn finally embraces his destiny as the heir to the throne of Gondor and the King of Men. Before he can claim that, however, he has to defeat the armies of Sauron, with a little help from his friends. Mortensen has a number of great lines in the film, including his quiet proclamation "For Frodo," just as he leads a charge to the Black Gates of Mordor, and his final line of the film, "My friends, you bow to no one," as he and those around him kneel in thanks to Frodo and the Hobbits. It's a wonderfully emotional crescendo to the quest the Fellowship had completed.
1 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - 95%
Like so many classic trilogies, the second film in The Lord of the Rings saga is arguably the best. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers finds Aragorn showing his leadership abilities, as he and the remaining members of the Fellowship set out to free Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) from the orcs who took them. After reuniting with Gandalf (now a white wizard) he and King Theoden take a stand at Helm's Deep against an army of orcs. We also see a more personal side of Aragorn, as Eowyn's (Miranda Otto) interest in him reveals more of his background and his love for Arwen (Liv Tyler). By the film's end, Aragorn and the forces of men and elves have won a hard-fought victory, knowing the greatest test rests ahead.