Viggo Mortensen

In A History of Violence (2005), Viggo Mortensen makes Tom Stall’s ordinariness convincing without asking us to stop looking at him. He does little to tell us what to think, and that makes the performance unusually absorbing. David Cronenberg gives that restraint a purpose by making Tom’s marriage matter as much as the thriller. We were more upset than we expected by the strain between Tom and Edie, because Maria Bello gives their earlier closeness such warmth and ease. Mortensen’s quietness works here because Bello makes us care about the life they share.

Small parts, including Witness (1985), led into the supporting roles of the 1990s, among them Lalin in Brian De Palma’s Carlito’s Way (1993). Lalin’s whimpering is a useful reminder that Mortensen has other ways of making a man uncomfortable to watch. Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) brought international recognition. After that breakthrough he favoured smaller, more challenging projects over maintaining his mainstream visibility.

The continuing partnership with Cronenberg runs through Eastern Promises (2007), A Dangerous Method (2011) and Crimes of the Future (2022). His gangster role in Eastern Promises requires physical commitment as well as the close control of gesture. Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja (2014) extends the independent, international side of his work. We welcome that willingness to work beyond familiar leading roles, provided the film gives us enough reason to care about the man being so sparing with his feelings.

The limitation is that his reticence can leave a character’s inner life uncertain for too long. A History of Violence comes close enough to that difficulty to show why the writing and the other actors matter: Tom has an established marriage, not merely an air of mystery. The plot is sometimes too tidy, but Mortensen and Bello make its discomfort feel earned. Start there, and give Bello her share of the credit.