Mortensen added, "One great thing about him is that he's kind of a prankster. He's a kid. He's a well-adjusted kid so as much as he can channel, I don't know where from, this intense emotion and sadness and presence that he has, that melancholy, he's a goofball. He's running around all the time, making fun of people, pulling jokes on people, and that helped us a lot."
The film was both emotionally and physically challenging, but the relationship he developed with Smit-McPhee helped immensely. "The fact that I was a lot thinner, you know, that I had not much body fat at all meant that I got tired more quickly in the cold weather, I guess, just like Kodi who's naturally skinny. So that was just trying to stay focused and get through the day, basically. But it wasn't as hard as the emotional thing sometimes was, although that became easier as my relationship with him became stronger, because I trusted him more and he trusted me more. By the end we really felt like we could do anything together. It was a great feeling to have an acting partner like that."
If he had to face the same situation as his character in The Road Mortensen's not at all sure what he would do. "Well, you never know. That's what makes it dramatically interesting, a story like this. And what makes life interesting, you know? I think it's something that reaffirmed my belief in the preciousness of life and the value of making the most of life. And, I don't know. I just think the extra physical and emotional tests that our characters go through in this story forced us to, not just as characters but ourselves too in some cases, to come face to face with and acknowledge our personal weaknesses and strengths. And by the end of the story, I think, to recognize that potential that everybody has, no matter how dire the circumstances might be, to be loving. Just because it's the right thing, not because it's useful. When everything is taken away, which is why the wife says, 'What's the point?,' she's right," said Mortensen.
"But then it's a learning thing, this is what the movie teaches I think in a way, if anything, that it's worthwhile just for its own sake to treat other people and yourself kindly. Sounds silly in a way if you hear that - not silly, it sounds like, 'Why, yeah, sure, it's a simple, nice idea, concept,' but you see the movie and you know what that means. It's something that's hard to do, to earn that journey, but when you get that at the end - that's why it's strangely uplifting, because you believe that potentially. Not saying you all do, but I did anyway. In a profound way you understand that no matter what, no matter what, it's always better to be nice. It just is. It's not always the easy thing and sometimes it's like, 'I've got a lot of reasons to be annoyed here,' but still it's better not to be if you can avoid it, or to recognize when you do things wrong. Which is also what it's about and what the kid teaches the man, which is done really well, I think."
About That "Viggo's Retiring From Acting" Story...
News24.com did an interview with Mortensen which made it seem as though Mortensen was throwing in the towel as far as acting was concerned. But, thankfully, that is not what Mortensen meant at all. "[...]Somebody wrote that because they asked me and I just gave them an honest answer. 'What do you have lined up for the next movie?' And I said, 'I don't. There isn't anything right now.' I could have said, 'Oh, there's a bunch of things I'm not at liberty to discuss at this time,' or something like that, like people say. But it was the truth. I didn't have something lined up. They're like, 'Awww, he's quit.' And, no, the next thing I'm going to do is a play which is as terrifying to do as The Road to me because I haven't done a play in over 20 years. And then I think I'm going to do a movie, a very small movie, in Spanish in Argentina about a year from now."* * * * * *
The Road hits theaters on November 25, 2009 and is rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language.
