Original-Cin Q&A: Viggo Mortensen, talks up his very personal directorial debut, Falling, and the Cronenberg effect

Actor, writer, musician, painter, photographer… Viggo Mortensen clearly can’t commit to one thing.  And now he can add director to his impressive resume. 

In his feature debut as a writer/director, Mortensen is also star, producer and music composer of Falling, a dramatic father-son story Mortensen came up with after his mother passed and he’d pondered his own parents’ divorce. 

The film follows John (Mortensen) who lives in Los Angeles with his husband (Terry Chen) and their adopted daughter (Gabby Velis).  His father Willis (Lance Henriksen) is a difficult man with old-school ideas.  

As Willis slips into dementia, John brings him to L.A., hoping that he and his sister (Laura Linney) can find their father a home nearby.  Old wounds resurface – told via flashbacks, with Sverrir Gudnason as young Willis and Hannah Gross as his first wife.  

Director/star Viggo Mortensen works out a scene with his co-star and onscreen father Lance Henriksen

There’s even a great cameo appearance from David Cronenberg, Mortensen’s long-time friend and collaborator. 

Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Viggo from his home in Spain about the film and why it took so long to get him in the director’s chair. 

ORIGINAL-CIN: We know you are a man of so many talents, there's really nothing you can’t do. So why did you feel that now was the time to direct a film and star in it? 

VIGGO MORTENSEN: “I've been trying to do it for a long time, probably almost 25 years. But it was never the right time.  I had another script which I tried to get made, but it all boils down to raising the money. 

“Independent filmmaking is tough. And even if you're someone who's directed movies before, it's always difficult to raise the money. In my case, I understood that it was difficult even if I'm a familiar face to some people as an actor, I had never shown any proof whatsoever that I could direct a movie. 

PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN

“So I understand the reticence, and it took a while. Even for Falling, I initially couldn't raise the money.  Falling took a couple of go-arounds before we finally were able to raise enough money to get it off the ground.”

O.C.: In the end, you must have been happy that this was the movie you finally got to direct, being that the story is somewhat personal.

MORTENSEN: “Oh, absolutely, I'm glad it was this story in the end, because it is quite personal. It's based on recollections from my childhood, adolescence and my parents and their experience with dementia.”

O.C. How difficult was it for  you to separate the fact from the fiction when you were writing this script?  I especially found the scenes with Lance Henriksen very hard to watch. 

MORTENSEN: “Willis, the character based on my father who Lance Henriksen plays ,was always a difficult character. But yes, it gets much worse with dementia. 

“I’ll admit that it was tough to write. And originally, I had not intended to act in it, thinking I'd have enough on my hands trying to direct for the first time.  

“It's a complicated story over several time periods. And I realized - after failing the first time to raise the money and then losing the money again - I thought, ‘Well, if I act in it, maybe it'll be a little easier to raise the financing.’ And that did prove to be true. 

“Also because all of those years waiting to get it made,  I'd been working with Lance Henriksen who was on board from the start. We worked on the screenplay a lot, and on the father-son relationship. That's the heart of the story and had to be told right.   

“So I felt  this would be a good continuation of our work together, and I think I was helpful to him because I wasn't just a director standing outside trying to help him do his best job possible. I was in there with him on equal footing, just two actors trying to figure out some very difficult emotional scenes. I think we made a good team.”

O.C.  It was heartbreaking, but you two were amazing together. 

MORTENSEN: “Thank you, it was a great experience. I really enjoyed watching him build that character from the start and see where he took it.  Some painful moments indeed, but I think it pays off.”

O.C. You have had the opportunity to work with so many fantastic directors over your career, including David Cronenberg of course.  Who has influenced you the most in your discovery of a filmmaking style?

MORTENSEN: “I don’t think i used anyone’s style consciously. Obviously everything you experience in life, and as a moviegoer and someone who works in the movie business, obviously influences you in some way or  another without even thinking about it. 

“I am sure I was influenced by many of the great directors I have worked with over the years, and I discussed many of their styles with my cinematographer on Falling. 

“We talked about a little different kinds of camerawork and approaches to filmmaking. But we didn't imitate any style.  

“What I did get from the good directors I've worked with - above all David Cronenberg - was a couple of things that I put into practice, which is you can never prepare too much or too early for a shoot. 

“So we found our crew, our locations early on, and had a plan of action for each day at work. We had only five weeks in Ontario to shoot. You know, it's 25 days. It's not very much time for a movie like this.  

“The other thing which David Cronenberg is so good at - but others I’ve worked with too, like Jane Campion (The Portrait of a Lady), Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic) and even Pete Farrelly (Green Book) - is the way they communicate with the cast and crew. The way they do their casting is incredible, as is the way they communicate with everyone from day one. 

“I told my cast and crew, ‘Look what I've learned from the best directors before we do our first shot. I just want to say we're going to make this together. 

“’This story is my idea and I have a pretty good sense of how I want to do things and how each day's work will  carry it out. But if you have a good idea or suggestion, bring it on!  Don't tell me tomorrow about your great idea that we could have used for yesterday’s scene because it'd be too late!’” 

O.C.  Well, congratulations on Falling, and we Canadians thank you for putting in David Cronenberg in the film as a proctologist!

MORTENSEN: (Laughs)  “It was my pleasure, and honestly I think he had just a little bit too much fun in that role!”