Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Feeling the heat? Help our vendors keep cool. Buy a summer support kit for £35
BUY NOW
Film

Viggo Mortensen: "It’s good to have your world turned upside down"

Lord of the Rings and Jauja star Viggo Mortensen talks family history, living a meaningful life - and his love of Fulham FC

Can I ask about the title of your new film Jauja – specifically, how do you pronounce it?

It’s like ‘how’, as in how are you doing? And ‘ha’ as in haha.

What does it mean?

It was the name the Spanish gave to the capital of the South American part of their empire. The legend grew about the place back in Spain, basically that this was a land of milk and honey, an earthly paradise so perfect that you were punished for working and paid for taking naps, breakfast rolls grew on trees and the streets were lined with hams. Some people believed it and went.

I think that being put into an uncomfortable position helps you learn

What does that mean in relation to the film?

A father loses his daughter and all of a sudden it becomes the most important thing in the world. This search to find or recover happiness is a process. It is never something that you arrive at, none of us do.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Are all of us reaching for something that will always remain out of reach?

Yeah I think so. People do it with their gadgets. I mean computers, TV channels, the endless choice you have for distracting yourself and passing time between sleeps. You can easily get lost. You have to balance the quest for comfort and leisure with making the most of life while you’re here, which isn’t that long a time.

Cinema could be counted as a distraction. Perhaps there are two kinds, ones that make you forget about your own life and others where you gain something through watching. Do you choose projects based on wanting to do one or the other?

I hesitate always before saying yes. Each step is a choice. If I decide to go in one direction then I’m saying no to something else. I like to challenge myself. I think that being put into an uncomfortable position helps you learn. I like the idea of waking up in the middle of the night and suddenly feeling that everything I assumed about the way the world worked was completely wrong. As long as you don’t allow it to cripple you mentally, it’s good to have your world turned upside down.

How did Jauja change the way you look at the world?

I was raised in Argentina. I had a certain memory of my father who was Danish. As kids my brothers and I thought his accent speaking Spanish was funny. I saw my father differently. It wasn’t easy to be him with his northern European worldview to go down there.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Did you feel a connection to the Patagonia landscapes?

Some of these areas I had been with my family on camping trips. It’s changed a little bit, the roads are better, but the climate, the smells were very familiar. In between takes I was happy as can be, sitting on a horse in Patagonia.

Your love of football is something that has also stayed with you since your Argentinian upbringing. Do you follow any British sides?

I like to watch Premier League football, Scottish football as well. A team I like – I’ve gone to see them play a couple of times and I like their stadium a lot – is Fulham.

What led you to Fulham?

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Someone invited me to go one time. I like their history. I follow their trajectory. But San Lorenzo is my team. I watch every San Lorenzo game without fail, no matter the time of day. It sometimes causes me trouble at work.

Jauja is out now

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

SIGN THE PETITION

Will you sign Big Issue's petition to ask Keir Starmer to pass a Poverty Zero law? It's time to hold government to account on poverty once and for all.

Recommended for you

View all
SuperFantastic! It's a retro superhero summer as Superman and the Fantastic Four face off
Film

SuperFantastic! It's a retro superhero summer as Superman and the Fantastic Four face off

A short history of film, social realism and raw talent
Film

A short history of film, social realism and raw talent

Cynthia Erivo: 'The moment I came out as queer, that's when everything made sense'
Letter To My Younger Self

Cynthia Erivo: 'The moment I came out as queer, that's when everything made sense'

Tornado director John Maclean: 'There aren't many samurai Westerns set in Britain'
Film

Tornado director John Maclean: 'There aren't many samurai Westerns set in Britain'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know

Support our vendors with a subscription

For each subscription to the magazine, we’ll provide a vendor with a reusable water bottle, making it easier for them to access cold water on hot days.