Viggo Mortensen nearly slept through Lord of the Rings' historic Oscar night

Viggo Mortensen almost missed Lord of the Rings’s historic Oscars triumph 20 years ago by sleeping through the ceremony.

The Return of the King, the final chapter of Peter Jackson’s Tolkien saga, swept the board at the Academy Awards in 2004 but Mortensen, who played the titular hero Aragorn, says he had planned to miss the big night to catch up on some much-needed rest.

Before that 2004 ceremony, when the trilogy conclusion collected a record-equalling 11 wins including Best Picture and Best Director for Jackson, Mortensen tells Yahoo he had no intention of watching it until his parents intervened. And marking the 20th anniversary of that historic night, ahead of this year’s 96th Academy Awards, Mortensen shared his Oscar memories.

“Until that night, I hadn’t watched the Oscars in almost 20 years and I wasn’t gonna watch them that night. My parents were in town for the premiere of Hidalgo two days later and they wanted to watch it, but I didn’t have a (connected) television so we went to a friend’s house.

“I said ‘you guys can watch it, I’m gonna take a nap.’ So they started watching and I could hear them cheering and yelling and I wasn’t gonna be able to sleep so I went to join them. I got really into it and I was happy I did.”

Mortensen, 65, was speaking at the Glasgow Film Festival screening of his second film as director, western epic The Dead Don’t Hurt, about a Danish cowboy and his French-Canadian wife fighting to make a life in Civil War-era California.

He said: “Working with directors, you take something from every experience, and I’ve been lucky to work with a lot of people I liked working with. Peter Jackson, Jane Campion, especially David Cronenberg. Matt Ross from Captain Fantastic was wonderful. And working with Ron Howard on Thirteen Lives was a great experience.”

He described making Lord of the Rings as like attending film school. “That whole experience was life-changing for everyone involved and it was fantastic to see Peter inspire people and everyone learned a lot of things on the way.

“It was astounding to watch, it was like being in a paid film school and we were witnessing something incredible. All the prizes in the end were rewarding it in that way.”

Mortensen also starred in Best Picture winner Green Book, which won the title in 2019 amid controversy surrounding the strength of the real-life relationship the film is based on.

He starred as casually racist Italian-American driver/bodyguard Tony Vallelonga who escorted Jamaican-American concert pianist Don Shirley (played by Mahershala Ali) on a 1962 tour of the racially segregated South.

The film, co-written by Vallelonga's son Nick, portrays them as becoming friends. Some members of Shirley's family later denied that the two men became close, while others close to the pianist confirmed that they stayed in touch down the years. Mortensen defended the film he remains proud of and was Oscar-nominated for.

“I was there when Green Book won because I was nominated. It was great that they won and I thought it was well deserved.

“It’s a movie that had ridiculous controversies... and it was very unfair to (director) Peter Farrelly for what he and his team had accomplished. I was happy for the team and I thought it was a valuable story well told.”

For this year’s Best Picture nominees, Mortensen picked one out as the most memorable and revealed he has become more of a fan of the night in recent years.

“I like The Zone of Interest, that’s a really good movie. There are always a few good ones and some you wonder why they’re there, but that’s the first one that comes to mind. It stands out for me.

“Now, I do watch the Oscars if I am with family or friends, it’s lots of fun to watch with and make bets – it’s like watching football, you have fun and talk and criticise things, do all that.”

The Dead Don’t Hurt is released in UK cinemas summer 2024.

Read more

• The movies that won the most Oscars

• Peter Jackson shares his favourite Lord of the Rings scene

• Viggo Mortensen hits back at Green Book backlash