Viggo MortensenandKodi Smit-McPheehave reunited, over a decade after playing a father and son in 2009’sThe Road.
The actors recently engaged in a virtual chat surrounding Smit-McPhee’s role inThe Power of the Dog, which earned him his first-everOscarnomination on Tuesday.
“Yeah, likewise,” replied Mortensen, 63.
Their reunion comes 14 years after Mortensen, 63, and Smit-McPhee filmedThe Road,a post-apocalyptic survival film based on Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel of the same name.
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According to Mortensen, some things never change — namely, the acting talents of Smit-McPhee, whom he praises for giving a “very layered” performance inThe Power of the Dogthat didn’t surprise him one bit.
“I remember scenes that were really difficult fora young actor— for anyone, but especially for you, at that age,” Mortensen recalled to his one-time costar of the latter’s work on their “tough shoot” forThe Road. “[You had] an intelligence, a self-contained quality, a strength.”
“When [Smit-McPhee’s character] loses (Mortensen’s character) the father … there’s something about the way you played that,” Mortensen continued. “There’s many layers to that.”
“You have that ability as an actor, and you have that emotional range, whether it’s contained or whether it’s just laid out there,” he added.
RELATED VIDEO: Viggo Mortensen on Being Nominated for Best Actor
The two also discussed both working with directorJane Campion— for Mortensen, in 1996’sThe Portrait of a Lady, and for Smit-McPhee, inThe Power of the Dog.
“She pushes the actors and probably everybody in the crew, on some level, to go beyond. As much as it might be annoying or uncomfortable … I always felt like I was safe,” said Mortensen, joking, “She’s like that annoying person who wants to go a little further and a little further.”
Smit-McPhee agreed, telling a story about how Campion, 67, pushed him andhisPower of the Dogcastmatesto participate in an improvisational activity during an off-set dinner.
“So uncomfortable, but so great in hindsight,” he said. “In those little moments of discomfort and getting poked and prodded, [I’m] just in debt to her and absolutely in love with what she did.”
Viggo Mortensen (L); Kodi Smit-McPhee.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Cindy Ord/Getty
Smit-McPhee is nominated for Best Supporting Actor at this year’s Oscars, alongside hisPower of the DogcostarJesse Plemonsas well asJ.K. Simmons(Being the Ricardos), Ciarán Hinds (Belfast) andTroy Kotsur(CODA).
He said in a statement followingTuesday’s nomination announcementsthat he is “simply elated,” adding, “This is beyond even my wildest imagination.”
“To be nominated for an Academy Award is such a tremendous honor and I’m so thankful to everybody who has played a role in getting me to this position,” he continued. “I’m forever indebted to Jane’s brilliance and ameternally grateful for her trust in meto bring Peter to life. She’s a singular talent that every actor should be so lucky to work with. I think I can speak for the cast when I say we were in the most trusted hands imaginable.”
The Power of the Dogis streaming on Netflix.
source: people.com
