Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. was born in Manhattan, New York on October 20th 1958. He spent much of his childhood in Venezuela and Argentina where his father managed chicken farms. When his parents divorced, Viggo returned to New York with his mother and was soon dreaming of becoming an actor. After several minor stage roles he decided to move to Los Angeles to help further his career.

Viggo made his movie debut in a small role in the film Witness (1985) alongside Harrison Ford. Over the next sixteen years Viggo appeared in over thirty movies with highlights including Carlito's Way (1993), A Perfect Murder (1998) and A Walk in the Moon (1999).

However, his career entered a new stratosphere when in 2001 he was cast as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The epic movie and its two sequels proved to be amongst the greatest films ever made. Not only have they dramatically raised Viggo's profile but they've also ensured his place in the Hollywood history.