Viggo Mortensen talks about Lord of the Rings fans

Viggo Mortensen was in Boston to receive the Coolidge Award. On Sunday 4th March 2012 he put in a surprise appearance at a screening of the LotR trilogy, where he sang for the fans (see my other video!) The next day, in the press Q&A at the Coolidge Theatre, Mortensen reflected on the dedication of Lord of the Rings fans, and how he loves it but finds it sometimes overwhelming.

Sorry, the audio is not great - here's a transcript of what he says:

"So people had seen not just the regular theatrical versions yesterday but saw all three of the movies in the extended versions -- which is -- you know, each extended version is about 3 and a half hours long -- so they were there ALL day, some of them in costume. And [video starts HERE] all very knowledgeable, all having seen the movies many times. And I just -- I drove here, got here last night, got here late, and I knew they were showing the movies, so I came down and introduced the third one as a surprise. And the reaction of all those people when I walked in was amazing. And it reminded me of when we were releasing those movies, particularly the last one, RotK -- there was such ... for example, well the very last time that I had been part of introducing a screening of RotK was in Oslo, Norway in Dec of 2003. And -- I have to say that as crazy as the people were last night, those people were... I don't know if anybody's as crazy as them. Because Norwegians know that Tolkien's work is based on --heavily draws on Nordic mythology and literature. And so I did something similar there; we did our press, and then the next day we were going to show -- it was the opening day in movie theatres - and we were going to show RotK, in one of the larger theatres, nicer theatres in Oslo. People had been lining up for a month, all in costume -- elves, hobbits, dwarves, wargs, wizards, you know fair maidens, all kinds of stuff -- and with their weapons, with their props -- for a MONTH -- and this is Winter in Oslo! Snow.... And people were on the sidewalk for a month in sleeping bags, people bringing them soup and coffee and internet connection... and first aid... you know, psychiatric counseling.... And you know, I talked to some of those people afterwards... some of them got divorced as a result of you know... no really! A lot of people, their relationships broke up... it was a pretty big ordeal for them. And so when I walked in there -- and they didn't know either - well, what ...there was an introduction by the theatre person, there was a distributor and you know what... then the lights went down and then I sort of snuck out... and then the lights came up and they completely melted down. And it was - I mean, it was shocking. I've never seen anything like it. It was a theatre, maybe twice as big as this one... more... Every single person was a wizard, was an elf, was a dwarf... screaming, waving their axes and their staffs, and crying... I think also the fact that they'd been lying in the snow for a month -- it was a big release.... Anyway last night was akin to that; there was something about it -- and I suddenly felt, I have to say, very, very nervous -- and I went... I referred to a song I sang, I was so nervous, I couldn't sing it properly. But anyway, it was very nice -- sorry to go on so much about it -- but it was very nice, and it was amazing to be in that theatre for the first time -- it's a great space, and I feel very fortunate to be here. And I think places like this - you know, Boston's very lucky to have the Coolidge Theatre. These places really need to be preserved and encouraged... and it's not just about going and seeing a movie, there's something to it that has to do with community, you know. People... you could feel it last night, people in a theatre celebrating the art of movie making - not just celebrating the LotR - and the idea of different kinds of people coming together. You know, it's all of those things -- and it was a nice moment. "