Viggo Mortensen teases David Cronenberg reunion for “strange film noir”

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It's been a decade since Viggo Mortensen and David Cronenberg last joined forces, but the actor teased that the pair are working on another collaboration while speaking with GQ recently. Mortensen starred in three of Cronenberg's films, including A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, and A Dangerous Method, so I would imagine that many of you would be more then eager for the pair to reunite.

"Yes, we do have something in mind," Mortensen told GQ. "It's something he wrote a long time ago, and he never got it made. Now he's refined it, and he wants to shoot it. Hopefully, it'll be this summer we'll be filming. I would say, without giving the story away, he's going maybe a little bit back to his origins." When asked whether the film would be a return to Cronenberg's early body-horror stuff, Mortensen said, "Yeah, it's very interesting. It's almost like a strange film noir story. It's disturbing and it's good, I think. But since his origins, he's obviously developed in terms of technique and self-assurance as a director." Sign me up!

Although it's been some time since David Cronenberg last directed Viggo Mortensen, the roles were recently switched when Cronenberg made an appearance in Mortensen's directorial debut, Falling, a drama that stars Mortensen as a middle-aged gay man whose conservative and homophobic father (Lance Henriksen) stars to exhibit symptoms of dementia. "He was perfect," Mortensen said of directing Cronenberg. "He was funny. It was a good experience. I didn't feel any more nervous directing him than anyone else. Because we’re friends, I didn’t feel a certain pressure. Although it was interesting, because we were shooting in his hometown of Toronto that day. So for the crew it was like, "Ooooh,” this frisson, when he came on the set." Our own Chris Bumbray caught the film at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, so be sure to check out his review. Falling will be released in select theaters, Digital, and On Demand on February 5th.