 FOR a man who stars in one of the most successful movies of all time, actor Viggo Mortensen is impressively reined in about his newfound fame and fortune. The third instalment of the epic Lord Of The Rings trilogy, in which he took one of the starring roles as Aragorn, may have swept the board at this years Oscars, but the self-effacing actor is genuine when he insists he still doesn't see himself as a Hollywood player. "I think I got lucky," says the softly-spoken star. "I've been around for a long time and been working on and off for 20 years, and then something comes along and you just get lucky," he adds with a shrug. His reluctance to flaunt the phenomenal Lord of the Rings success has a lot to do with the fact that international fame has come relatively late to the 45-year old star. A veteran of more than 40 movies, including Witness, GI Jane and Carlito's Way, it's only now with his latest film, Hidalgo, which opens on Friday April 16, that Viggo's name appears above the credits. But even that fails to impress the down-to-earth star. "I don't really think the director or actor should ever be above the title," he suggests. "I'm a fan of those old-fashioned movies that don't show off anybody or any film-making aspect, but just tell the story." Viggo even admits that the blockbusting Return Of The King, which took 11 Oscars at this years event, wouldn't have got his vote as best film of 2003. Instead that honour would go to the low budget New Zealand flick Whale Rider, about a young Maori girl's struggle to win her grandfather's approval. "I think that was one of the best movies I saw last year," he enthuses. "It was a heroic journey. It's as much of an epic journey as any other and has mythological underpinnings and is also very moving." Viggo adds that he was more than ready to go back to basics after the groundbreaking special effects wizardry of Lord Of The Rings. "I think the problem now is that you've got to do something new, you've got to go special effects crazy," he explains. "Or it's got to be a showier kind of acting. I don't know if they feel the pressure but you do find actors and actresses going way over the top just to get attention for themselves and that may not be appropriate for the movie. "It may not help the story but it gets them some work and some money and some magazine coverage. It can be interesting sometimes and funny. But is it something that I'm interested in going and seeing more than once? Probably not," he states. For that reason Viggo leapt at the chance to make Hidalgo, a relatively low-budget affair compared to Lord Of The Rings. | 
