Viggo Mortensen: Green Book doesn't preach to anyone

Viggo Mortensen

Actor Viggo Mortensen says the biggest strength of his upcoming feature Green Book is that it is not preachy.
In an interview with Collider, the 60-year-old actor said the film's story is not limited in terms of relatability, which he believes is a great thing. "What's great about the movie I think ¿ and this only matters if the movie's good. Let's face it, if it's entertaining and you enjoy yourself. It's a movie that invites you to feel, to laugh, but also to be very moved, and invites you to think," Mortensen said.

"But it doesn't tell you to think. That's its strength. It doesn't preach to anyone," he added. The comedy drama, directed by Peter Farrelly, features Mahershala Ali as African-American classical pianist Don Shirley and Mortensen as Italian-American bouncer who served as Shirley's driver and security. The actor said the film is not "made for one segment of society".

"It's kind of a story about could be anywhere. We've been in Europe and different countries showing it, and they said, 'Well, we don't know if it's gonna work here. We don't know if they're gonna laugh... and it's been the same, every screening in the US, London, Zurich, which is like this more Germanic kind of Swiss people who are very buttoned-down.

"They were like laughing their a'' off, and at the end they were all standing on their feet, and some of them with tears in their eyes and laughing at the same time," Mortensen said. He said the audiences related to the film which he believes has a "universal value, an appeal".

"... Because it's about getting past your first impressions, which are always limited, and working on your ignorance. You can be ignorant even if you're super educated too, just like I said," Mortensen added.

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