Viggo Mortensen Says ‘Of Course’ He’s Open to a ‘Lord of the Rings’ Return

“Of course I’m open to it,” actor Viggo Mortensen told Radio Andy hosts Jess Cagle and Julia Cunningham about whether or not he’d ever return to the “Lord of the Rings” universe.

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Viggo, who played Aragorn in the “Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy in the early 2000s, currently stars as Holger Olsen in the new film “Dead Don’t Hurt” (in theaters May 31). And although it’s been over 20 years since the third and final “Lord of the Rings” movie, Viggo told Jess and Julia he still stays in touch with his co-stars from the franchise.

“I think the other guys — [who] are much more social media savvy than I am — they may have more things, and I know they go to conventions and do lots of things involved in that universe. But we stay in touch. There’s several people,” Viggo said, noting the recent loss of Bernard Hill, who played King Théoden in the second and third movies and passed away earlier this month at age 79.

“Great actor, really good friend,” Viggo continued. “And we all communicated about him. That’s been our most recent communication. And, yeah, several of us do stay in touch. It’s really nice.”

Some of Viggo’s other “Lord of the Rings” co-stars include Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean, Liv Tyler, and Cate Blanchett.

In 2022, two decades after the original movies, the first season of Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” series launched with eight episodes; a second eight-episode season is expected to arrive this August. Serving as a prequel to the film trilogy, the series explores the rise of Sauron and the original creation of the Rings of Power — thousands of years before one finds its way into the hands of Frodo Baggins.

Warner Bros. also just announced new live-action “Lord of the Rings” films set for a 2026 release, starting with “Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum” starring and directed by Andy Serkis.

If “timeline-wise” Aragorn could fit into “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” or “Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” Julia asked Viggo would he be up to returning to the screen as his character.

“I don’t know what exactly you’re referring to,” Viggo said, “but I have an open mind, and I had a great experience working on that massive project. I learned a lot and, as you mentioned, I made some good friendships that persist until this day. And, so, yeah, it’d be great to revisit that universe, but I don’t know how that would happen exactly. Of course I’m open to it.”