At least, that’s the word from those who are in a position to know. Mortensen, who made roughly a gajillion dollars playing Aragorn in the LOTR trilogy, went on to work with director David Cronenberg in A History of Violence. The two have teamed up again for Eastern Promises, which opened yesterday to rave reviews. Potential viewers (some of them, anyway) will be pleased to hear that Viggo has an extensive nude scene in this one. He plays a driver for a Russian mafia family, and at one point his character is stark naked in a Russian bath-house when he’s attacked by two knife-wielding Chechen assassins. From the article:

Asked about his preparation for the scene, Mortensen said, “I was paid a great deal of money.”
Added Cronenberg: “When we started to shoot the scene we were surprised to discover that Viggo has no genitals so we had to CG [computer-generate- them in.”
“I had to give some of the money back,” said Mortensen.
“It was very expensive CG,” Cronenberg explained.

I can’t help but think this detracts from the man’s general hotness, although it might explain why he grew that weirdly pubic-looking beard by way of compensation. How much does a stylist charge to wax your chin, anyway?