Thanks to Lessa for this news she got from NativeCelebs.com. Looks like Viggo’s doing another fascinating and unusual film project, and it looks like it’ll show off Viggo’s love of languages, his horsemanship, and his sympathy for other cultures. Seems like there will be lots of beautiful horses and dramatic spacious landscapes as well (like LOTR, huh?) so if you’re like me, you’ll think this is a film project to watch! – Tehanu
From Natalie Noel’s THE GLITTER REPORT (originally appearing in NEWS FROM INDIAN COUNTRY. Editor Pat Calliote:
John Fusco’s HIDALGO has been shooting all over the place: Hollywood, Montana and now Morocco! David MidThunder, one of the on-set Lakota dialect coaches to Viggo Mortensen (who plays half-breed Lakota, Frank Hopkins) says of Viggo, He’s doing really well. He is very concerned with speaking the Lakota properly and is working very hard. He is patient and diligent, but what’s really cool about him is he’s really humble. He’s the star of the show and he’s really cool!
Sonny Richards is the other Lakota dialect coach to Viggo Mortensen. A Pine Ridge Oglala, Sonny is the ceremonial advisor for HIDALGO. He will orchestrate the Ghost Dance sequences which will be filmed in South Dakota this November. A long time advisor to Fusco (they worked together 10 years ago on THUNDERHEART and recently on DREAMKEEPER), Sonny is his Pine Ridge relation.
Floyd also makes an appearance (fresh from the Calgary set of DREAMKEEPER) and his buddy, Darryl Standing Elk, is his on-set dialect coach. Rod Rondeaux, the best darned Indian Cowboy in the business, not only handles all the Native horsemen and their stunts, he is the only Indian dude traveling to Morocco where he’ll race Arab guys across the desert in the re-creation of the famed 1890 Arabian Desert Challenge. Good luck to all in the sands of North Africa and keep me posted!
THE GLITTER REPORT, NEWS FROM TRIBE HOLLYWOOD: Writer Natalie Noel can be contacted at goddess-2@msn.com
