LeafOfHumanTree writes: Viggo Mortensen was at the Sydney premiere of A History of Violence tonight at the George St cinemas. Viggo was an absolute gentleman and generous with his time. He signed everything for everyone, posing for photos, chatting to fans in different languages and shaking hands.

Before the film started, Viggo slowly worked his way down the red carpet, signing books, film postcards, DVD covers, calendars, etc for the fans. After the invitees had entered the cinema, cinema staff allowed fans to take down the posters and poster boards promoting A History of Violence, so I took one. Viggo then disappeared briefly to introduce the film to those VIPs invited to the screening and returned to sign more paraphernalia.

On his first trip down the carpet, Viggo was kind enough to sign a LOTR CD cover for me. When he returned from introducing the film, he was kind enough to sign my A History of Violence poster.

Here is a link to one of the few photos I took before my camera batteries died. I wish I could have taken a photo when he was smiling and turned my way, but the batteries were dead. [More]

Here is a link to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald about Viggo’s appearance at the premiere. [More]

Viggo is even more gorgeous in person than on film. Softly spoken, polite, patient and kind. He was a little serious, but smiled readily for photos and conversation.

I wish I could say that I said or asked something incredibly clever or gracious but I was dumbstruck and he had to say ‘And this is for…?’ when he came to sign my LOTR picture. ‘Is this how you spell it?’, he asked, as he wrote my name. I didn’t care – he could have signed it ‘To Rumpelstiltskin’ for all I cared!