Viggo Mortensen has had a great career acting in many memorable roles, but none so poignant as his time playing Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of The Rings franchise.

He has had plenty of gigs since then, but when asked why we haven’t seen him in other franchise films, Mortensen explained to Vanity Fair that what he looks for in the movie roles he accepts are an interesting story, and well-written scripts.

However, he admitted that films in franchises are “not usually that good.“ He said: “I don’t really look for or avoid any kind of genre or any size budget. I just look for interesting stories.

“It doesn’t matter to me what the genre is or what the budget is or who’s making them. I would never do a movie just because so-and-so is directing it. It has to be about the story. And if I think I’m right for the character, that always comes first.”

He continued: “That goes for franchises. If somebody came to me with X movie, the third part or the ninth part, and I thought it was a great character and I wanted to play that character and I thought I had something to contribute, I’d do it.

“I’m not against it. But they’re not usually that good. I mean, to me, they’re not usually that well-written. They’re kind of predictable. I mean, of course there’s always the issue of if I run out of money.”

Though Mortensen is most known for his role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he told The Hollywood Reporter last month that he wasn’t sure if he would be reprising his role for Jackson’s new movie, targeting a 2026 release.

“I haven’t read a script. So I don’t know,” Mortensen said of the upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. “The script is the most important thing to me unless I’m broke, I have no money and I’m lucky to get any job. So it depends.”

I think it would be really cool to see him back in the role, but we will just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.