With his chiseled blond good looks and intense screen presence, Manhattan has risen to the ranks as one of the most in-demand actors in late 1990s Hollywood. Born to a Danish father and American mother, he was raised in Manhattan and South America and fluently speaks Spanish and Danish as well as English. The multi-talented Mortensen (who paints, writes poetry and composes music) trained as an actor at Warren Robertson's Theatre Workshop. Soon after moving to L.A., he landed the role of the captain in a stage production of "Bent" and a small role in the 1984 CBS miniseries "George Washington". Although the actor had been cast in small roles in both "Swing Shift" (1984) and "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985), neither performance made the final cut. Mortensen finally made his feature acting debut as an Amish farmer (and younger brother to Alexander Godunov) in "Witness" (1985). The handsome actor was so well-cast that some failed to realize he was acting. Mortensen offered a strong turn as a rebellious inmate in Renny Harlin's "Prison" (1988) and was effective as a returning soldier in "The Reflecting Skin" (1991). Sean Penn cast him as another veteran, this time with a violent streak, in "The Indian Runner" (also 1991) while Brian De Palma gave him the part of a wheelchair-bound snitch in "Carlito's Way" (1993). Mortensen also worked in less remarkable genre fare like "Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III" (1990) and "American Yakuza" (1995).

Finally, director Tony Scott came to the rescue, hiring Mortensen to play the concerned, conflicted weapons officer in "Crimson Tide" (1995), what the actor termed "a guy with a job and a family . . . not a sociopath". After a turn as the Devil who battles Christopher Walken's angel Gabriel in "The Prophecy" (also 1995), the actor began to be considered for meatier roles. He displayed a sexy charm as one of Nicole Kidman's loyal suitors in "The Portrait of a Lady" (1996) and received respectful notices as one of the hostages in "Albino Alligator" (1997). With his breakout performance as the poetry-quoting but brutal taskmaster training recruits in "G.I. Jane" (also 1997), Mortensen finally began to gain audience recognition and many critics felt he stole the film from his better-known co-star Demi Moore Gaining a reputation for his intense, magnetic portrayals, the actor was cast the following year as the artist-lover of Gwyneth Paltrowin "A Perfect Murder" (and lent his own paintings to the production) before tackling the role of Sam Loomis, Marion Crane's boyfriend, in Gus Van Sant's ill-advised shot-by-shot remake of "Psycho".

In 1999 a turn in the 1969-set drama "A Walk on the Moon" cast Mortensen as the "other man" once again, this time playing a hippie traveling salesman who brings excitement into the life of a frustrated housewife (Diane Lane). The following year he came between Sandra Bullock's recovering alcoholic and her partying boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West as a star baseball pitcher in rehab for his substance abusing, womanizing ways. Although this spate of credits put him at risk for being typecast as a homewrecker, Mortensen followed up with a project that would remove that stigma. He was tagged to co-star in Peter Jackson's long-awaited film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, playing the heroic Aragorn. Mortensen's dashing good looks and commanding presence would serve him well in this leadership role, and would no doubt bring in some moviegoers who may have otherwise passed. With the hype surrounding the initial 2001 release "The Fellowship of the Ring" (followed by 2002's "The Two Towers" and 2003's "The Return of the King") kicking up a full three years earlier, one could expect to hear a lot about Mortensen for years to come.