TORONTO, Ontario (AP) -- Viggo Mortensen follows a classic cowboy code in the Western "Appaloosa": Speak softly and carry a big honkin’ gun.
As an Old West lawman, Mortensen packs a booming eight-gauge shotgun in "Appaloosa," which reteams him with "A History of Violence" co-star Ed Harris, who also directed and co-wrote the Western.
Fifty inches long and weighing 11 pounds, the eight-gauge initially was a turnoff for Mortensen when shooting began on "Appaloosa."
"When I first had it, I said, `Do you really need it to be an eight-gauge, Ed?"’ Mortensen, 49, said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, where "Appaloosa" premiered in advance of its theatrical release Friday.
"It’s not that manageable, it’s not going to be accurate at much distance. I said, `I’m not going to shoot that thing off a horse, because I’d get blown off the horse, realistically."’
After a day or two, Mortensen started looking at the eight-gauge as an ally, a handy reminder to bad guys that the law can always outgun them.
At that point, Mortensen started lobbying for a bigger role for the gun, which sent dogs and horses running the first time he shot it outdoors and which rattled the windows and floorboards when he test-fired inside a saloon. Read more...
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