Of all the stars who emerged from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Viggo Mortensen seems to be the least ambitious, the most humble, the least likely to try to capitalize on the phenomenon.

David Cronenberg, the Toronto filmmaker who directed Mortensen in A History of Violence, calls his Danish-American leading man "a really down-to-earth guy" for whom he harbours great affection.

"He really is not very concerned with money," Cronenberg tells the Sun, "and he really is not very concerned with career goals. It's genuine with him."

Cronenberg flew from Toronto to Los Angeles to meet Mortensen during the casting of A History of Violence "because I had to seduce him to do the movie, and it had to be in person. You can't do that over the phone. Once we had the discussion, he was talking about it like he was doing the movie, even before the deal was made. And he never wavered from that. He's fantastic. We had the best time. He's a complete collaborator."

Call it a mutual admiration society. When Mortensen sits down with the Sun during the Toronto film festival - where A History of Violence was a featured Gala - he is shy and even awkward about the legacy of playing the heroic warrior Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.

"That trilogy had its own life," Mortensen says, "and obviously it's something that affected people." Among the autograph seekers and fans at the filmfest Gala, he says "there were a lot of people with images from A History of Violence, a few from the Spanish movie (El Capitan Alatriste) I just did, and some from other things. But there were a lot of Lord of the Rings pictures there - and you see that everywhere."

After the screening, Mortensen had his own Rings reunion, hanging with Sean Bean and Hugo Weaving at the Cronenberg festival party. "It shows how it had an effect on me, as well, because it was long and interesting and it was a bonding experience, more than most. There is an interest in that project but I don't know if it gets in the way of them watching this movie."

The projects are just too different, Mortensen says. Even though the issue of heroism is raised in both, the context is different in A History of Violence. It is a searing drama in which Mortensen plays a "perfect" husband and father whose American Dream life is thrown into turmoil through an explosive act of brutal violence. So he never worried about the Rings legacy, he says.

"I guess, if I did, it wouldn't do any good anyway. But I don't have to make myself not worry about it. I actually don't really care. When Lord of the Rings fans show up, it doesn't surprise me. But I don't think I thought of Lord of the Rings once when we were shooting this. Why would I, you know?"

The fame that Rings brought him is useful, however. "Well, I wouldn't have even been I this movie," he says of an Aragorn-free life. "Let's face it, I would not have been given the lead in David's movie."

Not that he would be idle. Besides acting, the 46-year-old Mortensen pursues jazz music, poetry, art photographs, painting and being father to his teen son Henry (Mortensen is divorced from the boy's mother, Exene Cervenka). But Mortensen says he would have regretted missing out on Cronenberg's made-in-Toronto film.

"It's beautifully done. It's like music. I think any good movie is, I suppose, but his are always so well thought out. And within its boundaries, it's a live performance and things happen."

Often, if not most of the time, when actors talk about "the big happy family feeling" they had on a movie set, they're lying. Or just forgetting the misery they endured.

Not so on a David Cronenberg set. Here are some insights offered by the actors on the Toronto filmmaker's latest project.

Ed Harris: "I wanted to be in this film because of David, "he said before defining the ideal director. "I think it's someone who has their own vision of things, their own perception and their own aesthetic, and is not trying to answer to anyone other than their own calling and need to do what they're doing. It is just such a pleasure to work for someone who knows what they're doing, and has a vision about it. This film is so elegantly done, and so simple and so clean, that it really is a testament to David's skill and talent and genius as a filmmaker."

William Hurt: "His violence is against violence," he says of Cronenberg's use of levels of violence to explore the nature of the beast. "He is a gentle man."

Maria Bello: "To explain Davis as a director, I would say that he is the ultimate good father. He leads with such a strong hand, and yet he allows his children such freedom to explore such great territory."

Viggo Mortensen: "He's very good. As a director, he prepares himself by streamlining the script so it's as simple and as brief as it can be before he shoots. So, on the day, he doesn't have to think about it. He can just allow people to bring what they can bring to it."

Mortensen again: "He's got a good sense of humour and he is genuinely interested in people. So, on the set, it's relaxed and the crew and the cast feel included and invited to participate. Unfortunately, most directors are not that way, you know."

Ashton Holmes: "He is the evil eye you would expect," the first-time actor said, jokingly. "It is a real family on set so there's very little stress."

Hurt again, discussing Cronenberg as a filmmaker who explores the dark side of the human psyche: "I think he is, as an artist, in a state of semi-permanent meditation. I think that's his skill. We shouldn't encapsule and solve him. I think that would be limiting."

Harris again: "You don't know what he's thinking, but you know he's thinking. He's insane, which is good."