Lance Henriksen on the moment he knew Viggo Mortensen was "my kind of guy"

Back in 2007, Lance Henriksen and Viggo Mortensen were filming in New Mexico, playing opposite sides of the law in Ed Harris’ western, Appaloosa. It was their first time meeting, after having admired one another’s work for years, but they knew they had a special bond, Henriksen noting Mortensen’s deep “connection to the land he’s standing on.” A decade later, when it came time for Mortensen to cast the lead role of his directorial debut, Falling, he could think of no one else but Henriksen. As an estranged father and son, the film requires a deep comfort between the two, an intimacy that the actors—especially Henriksen, best known for genre work like the Alien franchise—capture with impressive nuance. Ahead of Falling’s release, The A.V. Club logged on for a virtual chat with the pair, to let them sing the praises of each other’s work, and to hear how they navigated the fraught relationship at the heart of the film.

Falling opens in select theaters, and is available via digital and On Demand, beginning February 5.