BEST ACTOR: VIGGO MORTENSEN
Eastern Promises
Age 49 Role Steely, secretive Russian chauffeur-turned-gangster Nikolai. Suffering for His Art Mortensen admits he was nervous shooting the famous nude bathhouse brawl. ''They say 'Cut!' I look around and I'm [naked] in a heap in the corner. You feel vulnerable,'' he says. ''But the important thing is to not compromise the scene.'' It helped that Mortensen felt comfortable with director David Cronenberg, with whom he had worked on A History of Violence. ''He's a friend, I trust him, and I don't feel exploited.'' Up Next Mortensen has wrapped Good, about the rise of Nazism, as well as Ed Harris' Western Appaloosa. He'll soon begin the big-screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. —Missy Schwartz