Viggo's 'History Of Violence'

Star On Identity, Secrets And Ambiguity Of His Role

(CBS)  Viggo Mortensen played a 19th century cavalry rider in a desert horse race. And he's now back on the big screen playing a small town hero who may have a hidden past with a "A History Of Violence."

"As much as it's about violence, it's about anti-violence," Mortensen tells The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "It's about a person's life-long struggle to reject that as a way of reacting to certain situations."

Directed by David Cronenberg ("Crash," "Spider," "Dead Ringers") the film tells the story of Tom Stall, a small-town guy who runs a café and is very respected in the community of Millbrook, Ind. But because of some violent things that happened in the past, questions are raised as to who he is and who he says he is.

"One thing that I thought was interesting about this story and how it made me look at people, at my own family, at myself, was that it makes you realize that we all have secrets," Mortensen says. "You can look at anybody, even someone you know really well, and say, 'Who are you, really?' I mean what don't I know about you? And I think that is normal. Just to keep your sanity and get along with people, you don't say everything that's on your mind. You don't act out on every impulse. If you do, you're kind of a scary person; people kind of stay away from you."