Collider recently caught up with acclaimed actor Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence) during the premiere of his upcoming film The Road at the Toronto International Film Festival, and took the exclusive opportunity to ask the Mortensen what was up with his declaration to step away from acting, which shocked Viggo-lovers across the Net earlier this past Spring.

To our shared semi-surprise (sarcasm alert), Mortensen pulled a Brett Favre-style about-face and shot down the rumore, stating that he’ll be sticking around to mess with this whole being-an-actor thing for the time being.

Now this may seem like another April Fool’s joke, but as the date of this article will tell you, it’s not. It appears that Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen may have been watching what Joaquin Phoenix has been up to, and perhaps following in his footsteps – only taking things a bit more seriously: He might actually give up acting.

According to Africa’s News24, Mortensen has been left exhausted by his acting workload and has decided to take a break described as “indefinite.” Here’s what he had to say:

Eastern Promises opened in the summer of 2007 and it easily became one of my favorite movies of the year, and one of my favorite Viggo Mortensen movies ever. The movie didn’t get as big of a release as it deserved but it received great critical praise (88% on Rotten Tomatoes) and an Oscar nod for its leading man.

If you liked the first movie as much as I did, I have some good news for you! In an exclusive interview with MTV, the director of Eastern Promises, David Cronenberg, revealed that he and the folks behind the first movie are interested in doing a sequel and are already starting to plan it out.