Actor Viggo Mortensen on Sunday angrily dismissed reports that he is quitting acting, appearing at the Toronto film festival to promote his latest film 'The Road'.

"I was just honest with someone a little while back who asked me if I had a movie lined up. I said 'no' and they wrote 'Oh, he's quitting.' I never said it," he told a press conference.

"I guess I should have been a bullshitter like a lot of actors when asked if I've got anything lined up, and said, 'Oh I've got 20 films, but I'm not at liberty to discuss'."

Mortensen, who has starred in the blockbuster trilogy 'The Lord of the Rings', and earned praise for his brutal performances in 'Eastern Promises' and 'A History of Violence', insisted he is still looking for new film projects.

But for the moment, there are none in the works.

"I'm going to do a play next in Spain and beyond that I'm not sure what I'm doing," he explained. "I think if you're in a play, that's considered acting as well."

Mortensen had been quoted by Men's Journal, as saying: "I have no plans to do another movie. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m open to seeing how I feel in a while, but right now I’m not saying yes to anything."

Pressed on his choice of roles, he said: "I don't regret the choices I've made and I can't do anything about it so it seems kinda pointless."

'The Road' follows the journey of a father (Mortensen) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

Based on the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy, author of 'No Country for Old Men', it also stars Robert Duval and Charlize Theron.

In Toronto, Smit-McPhee of Australia said he discovered something magical during filming in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Oregon: snow falling.

"It does get pretty cold in winter in Australia, but it doesn't snow. So it was pretty exciting for me to see snow falling from the sky for the first time in real life," he said, his new friend Mortensen at his side doting on him.

"And the coldness helped with the actual film, because I think it's easier to be cold than act it."

AFP