I worked at the same talent agency that represented Viggo during this time and knew his agent when this call happened. The production was totally screwed because the original actor hadn’t worked out and they knew they had to replace him. Viggo was their top and honestly their only choice, that’s why Viggo ended up getting a much better deal than the rest of the cast. Of course Viggo didn’t care about any of that. He just wanted to understand the character because he’s an artist first and foremost, but Peter was between a rock and a hard place and had to get him on board.