A young Australian actor is basking in the praise of the enigmatic Viggo Mortensen.

The Lord Of The Rings star said his The Road co-star was the best acting partner he has ever had.

Twelve-year-old Aussie Kodi Smit-McPhee plays the actor’s son in The Road, which is an adaptation of a bestseller by Cormac McCarthy.

Mortensen also said Smit-McPhee has a great future ahead. “I haven’t had a better acting partner ever. I’ve never seen any actor, of any age, man or woman, give the kind of focused and emotionally brave performance that he gives,” Mortensen gushed. “Kodi’s going to blow people’s minds.”

Smit-McPhee comes from an Australian acting family and has already won local awards for Romulus, My Father, with Eric Bana.