Jennifer Aniston mourns camera assistant Erik Gunnar Mortensen. Image Source: Entertainment Weekly
Jennifer Aniston mourns the passing of the camera assistant Erik Gunnar Mortensen.
Jennifer Aniston took to her social media on Thursday to share and mourn the sudden passing of camera assistant Erik Gunnar Mortensen, who had been working on Jennifer Aniston's Emmy-Award- nominated Apple TV+ series 'The Morning Show'.
Erik Gunnar Mortensen was one of The Morning Show team's brightest lights, according to Jennifer Aniston, who posted two photos of him with his family during the previous week and stated that he passed away abruptly and sadly. Jen included a link to a GoFundMe page that had been set up to support Erik Gunnar Mortensen's wife Keely and their 2-year-old son Lars through this trying time and continued by praising Gunnar Mortensen's skills and dedication as a camera assistant.
In a statement, the Los Angeles chapter of the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600 said that Local 600 mourns the sudden and tragic deaths of Erik Gunnar Mortensen, his wife Keely, and their 2-year-old son Lars, who survives the camera assistant. The fundraiser was organized for Erik's wife and son. People were invited to contribute if they could to the event, which was organized to generate money for the family through hard circumstances.
Source: Cinemablend
According to a statement from the authorities, Erik Gunnar Mortensen died on Monday after being hurt in a motorbike accident on a section of the Southern California Highway. There were no other cars involved, and the collision is still being investigated, according to a statement made by the Riverside County Coroner's Office. After being brought to Hemet Global Medical Center, he died an hour later.
The donations on the fundraising website have topped $100,000 and are a testament to the love and support that people have for Keely and those who are remembering and commemorating Gunnar Mortensen. The scenario has left everyone dumbfounded and devastated, one of the donors said. They also added that they adore Keely and Lars and are available for them if they ever need anything.
According to Variety, the camera assistant, Erik Gunnar Mortensen, was a member of Local 600 for 13 years, sat on the International Cinematographer's Guild's National Executive Board since 2013, and has been the committee's co-chair since 2017. The incredibly gifted and knowledgeable camera assistant led courses on-camera use and planned the yearly Camera Assistant Field Day.
With a fantastic lineup that included Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Hasan Minhaj, Will Arnett, Billy Crudup, Steve Carell, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mark Duplass, and Nestor Carbonell, the second season of The Morning Show debuted in September 2021. The third season of the program was renewed because of the audience and reviewers' overwhelmingly excellent reviews; nonetheless, there haven't been any updates regarding the third season but during an interview with Variety, Jennifer Aniston did mention that hopefully, the audience will get to see Alex Levy finding love and some passion.
Jennifer Aniston added that Alex is someone who could put the controller down and open up her heart and does not fear being vulnerable but she has not been able to do that yet. She joked that maybe Alex needs to have a girls' night out because she needs to be around girlfriends and feel comfortable sharing her emotions. Without giving too many details she tells that it will be nice for the audience to know about Alex's background and explore her past a little bit.
Lastly, the #MeToo movement is at the center of “The Morning Show” Season 1, and COVID-19 is a big theme in Season 2, and for season three, Jennifer Aniston said that she cannot say much but it's a great opportunity to be able to shine a light on very frustrating areas and a fear of where we’re going as a society and added that they are trying to shed some sort of light on it, and comment on it a little bit. It’s a deep well at this point.
We offer the Mortensen family our sincere sympathies.
