I was watching the extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring yesterday and noticed Peter Jackson in his commentary noted that Viggo Mortesson was not originally cast as Aragorn, it was supposed to be Colin Farrel :eek: then when he fell through Viggo was contacted, and given a matter of 2 hours to decide if he’d wanted the part or not. After conferring with his son - as Viggo had no idea who Aragorn was - his Son stated ***You mean you could play Aragorn???Thats awesome!!! *** - and that is what made up Viggo’s mind.
I know there were other famous actors who tried out for various parts in LOTR. Does anyone know any other would be parts that for one reason or another, eventually got filled with the currant cast? I’d love to know who may have played what?
I’ve never heard that about Colin Farrell, but it is pretty widely-known that Stuart Townsend was originally cast as Aragorn. He started shooting, but they decided early on they wanted someone older, with a more commanding presence. The rest of what you wrote about Viggo is true.
Stuart Townsend is probably best-known as Dorian Grey from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and I believe he was also in Queen of the Damned.
Stuart Townsend was cast as Aragorn. There are conflicting reports about why he left. He went through all the training with the cast, costuming, and was let go.
I’ve heard that they auditioned Jar Jar Binks for the role of Gollum, but test screenings resulted in theaters being destroyed by angry fans, so they decided to go with Andy Serkis.
Second or thirding the points about Townsend.
My additional tidbits gleaned from hither & yon: Russell Crowe says he was offered the Aragorn role but wouldn’t take that much time away from home (Thank you God). Daniel Day-Lewis was contacted re Aragorn, but was too tied up with “Gangs of New York”
Sean Connery has stated recently that he was offered Gandalf but didn’t understand the script, book, or story. So wouldn’t commit that long a period of time to a project he didn’t understand - a shorter period, yes, but not a year and a half. (again, thank the lord).
I think another actress was originally cast as Eowyn, but pregnancy interfered. So we got Miranda. (yay)
I’ve never heard names bandied about seriously (I don’t consider Ethan Hawke for Faramir and Uma Thurman as Eowyn serious) for the other characters. I’d be interested to know if others have.
David Bowie wanted to play Elrond, but would have been too recognizable as himself.
Jackson and crew have been quoted as wanting Christopher Lee involved somehow from the beginning, and they said they always imagined Sean Bean as Boromir. Then after he was cast, David Wenham got to be Faramir in part due to his resemblance to Bean. Though they were at wits end about who to cast as Frodo, apparently, when they got around to watching Elijah Wood’s “home made” audition tape.
and that’s my geeky post for the day
(yes, I love the films & I think they were incredibly well cast)
Funny Connery also misremembered who they offered him. They wanted him for Theoden and would have expanded the part. He was well suited to the ancient warrior revived.
Frodo was definitely suppose to be an English Actor, they were adamant about it.
Then Elijah’s “home made” audition tape" blew them away.
The worst rumor/fact was Keanu wanted the Aragorn role but they never considered such a horror.
agreeing here with jrfranchi’s post, just came back to add that although New Line was taking a big risk with Jackson and the 3 films, they knew they had a built-in fan base [i.e. people like me] and didn’t need to invest the money in a Big Name Star to “open” the film.
also agree with Phlosphr that the casting of good actors as opposed to big name stars wound up adding to the quality of the films.
I believe Orlando Bloom actually auditioned for the role of Faramir , but when they saw him , it was unanimous that he was beautiful enough to be Legolas , and the rest , as they say , is history .
Would it be considered a hijack if I asked if people could think of any roles that were cast could have been done better by someone else? I loved the films and can’t think of anyone who could have done better in any of the roles.
What I remember from the Extended Edition is that an actor was chosen to play Aragorn, but things didn’t work out and they needed a replacement quickly because filming had started.
Viggo was contacted and his son did help him decide, but I don’t recall a 2 hour deadline.
Viggo’s first day of filming was defending the hobbits on Weathertop by fighting several Ringwraiths. To my untrained eye, his sword expertise certainly improves in other scenes.
