# Peter Jackson's first choice for Aragon...? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499 "2004-03-15T20:41:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/1 "2004-03-15T20:41:51Z")
A friend of mine tells me that the extended version of one of the LOTR DVDs reveals that Peter Jackson had originally cast someone else as Aragon before he tapped Viggo for the role, but declined to reveal exactly who it was; he only said that the actor was too young for the part. Does anyone know who he was talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/2 "2004-03-15T20:54:58Z")
It was [Stuart Townsend](http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,5453,00.html). ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/3 "2004-03-15T20:58:21Z")
The actor originally cast to play Aragorn was [Stuart Townsend](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0870204/), whose film credits include Lestat in _Queen of the Damned_ and Dorian Gray in _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_. I was disappointed with how the LOTR DVD extras hardly mentioned him at all; it would have been cool to see some of the original footage with him in the role. Oh, and he’s not related to the Who guitarist Pete Townsend – even though his father’s name is Peter. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/4 "2004-03-15T21:28:15Z")
The Who guitarist spells his name Townshend anyway. Was any footage of Stuart Townsend as Aragorn shot? I personally would have no interest in seeing it. He was all wrong for the part. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/5 "2004-03-15T22:18:21Z")
There was very little film shot, it would appear, because the change was made right after they started filming. In fact, other articles I’ve read suggested they’d delayed filming Aragorn material as long as they could, hoping Townsend would improve - but he didn’t. I get the impression it wasn’t only youth that was an issue, it was his ability to inhabit the role authoritatively - physical presence - and his inclination/ability to pick up the fighting aspects of the role. There were rumors that PJ didn’t think he was working hard enough. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/6 "2004-03-15T22:55:11Z")
Don’t feel too sorry for Townsend, though. If you watched the Academy Awards this year you might have seen him [on the arm of Best Actress winner Charlize Theron.](http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/2433/Events/2433/CharlizeTh_Cohen_2321530_400.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Townsend,%20Stuart) Lucky bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/7 "2004-03-16T00:48:00Z")
> [@OxyMoron](#): > > I get the impression it wasn’t only youth that was an issue, it was his ability to inhabit the role authoritatively - physical presence - and his inclination/ability to pick up the fighting aspects of the role. There were rumors that PJ didn’t think he was working hard enough. He’s rather slight. More suited to be an elf than the “rugged” Aragorn that was Viggo. I was surprised when I first heard Townsend had been cast. ---
**Author:** ![InTransit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@InTransit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InTransit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/8 "2004-03-16T01:25:20Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > He’s rather slight. More suited to be an elf than the “rugged” Aragorn that was Viggo. I was surprised when I first heard Townsend had been cast. Viggo as Viggo never struck me as being particularly rugged, but being older does have its pluses. Stuart was 23 when he would have played Aragorn. That would make him not much older than Orlando Bloom and younger than Pippin (Billy Boyd)! I’d heard various things about this as well, including a story quoting Stuart Townsend as saying his experience in New Zealand was most unpleasant. > [@](#): > > “Basically it was a shit experience. The way I was treated was quite unbelievable. When I came out I went straight into theatre. It’s a hard one to talk about because it’s very complicated and would take a long time to unravel. I had made four or five films that had not really gone anywhere and I realized that the key roles were being offered to actors who had one big hit. I knew I had to do something big budget that would be seen out there,” he told the Irish press. See: [ShowBiz Ireland - Stuart Townsend bitter over lost Aragorn Lord of the Rings role](http://www.showbizireland.com/news/december01/18-townsend06.shtml). Sorry, I am not savvy enough to do links. More recently (last April), in Entertainment Weekly, he was more gracious: > [@](#): > > Two weeks ago I finally read an article where the filmmakers said, “We were totally wrong about Stuart and we accept that it was our fault,” which was so nice because I did get shafted up the a–. I was there rehearsing and training for two months, then was fired the day before filming began. After that I was told they wouldn’t pay me because I was in breach of contract due to not having worked long enough. I had been having a rough time with them, so I was almost relieved to be leaving until they told me I wouldn’t be paid. I have no good feelings for those people in charge, I really don’t. The director [Peter Jackson] wanted me and then apparently thought better of it because he really wanted someone 20 years older than me and completely different. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/9 "2004-03-16T02:46:13Z")
According to [this](http://imdb.com/name/nm0870204/) Stuart Townsend was born in 1972. I’ll confess to not knowing exactly when filming started, but he would’ve been older than 23, I believe (Billy Boyd who was born in 1968; Bloom in 1977). I’d read the EW article as well, and thought the “20 years older” was a bit of a stretch when Mortenson was born in 1958. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/10 "2004-03-16T02:59:13Z")
I read something somewhere that PJ’s first choice (but completely unrealistic choice given budget and filming constraints) was Daniel Day Lewis. I see a lot of Daniel Day Lewis’ Last of the Mohecians performance in Aragorn. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/11 "2004-03-16T05:52:40Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Don’t feel too sorry for Townsend, though. If you watched the Academy Awards this year you might have seen him [on the arm of Best Actress winner Charlize Theron.](http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/2433/Events/2433/CharlizeTh_Cohen_2321530_400.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Townsend,%20Stuart) Lucky bastard. Must’ve been nice watchng LOTR raking in all the awards. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/12 "2004-03-16T15:52:38Z")
Watching LOTR and his girlfriend raking in all the awards. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jacksons-first-choice-for-aragon/234499/13 "2004-03-16T17:04:47Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > Watching LOTR and his girlfriend raking in all the awards. But think of the comfort sex… 😃