You didn’t recognise him?!?
I’m only just got over it enough that I can watch the films without thinking of the series.
I remember reading that article about Christopher Lee; now that John Carradine’s dead, he holds the distinction of more starring roles than any living film actor, albeit most of them in low budget schlock. He’s one of the few actors I can think of who’s gone from mainstream to crud (he’s done a lot of window dressing playing the villain in “horny kids go to the beach” style movies, which can make the mortgage payments on your vacation home but usually kill your box office validity) and then come back to appear in major roles in three of the biggest box office hits of all time (LOTR & SW:AotC).
John Rhys-Davies has been one of my favorite character actors ever since he appeared on 4,152 BBC miniseries back in the 1970s; he was almost as much a staple as Brian Blessed, but not quite.
Sean Astin’s paternity is an interesting anecdote.
MY THREE DADS
His mother Patty Duke has discussed at length her erratic behaviour due to bipolar illness prior to being medicated in the 1980s. She conceived Sean during a period of promiscuity after her first divorce and honestly didn’t know if his biological father was teenaged Desi Arnaz, Jr., (to whom Sean bears a striking resemblance, incidentally) or ADDAMS FAMILY star John Astin. While pregnant, she married a third man, Michael Tell, whom she divorced three weeks later, but in her book she states the marriage was never consummated.
After Sean’s birth she married John Astin, who legally adopted Sean and is the man Sean considers his father. However, like most people he was curious to learn who his sperm donor was and he eventually convinced Desi Arnaz, Jr., to consent to a blood test. (The fact that Sean started his own family and that Desi inherited a gazillion dollars from Lucille Ball may have added to the curiosity.) The results were negative- Desi wasn’t his father. Neither was John Astin.
Long story short: his biological father turned out to be Michael Tell, his mother’s husband. Patty Duke swears that something is rotten in the state of DNAmark, because the union was never consummated, but evidently either she forgot the tryst or else Tell is capable of pulling off an immaculate conception. In any case, Sean considers John Astin to be his father and is friends with the other two men.
And that’s how the monkey got his gall bladder…
Astin may try to parlay his LOTR fame to further his directing career. He had a short film nominated for an Oscar a few years ago. According to the IMDB, he even filmed a short documentary on the filming of LOTR.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Elijah Wood’s role in The Ice Storm. I thought that The Faculty was also a decent horror/scifi flick.
I second scablet’s recollection of hearing of a Monaghan/Boyd comedy collaboration in the works. Ai, I wanna see that one! (And, Ethilrist, I think Monaghan looks like a rabid fox when he gets excited, not a feral rat. Not sure how much of an improvement that is on a grand scale, but at least not actively repulsive to me . . . )
Wood has a couple of projects currently in the works. He’s also cut his hair short, to move hia appearance further away from “hobbitty.” He’ll be Frodo for the rest of his life, all right, but in the same way Michael J. Fox was Alex P. Keaton and Marty McFly for the rest of his life - it’s the first thing interviewers will always mention, but they’ll move on to other things.
I vaguely remember seeing an interview in which Astin makes remarks about wanting to play a leading man. Unfortunately, the same facial features that make him perfect for Samwise are probably going to keep that from happenning, which is a shame, since he’s IMHO the best actor of the four. (Not that any of them are bad, just that he kicks seven kinds of boo-tay.) I suspect he’ll end up directing, which is probably not a bad thing.
Ferry, I said “It happens I’ve never seen…” because I was aware he’d played a number of roles including the Goonies, but by coincidence (my limited movie-watching being the largest part of it) I happened never to have seen him in a movie role. I was quite well aware that he had a fairly distinguished career already. In other words, I was speaking more of my own limitations than of what he had done on film. 
For the record, I think it’s on the FOTR:EE DVD that Billy and Dom mention their upcoming comedy film.
Ah! Terribly sorry, I assumed that because you did not mention them, you were unaware of them! Forgive me and my know-it-all attitude!
From Fiver
Danny Devito a leading man? Right, he turned down The English Patient and Ralph Fiennes was a last second replacement.
Michael J. Fox was cast as kid forever. He played a high school student at the age of 30, after which his career tanked. He came back by playing assistants in The American President and Spin City and as Stuart Little. We’ll never know what would have come next.
Ian Holm has made a career of great supporting roles in films such as The Madness Of King George, The Sweet Hereafter and Chariots Of Fire (although he has played the lead as Napoleon, twice).
Dustin Hoffman has reportedly spent years in therapy trying to deal with issues regarding his height. He played the romantic lead in The Graduate (as a college kid) and in Tootsie (as a woman). He normally plays non-romantic roles. Nevertheless, he’s had a great career.
Tom Cruise (who claims to be 5’9") is a true Hollywood leading man who always gets the girl. He just has to put up with endless speculation regarding his sexuality.
So don’t say I don’t know what I’m talking about.
More to the point is the question of the actors in this particular movie. I do suspect we will see very little of Sean Astin as he seems to be headed behind the camera. I’m just curious as to what will happen to Wood. He may very well end up being thought of as Fordo forever, for more resons than his height. He is the central character in the films and it will be very hard for him to break the public’s perception of him as Frodo, which is a testament to the job he’s done in making the character believable. But as I’m sure Leonard Nimoy could verify it can be a double-edged sword.
It’s not like this is a life-or-death issue. Everyone in this film has had successful career, even the elf who was on screen for three seconds and spawned a cult following.
rogzilla: If you think Michael J. Fox’s career “tanked”, then your standards of Hollywood success are unrealistically high. Here’s a guy who starred in not one but two successful TV series, a blockbuster movie franchise, and a bunch of enjoyable and profitable movies, all by the age of 40. And he never had to do schlock to make ends meet (well, except for that regretable Teen Wolf incident.) By any reasonable standard in Hollywood, he’s a successful star.
There is a great deal of room between Tom Cruise scale superstardom and doing grocery store openings and car shows to pay the rent, you know.
On one talk show, Elijah Wood said that he kept (with Peter Jackson’s consent) the ring used in the movie. He said one reason he requested it is so he can sell it for megabucks to a serious collector one day if need be and thereby not have to do Sci-Fi conventions with Dirk Benedict and George Takei when he’s middle-aged and they’re ancient. (He didn’t mention their names, but I’m sure he thought them.)
FIGWIT!!!
WTH is figwit?
Apparently, it’s this guy.
First I’d heard of him, too…
WOOT! Thanks, Monstre! I’d lost the link.
FIGWIT RULES!!
I read the link but I don’t understand the cult following for a lineless extra. 
In the making of footage on the second DVD, Elijah mentions just how MANY rings were made for the films ( 9 ?? ). They allowed him to keep one, a normal sized one. He says he has not put it on.
Who knows? Who cares? Such icons are wonderful keepsakes, he’s done a terrific turn as Frodo. Let him enjoy the Ring…
Cartooniverse
Ever heard of Boba Fett?
Ooohh! Good one!
Yes, but Boba Fett was supposedly in the books and had a reason to be there. According to the linked site overhead, they don’t even know who this person is and called him Figwit because it means silent figure or something like that in a foreign (probably Elvish) language.