Oh, Viggo. Truly, you are the only Aragorn for us. Er, the only Strider. Only Elessar. Whatever.
Viggo Mortensen did a few things with his character that transcended typical actorly dedication; he only used his heavy steel sword on set, rather than the lighter aluminum ones built for stunts (and the stunt guys had the bruises to prove it). He was prone to dragging the sword around everywhere, and got stopped by the cops when he was spotted carrying it in public. He asked for more of his lines to be written in elvish. He once kicked a helmet so hard that he broke his toes, but still stayed in character for the take.
It’s pretty well-known that his casting in Lord of the Rings occurred late in the game (they had already started shooting), but do you know the other names that were considered? Because they’re mostly big-deal picks, and imagining any one of them in the role leads to a strange alternate reality.
Let’s imagine them.
Daniel Day-Lewis
DDL was one of Jackson’s first picks for the part (he was offered the role several times but kept turning it down), and while we can see general appeal, the idea of casting someone who’s even more method than Mortensen was bound to be a misfire. Daniel Day-Lewis refused to wear a warmer coat and got dangerously ill during filming for Gangs of New York… because warmer coats would not have existed for a man of his position in that time period. Daniel Day-Lewis would only speak to the crew on Nine in Italian, because his character was Italian. Daniel Day-Lewis learned how to expertly fire a heavy flintlock gun for The Last of Mohicans, and brought the thing to a Christmas dinner. Daniel Day-Lewis was once playing Hamlet at the National Theatre in London and felt like he was talking to the ghost of his actual dead father, so he walked off the stage and never played the part again.
You see how this could have been a problem, right? During filming, they lose track of Lewis because he’s too busy trudging through the wilderness being a ranger for real. He only speaks to the crew in elvish. He won’t rehearse fight choreography because he wants the sequences to “feel authentic.” It’s a disaster in the making. Sure, the performance would have been great, but would it have really been worth the suffering? Even just Daniel Day-Lewis’ personal suffering?
Stuart Townsend
Townsend was the one who was actually cast in the part before Viggo came on board. He did two months of training and got to film all of one or two days before Jackson realized he’d made a mistake in casting such a young actor—Townsend was only in his late twenties. So he was sent home, and Mortensen was abruptly drafted.
While you gotta feel for the kid (his film career hasn’t been all that exciting, and he was similarly shuffled off of Thor’s cast roster when he got traded out for Josh Dallas in the part of Fandral), it’s easy to see what Jackson was worried about. Baby-faced 87-year-old Aragorn, flirting with elves and getting all kingly and expecting people to follow him into battle. Teeny-bopper Aragorn raging about the fear that would take the heart of him! Isildur’s Heir and His Mighty Pout—perfect emo band name.
Hate to say it, but age does lend you gravitas. It’s probably best that Aragorn didn’t end up looking like someone who just finished his grad school program and decided to hike the Appalachian Trial before getting a real job.
Russell Crowe
Crowe was another top pick on Jackson’s list, and he was keen on the role, but had to turn it down due to prior commitments. Coming off of the incredibly popular Gladiator back then, this idea kind of makes sense.
Kind of.
It does mean that most of Aragorn’s lines would be delivered in soft, pained murmurs, punctured by smatterings of full-throated roars: “Are you not entertained, Sauron?” We’ve seen him be Robin Hood, and that performance was sort of grouchy and meh. It’s arguably the closest to Aragorn the guy has ever come. So… perhaps not. Then again, if he played the role like Javert and sang some elvish poetry in a furious tenor, that would have been a hilarious way to get butts in seats.
Vin Diesel
Diesel auditioned for the role, though he was never offered the part. He would have had the bushiest beard of all. And he probably would have scared the orcs away by smiling at them.
Let’s face it, Vin Diesel is a very different kind of hero. He’s got that cuddly aspect that we know from Groot and the Iron Giant, but action roles are where he gets lean, mean, and growly. Which would have been a really interesting take on Aragorn’s character, though pretty far from his characterization in the books. An Aragorn who was all swagger and biceps. An Aragorn who could kill you with a teacup.
It wouldn’t have seemed much like Lord of the Rings, but it would have been a sight to behold.
Nicolas Cage
This was very real. Jackson offered the role to Cage early in the game. Cage wanted to take the role, but was concerned about having to spend so much time away from his kid. But if he had decided it was worth it, or packed the family up and moved them with him…
Nicolas Cage is never anyone but Nicolas Cage. We all know this. He has an irrefutable Cage-ness. He’s great at extremes because that is clearly where he lives. His vocal delivery does not conform to other languages or accents—they must bend around him. He would have never blended in with the ensemble cast that Jackson ended up assembling. Suddenly, the king’s return would seem like the entire point of the LOTR trilogy. Frodo? Who’s that? What’s this Ring thing about?
All I can see is Cage.
It would have been the most distracting casting choice of the 21st century, and the 21st century had only just begun.
Bonus: Other Characters Who Were Nearly Cast Differently
Liam Neeson was offered the role of Boromir. It’s probably best that he turned it down because it would have been hard for anyone to dispute his right to a throne. (And he would have been playing a role in a trilogy where he died in the first film. Again.) Sylvester McCoy was considered for Bilbo, but Radagast was a better choice in the long run. Lucy Lawless and Uma Thurman were wanted for Galadriel and Arwen respectively, but they both had ill-timed pregnancies. It would have been a pretty different film series once you replace Blanchett and Tyler with Xena and The Bride, that’s for sure. David Bowie wanted to play Elrond, though he was never approached, and that’s probably for the best because he would have been insanely difficult to see as anyone other than Bowie-in-an-elf-costume.
But perhaps the best possibility of all: though many were considered, one of the first actors offered the role of Gandalf was Sean Connery… who turned it down because he just “didn’t get” the script. After all, who was he going to sleep with? Where were all the guns for him to fire? How many puns would he be allowed to drop? None? Well, that’s a bust. Connery says no.
Emmet Asher-Perrin wants a peek in at alternate universes for the express purpose of seeing movies with different casts. You can bug her on Twitter and Tumblr, and read more of her work here and elsewhere.
Most of these are looney tunes (and seriously, David Bowie? That wouldn’t have been Bowie-In-An-Elf-Costume, that would have been Wait-When-Did-This-Turn-Into-A-Labyrinth-Remake), but. . .I kinda like the idea of Lucy Lawless as Galadriel. Stay with me here, because I don’t mean Xena as Galadriel. But thinking about Lawless recently on Parks and Rec, minus the boobplate. . . . I never liked Blanchett’s whispery, ethereal Galadriel, and maybe a woman with the low, authoritative voice Tolkien described and a little more physical heft would have been a much more surprising choice?
Long before it was announced that Peter Jackson was making these movies, I thought that Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead would make a great Elrond. I still think so.
Liv Tyler is the only casting choice I can complain about tbh. And that’s only because I find her face really, really irritating. It’s irrational and I know it’s mean to say it, but I can’t help it. I wish i knew what it was that bugged me so much…
But don’t get me started on GOT. Won’t even watch it because I hate some of the main casting choices ;) I’m too picky!
They could have tried Chuck Norris, but Sauron would have surrendered the first day.
@@.-@.
No, no, no. Brute force was never going to work v. Sauron. They needed somone clever, smarter than Saruman, but still honest and ethical enough not to use the ring-lore he’d deciphered. Obviously, the perfect casting choice would have been Bruce Schneier.
The idea of Cage as Aragorn is kind of terrifying.
@3: I think Liv Tyler as Arwen looked the part just fine, I just can’t stand listening to her deliver her lines in that breathy half-whisper.
I always pictured Stevie Nicks as Galadriel but not sure if early naughts Stevie Nicks would have been as good as early 80’s Stevie Nicks.
Aragorn should be old, weathered, and tough. Going out on a limb and saying Clint Eastwood?
David Bowie would have made a decent Bombadil.
Anthony Ainlee should also have been cast as Bombadil. Because “Tom, he is the Master.”
Tom Baker as Gandalf? Because offering the Witch-King a jelly-baby at the gates of Minas Tirith would have made my day.
Valerie Bertinelli could not have been cast as Arwen. Already booked as Luthien…
I have no complaints whatsoever with the casting, it’s just a really good thing I didn’t recall Mortenson’s role from G.I. Jane til years later, because I really wouldn’t have enjoyed his character.
And THANK the UNDYING STAR we got McKellan instead of Connery.
Any information on alternative choices for Frodo? I’m betting any one of them would have been better.
At this point I can’t imagine anybody other than Viggo (or Sexy Jesus as my friends somewhat irrevently called him – seriously! Doesn’t he kind of look like one of those Sad Jesus paintings in some shots? But sexy.) but…I am seriously mourning the David Bowie Elrond that never was, because that would have been SO rad, and probably better than Hugo Weaving’s potrayal (sorry Hugo…nothing against your acting specifically, the demeanor just seemed all wrong).
Also, @11, I though Elijah was just perfect, but of course, when I was in high school/college I had a massive crush on him so… :)
@7 – Arwen’s breathy dialogue irritated the CRAP out of me! But a few months ago we rented the Hulk movie (the one with Edward Norton) and Liv Tyler is his scientist girlfriend and she delivers all her lines IN THE EXACT SAME WAY. It was a serious dissonance moment.
Hugo “Mr. Smith” Weaving delivered Elrond straight out of the book, IMO. Stern, thoughtful, biased, and not easily loved. And with all of that, I kept waiting for Neo to show up.
Bowie is a fantastic actor, and certainly would have made a terrific Elrond, but I would have had the same problem, internally asking why the Goblin King is now the Prince of Rivendell. Sometimes a newcomer is better for a role for just that reason.
@3: I feel the same, and I think it’s because 1) she always looks like she’s incredibly stupid/dense (that smile), and 2) her face is asymetrical enough to go past the “tiny bit of asymetry = perfection” into the “her face is crooked and it’s really distracting” territory.
Yeah, I know I’m mean but it is what it is.
My only other “eh” casting was Elrond. While I love Weaving, it just didn’t jive with me. Maybe partly from the Matrix trilogy being so “recent” to these movies. And those eyebrows. Weird.
I got rather fond of Hugo Weaving eventually, but I still think he was horribly miscast.
Agree with HelenS. I originally thought Weaving an odd choice for Elrond, but it worked.
Connery would have been dynamite as Gandalf.
I never knew that they sent the first Aragorn actor home after two days. Reminds me of the other Marty McFly.
Ian McKellen was the perfect Gandalf.
LotR casting is very hit-or-miss. It’s tough to criticize some of the actors though, I think the main problem was the direction that Peter Jackson decided to go with many of them. It can be hard to separate a bad performance from a bad stylistic choice by the director.
The Hobbits
Elijah Wood is weak and really only asked to bug out his eyes at the camera for extreme close-ups. Ugh. But I didn’t like the choice to make the character a young “everyman” instead of the wise and experienced Frodo from the novels. Pip and Merry are forced into comic relief and neither actor really rises to the occassion. Sean Astin is really the only good decision made here.
The Men
Sean Bean and Ian McKellan are home runs. Bean improves upon book-Boromir so much, giving the character a degree of emotional depth and conflict that is only barely hinted at on the page.
Viggo and Weaving are competent but not inspired. I was always bothered by the reediness of Viggo’s voice; it was a huge detriment when he had to give the big speeches. I always imagined Daniel Day-Lewis circa Last of the Mohicans as Aragorn. He would have been awesome.
Legolas and Gimli are well done. Faramir and Denethor are not. I think each actor is held back by mistakes made by Jackson though.
The Women
Eowyn was a tough role and I think Otto did about as well as could be expected.
Neither Galadriel or Arwen are well cast though. Lawless actually would have made a decent Galadriel, if the director didn’t want to do the whole “dreamy and ethereal” crap. Arwen is barely involved in the story at all, I would have just found someone new and not bothered with a star at all.
Conclusion
My main problem with the casting is that it was exceptionally boring. If they ever take a crack at it again, I would hope that the producers mix up the characters a little. There’s too few women, and it gets boring watching white guys always do everything (speaking as a white guy!). For the hobbits, I would have changed Frodo and Sam into women, if I could find the right actress to play Frodo. If not, you can easily change Merry and Pip into women.
It would be somewhat cliche to make Legolas a woman, but why not Gimli? Boromir and Faramir could easily be sisters as well. Why not make the Rohirrm into people of color? Why not use Asians as the elves and forget about the pointy-eared nonsense that was never mentioned in the books?
There are so many interesting choices that Jackson could have made; it’s incredibly frustrating to see him play it safe with every single one.
I remember being floored that Stuart Townsend might’ve been Aragorn — did no one in casting see him in that turd Queen of the Damned? Viggo all the way.
I would’ve been happy recasting Liv Tyler too because her line delivery sounded like… an elf on the verge on an asthma attack. I really would’ve loved David Bowie as Elrond, but Hugo Weaving grew on me.
The best casting choice was clearly David Wenham as Faramir because he had the perfect big nose to play the brother of Sean Bean. (See also: Joseph Malwe/Benjen Stark on Game of Thrones) And he was dreamy.
The problem with Liv Tyler as Arwen was, for me, less her voice than her youth. Arwen is lovely, yes, but she’s also 1800 years old or thereabouts. They needed someone with a <i>lot</i> more gravitas to carry her off.
My fantasy casting for Arwen was Claudia Black from <i>Farscape</i>, who would have felt much more of a peer to Mortensen’s Aragorn than Tyler did.
My biggest casting issue was Agent Smith as Elrond. In the books, he was such a nice guy, not ice cold. All the merry-making of the elves was jettisoned for stoicism. Eh.
I can’t imagine anyone else as Frodo, but Elijah Wood was never chubby enough to be a convincing hobbit, I felt. Same for Billy Boyd.
When I read the books though, Gandalf will always always sound like John Huston.
RANKIN-BASS HOBBIT FOR LIFE!!!! FOR LIFE!!!!!!!
@14, oh, wow, that was the opposite reaction I had. It’s not that I think Weaving did a bad job per se, and I can see that PJ was going for a bit of a different feel with the Elves, but I found the Elrond in the movies to be overly grim, cold and bitter. In the books, I pictured him as a bit friendlier, comforting and with a kind of old wisdom/sadness. Rivendell did not strike me as the merry, rejuvenating place it was in the books.
I can definitely see the difference between book Frodo/movie Frodo in terms of book Frodo being a bit more experienced, but I did really love Frodo in the movies and think he captured the general goodness/hobbit-ness well.
@19. While those choices are very interesting, I doubt they would have worked out well for the movies’ success. A large majority of fans expect the movie adaptations to be as faithful as possible to the books, especially with franchises such as this one. Changes of this magnitude, such as actually altering the gender of main characters, would most likely infuriate, or at least irritate 99% of the fans. I know they would have angered me, and I’m saying this as a woman who laments the lack of strong women in the series.
David Bowie was just looking for another opportunity to show off his package. I can see him in the role though.
Guys.
WHAT IF.
What if David Bowie had played the Goblin King in The Hobbit?
OK, so I understand about Arwen’s breathy delivery, but… you HAVE heard her speak when not in character, right? Her voice is very high and light and child-like – not Elvish at all. I found it hard to believe that she could take her natural voice and maintain a lower fuller register throughout the movies.
Oddly enough I was watching a WIP rough cut of a Tom Sawyer/ Huck Finn flick that Wood starred in back in the early 90s, and I turned to one of my coworkers and asked “Have you ever read Tolkien? You know; The Hobbit? The Lord of the Rings?” He frowned and said “I kinda remember the animated versions…” I continued ” Well, doesn’t that kid (Wood) remind you of Frodo Baggins? I think he’d make a perfect Frodo…way too young though, unfortunately.” So you can imagine my shock when he WAS cast as Frodo years later!Jackson’s Frodo was weak, yes-but that was Jackson’s direction, not Wood’s acting.
Bowie would have been the perfect Elrond; he has the right vibe and look, while Weaving was horribly miscast, imho; monotoned and far, far to unattractive to count as one of the “fair folk”. But he was Jackson’s pal, so he got the role. Cage (UGH!) would have been an even worse for Aragorn than Weaving was for Elrond. Those two picks alone should have made the studio think twice about allowing Jackson free rein (thankfully he was somewhat reined in on LotR, but not on the Hobbit).
I’ve been rooting for DDL for that role! I always imagine him playing the role of Aragorn. Too bad, he just decline it. Anyway, I’m still happy for him to be recognize as one of the Top Ten Greatest Acting Performances of All Time along with other great actors and actress. He truly deserve it. I just hope that he will make a movie with Peter Jackson soon! That could be so exciting!
Was complaining about Aragorn’s casting with friends because I find Mortensen’s nasal, high-pitched voice very annoying whenever gravity is required (compare his speech at the Black Gate with Theoden’s before the charge at the Pelennor Fields). They challenged me to name a better choice, and the second-best I could think of was Daniel Day Lewis (the first being Gregory Peck in his forties). So I googled “Daniel Day Lewis Aragorn”, and behold! it turns out that he was PJ’s first pick. Pity, pity.
Also,when I see Hugo Weaving playing Elrond I can’t help thinking of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I find it weird that everyone thinks of Matrix, but well, that’s me I guess.
DDL might be okay as Aragorn, but… mehhh…. He has a point. DDL is kind of a special snowflake. He may well end up stabbing himself. On top of all the other trials and tribulations Viggo already went through.
Stuart… just looked too fresh for the role.
Didn’t mind Cate or Liv. Didn’t even mind Elrond. Sure coming fresh off of the Matrix I had trouble seeing Hugo as Elrond, but he kinda grew on me. David Bowie as Elrond would have been… I mean is he supposed to rule over the elves? Or the goblins? God we’d see that mullet again. And those pants.
And all those harping on the age:
Get over it. Arwen is 1800 but has been fairly secluded all her life and is supposedly comparable to someone in her mid-twenties to thirties or so. Aragorn was 87 but supposedly retained the vitality and strength of someone in his thirties, or maybe even early forties.
I’m glad Viggo was the final choice. (Even if it was a little last minute:) He has the eyes of king, a sword to be reckoned with, and a presence and swagger that, let’s face it, is just plain inimitable. It aggravates me a little that I cannot remember how I imagined Aragorn while reading the book since watching the movies. I really can’t. I just see Viggo’s character every time. He really owned the part.
I thought the casting for Sam too was terrific, as well as Gandalf, Legolas and Gimli, and, although Boromir and Frodo were a little different from the way I’d imagined them to be they were pretty good. I was a little skeptical about Faramir because he was my favorite character from the series, but I was equally pleased with him also.
Really, it was all beautifully done, except for the scenes they added/changed for Faramir. He was WAY wiser in the book, resisted the ring easily, and did nothing so stupid as attempt to drag Frodo and Sam to Gondor. I thought they really weakened him in the movies, but I still liked his character despite my disappointment.
Back when I heard that this movie was being made I thought of Daniel Day Lewis as Aragorn. Mortenson is a good actor, but his voice is thin and reedy and he does not have the physical presence of Lewis. Perhaps Viggo would have been better if Jackson and the writers didn’t make him a post-modern self-doubting character and instead stuck with the hero archetype form the books.
Galadriel…Michelle Pfeiffer. Stunning beauty but can also be very strong. Plus in make up she can do the combination of young/ancient beauty thing.
Connery has the look and a great accent for Gandalf, but could never have the subtlety and gentle humor that McKellan brought to the role. Again, Jackson/writers should be flogged for Gandalf having the self-doubt and despair moment in the third movie as well. And don’t get me started on Faramir.
Arwen definitely was a mistake. Given the small part any beautiful raven-haired actress could have done this better.
Frodo and the other hobbits: Just too young, but Samwise was still good.
It was The Matrix that Connery “Didn’t get”, and turned down Morpheus.
@19 – OMG, NO!! That racial stuff is NOT this story, it is precisely about white people – because the EVIL ones were the different races, or “Asian Elves” and Africans, and Druid dudes. It is a story about labelling and racial bias – all of which is done by white folks among themselves (hierarchical conceptions trained into them by The Powers). The main characters from this story do the labelling. Except maybe Legolas who is mixed race. Tolkien used “bait and switch” techniques. Elves and Magi and all those, are white – Persian fairy-tale identity / Indo-European. Why would you change Tolkien’s story, or put more women into it? That’s just ridiculous. Just to appear “PC” in modern terms. You’d ruin the whole thing by only seeing things superficially like that. Jackson already changed things up because “he thought” it wasn’t modern enough – or something. That’s precisely the idea! It’s not a modern times story.
@19 – And if you want to really change something, then say they should have stopped with the typical Hollywood closeting of gay characters. I don’t even know if Jackson read the books entirely. While Sam does go for the renewal of the ancient line (which is also why Aragorn looks like “Sexy Jesus” = Persian links), he’s supposed to reunite with Frodo in the end – and his daughter Elanor totally knows about the nature of their relationship. Gandalf becomes “the White” (Marriage!) after he *flies* with his “good friend” Gwaihir at three different times, every time getting more balanced between themselves (they misunderstood each other). He says something like “Third time’s the charm!” and then loses his fears (the very reason he was originally sent to Middle-earth). Sean Connery to play that?? Puh-leaze!
PS: Legolas does label too, in the beginning, but he decodes everyone’s shit by feeling the Elvish language differently. (In the films: decodes the hieroglyphs by using centered logic, instead of projection of bias).
@33 – Sam is a good choice because the actor is himself hyperactive and the son of a bipolar mother (his words). But what they did with the role was awful. Trying way too hard to make Sam “the true hero” when Tolkien specifically said Sam was totally biased and used his subservience to Frodo to harbour conceited perceptions. Frodo is the true hero and they tried very hard to make him second to Sam, using all kinds of nonsense like “overly feminine passivity”, “addiction to the Ring” or “suicidal behaviour”. WHAT? Faramir II, there…
I always thought that Sean Bean would have most closely resembled Strider as he was described in the book. That being said All of the actors that seemed a bit out of place grew on me except for Liv Tyler
@38 – I was just reading trough these and most posts are that long ago that I wasn’t going to post but after seeing your s I’m gonna.
I thoroughly agree with you. Sean Bean would have been a far better as Aragorn. VM was far too good looking – bean’s ruggedness would have been a far better fit.
@38 and 39. It was cool to see this comment from others about Bean as Aragron. I have felt for years that Sean Bean would have been the best fit for Aragorn. I think going as far back as mid-late 1990’s, when LotR was possibly going to be adapted into 2 films by Miramax, I read a casting rumor that Jackson was considering Bean for Aragorn. While I think Viggo did a great job for who he is with the part, I would have loved to see Bean bring the slightly older feeling presence and gravity to the role. I think he could have acted the part with more of the nobleness and yet ruggedness I always pictured when reading Aragorn. More of that wise, kingliness that is just in waiting for his true role to be accomplished. Viggo was a bit more pretty than I pictured too. Just give Bean darker hair than he had for Boromir and he could have been almost perfect!
To Drunken5YearOld:
I agree with most of what you said, but Denethor??? I thought he was possibly the most accurately cast and performed characters in the story. John Noble was Denethor, plain and simple. Like he leapt off the written page into being. Only Sean Astin’s Samwise and Ian McClellan’s Gandalf are so close.
Beyond these, I admit I would have loved to see Bowie’s take on Elrond. Weaving was another stellar choice but Bowie me guy have infused the role with the near-tangible sense of magic he brought to everything else, a quality that could only have improved the character.
“Liam Neeson was offered the role of Boromir. It’s probably best that he turned it down because it would have been hard for anyone to dispute his right to a throne.”
They why wouldn’t he play Aragorn, the role he was born to play? Everything about him screams “I AM ARAGORN!”
Probably because the movie was a cheap schlocky pillaging of Tolkien’s story, and Peter Jackson wanted to dumb it down to his own level by replacing everyone with anti-hero cynicism; and thus Aragorn went from the the 6’6″ king of a lost race of super-men, to an angsty dweeb full of self-doubt and indecision… just like the rest of the cast.
As a result, Jackson cast a small, seedy man that he thought the audience would see as an “Everyman” character, but in reality just ended up getting dick-slapped at every juncture, including by women.
They missed a huge chance at history when they did not cast Will Smith as Aragorn.
@5 Casting Bruce S. This is a brilliant view of the situation, and it sure made me laugh! But they had enough work to do on sizing with the hobbit characters, they didn’t need more. Bruce is a smidge over 5 feet tall.
I always thought that Adrian Paul would make a good Aragorn. In Highlander, he was shown all scruffy in some of his past scenes but he cleaned up nicely. Aragorn was rough and scary as Strider but cleaned up nice as Elessar.
Sean Connery would definitely have been an awesome Gandalf, but a very non-gay Gandalf. Connery does have the acting chops to show empathy with a hobbit one moment, allegiance to a grand wizard the next, and then rage at the lazy smoking goofing around clumsy hobbits in other scenes, but the difference between the Ian McKellen Gandalf and a Sean Connery Gandalf is definitely in the masculinity, and the difference between a strong leader-type figure, and a nurturing father grandfather type figure. McKellen Gandalf is never particularly threatening really, but he’s excellent at playing the sympathetic scenes with the hobbits, and his acting chops are top notch, but I would suspect if Connery had confrontational scenes they would be more powerful not just because of the difference between a straight and a gay man playing the part, but that he as a supermasculine GQ fellow would have just delivered those lines with more power and punch. I think in the consoling and pep talk and nurturing scenes Ian does a wonderful job, and perhaps Connery I think would have come off as an ass. If Ian Mckellen’s Gandalf counsels someone who just lost a brother or son or father or whatever it’s very poignant and deep and nurturing, but I think if Connery had delivered the lines the performance might have gone off into either cranky old man territory, or after someone died he would basically act like, “Ok your son’s dead, so hey I’m sorry and sad to hear of your loss, but we have to get moving, so pull your whiny ass off your bootstraps and let’s get going.” Since Connery is such a megastar I think if he had signed on it may have only a little bit distracted from the film, and Connery especially old cranky wry Connery is somehow amusing so his version may have gotten more laughs. Imagine if Connery was delivering lines like, “Fool of a Took! Next time throw yourself in and be done with it!” For an ensemble work as Lord of the Rings novels and the films were though I believe it was a right casting choice to choose actors that might have been well known, but not overblown megastars, so that they could better integrate into the cast of the Lord of the Rings. McKellen gave a great wonderful performance even though my complaints about the characters transition from the novels to the big Hollywood screen is basically this; the characters even on the light side are much darker in the books. Strider for instance is stealth and dark and dangerous. The wandering ranger of Gondor is a disgraced heir for sure, but he is a scary badass! The big screen Aragorn is a bit of a ham; you still wouldn’t want to cross or fight with him, but he’s in love, fears the past, and is often far more sentimental than in the books. There’s more of a mystery and danger element to the man I felt was lost in the book to screen translation. Reflecting back upon it I recall all of those early Fellowship of the Rings novel scenes to be scary regarding the ring-wraiths and the close encounters and shadows of darkness. The build-up and fright is built up slowly causing a true fear for the reader/audience. In the films it unfolds the dread and encounters with the Ring Wraiths almost close the novels but either it was the Ring Wraith design that made them less scary, a desire to sell toys and appeal to younger audiences without giving them nightmares and scaring the shit out of them or their parents, and it could be the actors being a bit goofy like the hobbits on screen bumbling around while creatures of the undead are searching for the ring can break the vibe of dread because the hobbits themselves are such comical creatures typically just partying, smoking, eating, dancing, farming, etc. Though one could argue how you make midget creatures less silly, and they wouldn’t have made it a PG-13 rated film! The movies do hit most of the major beats of the novels for the most part, but I might have to read the novels again but there’s something about the deliberately slow and scary methodical pace that just leads to the climax so well!
Halley Berry as Galadriel. Brad Pitt as Denethor (and a better script).
Sean Connery is awesome. But Sean Connery … Is … well, not Gandalf.
Interesting to see so many perspectives on what might have been. I remember being distressed at the time Viggo Mortensen was cast because he was just so weird looking, but with the beard and wig, he actually makes the perfect Aragorn.
@19 I think PJ was already trying his hardest to bring forward the female characters while staying true to the book. Thank Tolkien’s wife for the fact that Éowyn even exists as a character.
That said, I totally think that some of the dwarves in The Hobbit should have “secretly” been female. PJ was already adding so much to the story that it wouldn’t even have been much of a distraction in comparison. The fact that non-dwarves can’t tell them apart was established to movie audiences through the conversation in LotR, and the story is told from Bilbo’s point of view. For all we know, one or two of the thirteen dwarves in the book WERE women.
As for non-white characters, what PJ could have done was focus more on the Haradrim, making some of them named characters and examining their society and motivations in more detail. We have Faramir saying, “You wonder what his name is, where he comes from, and if he really was evil at heart. What lies or threats led him on this long march from home, or he would not rather have stayed there…” I predict that someday there will be a remake, and the Haradrim and even Orcs will be important characters.
Vin Disel would have fit much better the role of…Beorn!! Oh yeah that would be awesome a a powerful skin-changer turning into a bear, gruff, tough bulky huge muscle man, that him :). Seriously if someone ever makes Hobbit live action remakes, cast Vin Disel as Beorn. We could get awesome scene of bear transformation on screen, the character raging on fighting off goblins and Wargs, doing carnage everywhere on battlefield, something like that, though naturally he would be too often in bear form hehe ;), but also have the scene of him torturing the captured orc and Warg to get information from them, so he later sticks the head of a goblin on a pike and nails warg skin to the tree :).
“Standing near was a huge man with a thick black beard and hair, and great bare arms and legs with knotted muscles. He was clothed in a tunic of wool down to his knees, and was leaning on a large axe….
He laughed a great rolling laugh, put down his axe and came forward.”
…
“‘He can be appalling when he is angry, though he is kind enough if humoured. Still I warn you he gets angry easily.'”
…
“A goblin’s head was stuck outside the gate and a warg-skin was nailed to a tree just beyond. Beorn was a fierce enemy.”
Tell you can’t picture Vin in this role hehe. Oh man I suddenly realized if the new Lotr tv show by Amazon really will be around life of Aragorn we will have to suffer a new guy for the role.
NICOLAS CAGE AS ARAGON!! What? Imagine the Memes “I took the Orc Lurtz’s head…off”
Reason why Sean Bean could not be Aragorn. Sean Bean is perfect as Boromir. To have any one else as Boromir just seems wrong to me, book Boromir is a gruff warrior who sorta moans and grumbles before turning bad. Sean Bean Boromir is a man with the weight of a Kingdom on his shoulders, who has been instructed to betray his allies and bring the Ring back to his father. Also SB Boromir when he tries to take the ring is so unsettling, that sorta despair and mockery he brings to the delivery of the lines. And… Boromirs’ fight at Amon Hen is the best thing about the Fellowship of the Rings damn it, 3 arrows in the chest and he still keeps fighting, even beats Gandalf’s You Shall Not Pass! (Gandalf is SUCH a Diva) Watch the moment when he looks at Pippin and Merry after being shot in the chest twice with arrows and he still turns around and kills an Orc. Anyone who doesn’t feel a bit weepy (man tears are nothing to be ashamed of) and think that he truly is a descendant of Numenor at that moment is just wrong and has no soul. Terrible editing of the fight before though.
Also John Noble was great as Denethor, the problem with his role is that they messed it up so badly. I mean when you hear that Denethor is supposed to be a tragic man tormented by Sauron through the Palantir to give up hope, you just think, nope, can’t see it from what he is given in the script.
I mean, Denethor is supposed to go eye to eye with Gandalf in the book, and I was always disappointed we never got to see more of that strength in him (and no, shouting THE RULE OF GONDOR IS MINE! Doesn’t count either). Also, while I am aware a full body burn is massively dangerous, I was always sad we never got the end where Denethor lies down on the pyre and burns to death while clutching a Palantir, rather than him sorta running away and jumping off the Pinnacle of Minas Tirith. His eating chicken and tomatoes while Faramir is leading a suicide charge is perfect though (well, apart from the singing).
In a way, I was sad that the proposed TV show wasn’t a remake of the movie personally, I mean the movie is almost 20 years old now (if you count from the beginning of filming) and as much as I love it I think a more faithful version of the story could really have an impact with the option to spread it over 3 years with 10 episodes a year (One book a year obviously). We could finally see Tolkien’s story instead of a based on, think, we would finally get to see the Scouring of the Shire, dammit! And the Ringwraiths could actually be scary with the flight to Rivendell being more than a montage sequence of some trees, Also Glorfindel could be in it (I am so going to start a Glorfindel was robbed website) but alas, Aragorn: the Early Years is what they are supposedly going for. I will obviously watch it of course though, I mean let us have no doubts on that.
Two points. Firstly, for those that say that Hugo Weaving was too stoic as Elrond, you have to remember that Elrond had been leading a battle against Sauron for countless ages. That has to wear on the soul, Elvish or not. Plus, Elrond was keenly aware that the elves time in middle-earth was very soon coming to an end. I have no problem at all with this casting choice or the portrayal.
Secondly, why was Liv Tyler even in this movie at all? The character of Arwen is very minor in the books. I know they fleshed her out to have another female character, but as it was it was still minor enough to give the role to an unknown who could actually act, rather than give it to Steve Tyler’s daughter.