Every Actor Almost in Lord of the Rings

As I wrap up my annual Middle-Earth rewatch, I wanted to touch on some actors that were almost cast in LOTR. A few months back I did a list of actors who turned down big roles & another article about all the roles that Al Pacino turned down. In this article I’m going to highlight all the actors who almost played a part in the War for the Ring, as it is quite the list of names.

I’m cheating a little bit to start off because our first actor actually was in Lord of the Rings. Orlando Bloom who originally auditioned for the role of Faramir that would eventually be played by David Wenham in the second installment of the series. Bloom instead played Legolas in all three LOTR films, as well as two of ‘The Hobbit’ films. Bloom made Legolas one of the stand out characters of the franchise due in part to his cool stunts, and also for his friendship with Gimli.

Gimli, the dwarf who pledges his axe to Frodo and the Fellowship was played by John Rhys-Davies. Rhys-Davies also played Treebeard, but another actor considered for his dwarven character was Scotsman Billy Connolly. Connolly has appeared in both live action & voice roles, and would play the dwarf Dáin II Ironfoot in the final film of ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy.

Another actor who auditioned for LOTR, but then appeared in another role in ‘The Hobbit’ is Radagast the Brown actor, Sylvester McCoy. The Scottish actor known mostly for his role as the 7th Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ was contacted for the part of Bilbo Baggins and kept on the line for six months before Ian Holm was given the part.

Bilbo’s nephew and one of the protagonists of the story Frodo Baggins was played in the trilogy by Elijah Wood. Wood was the first actor cast in the film and beat out 150 other actors that auditioned for Frodo. One of them was Jake Gyllenhaal, who was relatively unknown at the time and (due to misguidance from his agency) submitted his audition using an American accent.

Frodo’s best friend and the heart & soul of the Fellowship, Samwise Gamgee, was played by Sean Astin. The character could’ve been completely different (and probably really bad) if one actor who read for the part, James Corden, would’ve gotten the part. Thank goodness that didn’t happen.

Another member of the Fellowship who tragically dies at the end of the first film is Boromir played by Sean Bean. One actor who was a fan of the books & expressed interest in the role was Bruce Willis. Another who was sent the script but passed, was Liam Neeson.

For the role of Théoden, King of Rohan, American actor Kevin Conway was offered the part, but turned it down. Conway isn’t quite a household name but had been acting since the 60s and worked almost up until his death in 2020. Théoden was instead played by Bernard Hill in ‘Two Towers’ & ‘Return of the King.’

The niece of Théoden, Éowyn is one of the few major female characters in the franchise and was played in the 2nd & 3rd films by Miranda Otto, who also reprised her role as the narrator in 2024’s ‘War of the Rohirrim.’ The role was originally offered to Uma Thurman, who turned it down & later regretted the decision.

Another one of the few female characters is the elf, Galadriel, who is played brilliantly by Cate Blanchett. New Zealander Lucy Lawless, known for her role as Xena, Warrior Princess, was considered for the role.

Rounding out our trio of female character is Arwen and love interest of Aragorn. Arwen was played by Liv Tyler, but another star who expressed interest in the part was Helena Bonham Carter.

Arwen’s father, the Lord of Rivendell, Elrond, was played in the trilogy by Hugo Weaving. David Bowie wanted to play the role, but Peter Jackson said that having someone as recognizable and famous as Bowie would’ve been ‘slightly uncomfortable.’

Penultimately we have Aragorn, the rightful King of Gondor, and all around cool guy. Two actors who were offered the role prior to production were Daniel Day-Lewis & Nicolas Cage, though they both declined. Stuart Townsend was then actually cast in the role and began filming before being fired for being too young. Russell Crowe was considered to replace him, but declined as he felt the role was too similar to Maximus in ‘Gladiator.’ Day-Lewis was then offered the role again, and again declined. The role then went (thankfully) to Viggo Mortensen who read the books on his flight, did some quick fencing training, and started filming scenes at Weathertop.

Last and certainly not least is the most well known character from the franchise, Gandalf. The character was played by Ian McKellen in all six films in the LOTR & Hobbit trilogies. Many, many well known actors were considered for the wizard. First was Sean Connery who declined because he ‘didn’t understand the plot,’ then Patrick Stewart who declined because he didn’t like the script. The role was then offered to Patrick McGoohan who had to decline due to health reasons, and Anthony Hopkins & Christopher Plummer also turned down the parts, as did Sam Neill. Richard Harris was interested in the part & John Astin (father of Sam’s actor, Sean Astin) also auditioned. Christopher Lee auditioned as well, but was deemed to old and given the part of Saruman. The part then finally went to McKellen who based his performances on J.R.R. Tolkien himself.