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The Lord of the Rings is by far one of the biggest achievements in film history. Peter Jackson's adaptation of the three books written by J.R.R. Tolkien have won a ton of awards and was highly regarded by critics. Though the Lord of the Rings trilogy was in trouble from the beginning. Viggo Mortensen was not the original actor cast to play the once and future king of Gondor. But luckily when he was eventually brought in, it was proven that the Lord of the Rings would not have been the same movie without him.
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The Lord of the Rings was a huge gamble for New Line Cinema in 2001
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They bet literally hundreds of millions of dollars to adapt not one, but three books into a trilogy of movies that would be filmed simultaneously
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If these films didn't work, they would ruin the careers of everyone involved
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And yet the film almost came out dramatically different because of a very different actor being cast as the now beloved character, Aragorn
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The Lord of the Rings, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, was originally published in 1955
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The trilogy of books originally intended to be a single volume is one of the highest selling novel series in history
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Tolkien's book series was originally set up at Miramax with Grant Walsh and Peter Jackson's adaptations
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However, due to behind the scenes frictions and Disney putting a cap on what Miramax could spin per picture
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Jackson and Walsh took the project to every other studio in Hollywood looking for someone to fund the epic production
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Only one person said yes, Bob Shea at New Line Cinema. In an unprecedented move, he said he would fund three films, all filmed simultaneously
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This caused Jackson and Walsh to have to prepare the films and cast the large ensemble of characters
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quickly but very deliberately. After the parts of Frodo and Gandalf, arguably the most essential casting to get correct
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was that of Strider, aka Aragorn, aka the once and future king of Gondor
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Unlike in the novels, where he's much more of a heroic archetype, Aragorn in the films is a man in emotional hiding
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He's someone who, over the course of the three films, has an arc. He grows into his ability to accept the crown of the realm of Gondor
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The man originally cast as the part was Stuart Townsend. Townsend gained widespread acclaim for his turn in the film about Adam
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This put him on the map with the US studios, and before he knew it, he was a star in the making
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Jackson wanted him for the role of Aragorn because of his intensity, brooding good looks, and youthful energy
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He wanted him to balance out Gandalf older more Shakespearean tone However New Line Cinema executives were concerned that Townsend appeared too young for the role that he would not be able to convincingly portray a man grappling with the burden of becoming king
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However, Jackson and Walsh were convinced that Townsend was the best actor for the role
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They wanted actors who were committed to their parts, who truly inhabited the characters as opposed to big movie stars
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The fact that the shooting of the three films back-to-back would take 18 months meant that the decisions held a lot of weight
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The back and forth between Jackson and New Line went so far as the studio insisting that Townsend do a full screen test
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before officially being given the part. The screen test was never publicly released
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However, it's been said that Townsend was flown to New Zealand, fitted for a costume, and filmed an entire scene as the prancing pony
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The only evidence that this ever happened is this photo. Unfortunately, things began to quickly turn sour
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As the rest of the cast and crew arrived, rehearsals started and tensions rose
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It became clear that Townsend didn't fit in well with the rest of the cast. It didn't seem like he wanted to be there
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His attitude worsened with every day that filming grew closer. He did not want to rehearse, he did not want to learn how to ride horses
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and did not want to learn any fight choreography. Reputable sources have repeatedly said that his constant refrain during all of this was
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you'll get it on the day. This even led to Sir Ian McKellen pulling him aside and asking him
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Do you even want to be here? Fool of a took. This conflict between Townsend and the production
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eventually reached a breaking point. On the second day of filming, while shooting the scene
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of the hobbits under the tree cowering in fear from the ringwraiths, Jackson turned to his producer
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and said the fateful words that would alter Stuart Townsend's life forever
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I don't think I can work with Stuart. By this point, the train had left the station. It was too late to switch actors
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And yet, they had to. Jackson felt there was no other way forward
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New line execs went into a tailspin They frantically made calls reaching out to agents and managers checking actor availability Ultimately three actors were the final contenders Jason Patrick Russell Crowe and Viggo Mortensen
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Jason Patrick was deemed not a big enough star by the studio. Russell Crowe passed on the opportunity
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because he had just done Gladiator and didn't want to be typecast in fantasy or period epics
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So it all came down to Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen was an outdoorsman, knew how to ride horses
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and was a trained swordsman. He was also familiar with the folklore that The Lord of the Rings was pulled from
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He was offered the part and literally days later was on a plane to New Zealand
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Lacking any time to prepare, he was thrown into the deep end. He was given chunks of the script to read, but was not allowed to see the whole part due to secrecy surrounding the shoot
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This made preparing for the role more difficult. He was also not given any time with the other actors
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His first day in New Zealand was literally the first day of shooting, unlike the other actors who had been around for six weeks of rehearsals and fight training
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In fact, when Sam and Frodo were sitting on the table at the Prancing Pony, and Sam says
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There was no Aragorn in the movie. They literally didn't know who was going to play the part
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Sam and Frodo were playing to an empty corner of the room. However, it would be later in the same location
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that Mortensen would embody Strider for the first time. The scene in the Prancing Pony where he talks to Frodo in the side room
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was the first scene shot with his character. Peter Jackson has even said that he doesn't think Viggo got the character down right
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He said he was obviously still discovering him. Thankfully, Mortensen was a quick study
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When they shot the fight with the ringwraiths at Weathertop, everything clicked into place
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Jackson said he could see it happening in real time. Mortensen was embracing the animalistic nature of Aragorn
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and fully embodying the character. The now iconic shot of Aragorn swinging the torch into the camera lens
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was completely improvised by Mortensen. That was the moment that he truly became the king of Gondor
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to the director and the crew When the film was released it became a global phenomenon as we all know Townsend he went on to quickly star in both the Anne Rice adaptation Clean of the Damned in 2002
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and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003. After those high-profile flame-outs, his career
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has never quite been the same. Despite marrying Charlize Theron and appearing in the criminally
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underrated TV show 13, Stuart Townsend's name has been one that's more or less been lost to
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obscurity. The lesson here is, when your big shot comes, meet it head on. Townsend appears to have
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been crippled by ego, nerves, and a combination of overconfidence and self-doubt. He got cast in
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arguably the biggest film franchise of all time, and if he had just been humble and put in the work
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and really tried to become a member of the team, he'd have a significantly different career
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However, it's hard to know those things when you're in the moment, when you're consumed by
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pressures and the tension of traveling halfway across the world. There are many stories like
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Townsend. Hugh Jackman wasn't originally cast as Wolverine. The part went to do Gray Scott
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who was injured while filming Mission Impossible 2, and, well, the rest is history
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He said he wanted me. Things move so quickly in the film business that everything is always in a constant state of flux
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There are so many ways that things can go. Some are actively malicious, and some are just
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happenstance. But the fact that so many now-iconic performances came from last-minute substitutions
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is almost incomprehensible. The most unfortunate part of this whole story for Stuart Townsend is
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that everything seems to have ended the correct way. Let's face it, Stuart Townsend doesn't look
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old or grizzled enough to be Aragorn. This was a concern from the start by Newland executives
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and they actually had a significant point. In the books, Aragorn is 87 years old. Yes
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the people of Middle-earth age slower and have longer lifespans, but are you really going to
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tell me that you buy Stuart Townsend over the weathered and worldly Viggo Mortensen
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For Frodo. No, of course not. Mortensen's gravitas and regality was key to making the three-film saga actually work
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