After some twists and turns, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy finally began to be re-released in Chinese mainland from April 16. This work, which condensed the author Tolkien's "life and blood", was also "saved" for many years before it was adapted into a movie by the then unknown Peter Jackson 20 years ago, when not many people believed that this work full of fantasy scenes could be put on the screen.
In fact, since the publication of The Hobbit in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings in 1954, there have been many people who wanted to make them into movies, but because Tolkien set quite strict adaptation conditions, these attempts have failed, such as Disney's 1939 attempt to integrate The Hobbit into the multi-story animation "Fantasia", in 1957, three Americans also intended to make "The Lord of the Rings" animated, and even the "Father of Star Wars" George Lucas wanted to adapt "The Hobbit" , but they all died because Tolkien did not agree.
By the 1960s, Tolkien was finally a little relieved, and the film adaptation was on the agenda, and even the most popular band of the time, the Beatles, was attracted, with John Lennon wanting to play Gollum. The first choice of the director is David Lane, who made "Lone Star Blood and Tears" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai", but he is busy with other projects, the second choice is Kubrick, but the master feels that this is an "impossible task", and the third choice is the famous Italian director Antonioni, and the old man also feels that the story is too complicated to start, so the film adaptation plan has failed again.
Lennon's favorite gollum.
In 1973, after Tolkien's death, someone wrote a 700-page adapted script but was put on the shelf, someone made a mediocre quality "The Lord of the Rings" cartoon without provoking a splash, and the live-action version of "The Lord of the Rings" was not dared to get involved — until more than 20 years later.
The Lord of the Rings animated version
Jackson relied on a 35-minute production special to impress the copyright owners and investors of The Lord of the Rings at the time, and after a long script adaptation and preparation, finally began a year-long casting.
Jackson's goal is clear: the main actors are mostly selected from the newcomers, and in view of the British cultural background of the original novel, the British actors are also selected first.
Among them, Frodo's casting was the most tortuous, and it was not until almost before filming that Jackson discovered Ilya Wood from a large number of audition tapes — although Wood was American, Jackson identified him at a glance. Years later, Jack Gyllenhaal revealed that he had also auditioned for Frodo, but his performance was terrible, and he was spat on the spot by Jackson.
As a fan of The Lord of the Rings, Bruce Willis was interested in playing Polomir, the eldest son of the regent of Gondor, while another "tough guy representative", Liam Neeson, actually received an invitation to star, but he declined. In the end, the role fell to Sean Bing, who is said to have wanted Bin to play Aragon.
Bin suffered a lot to play Polomere, such as when filming the snowy mountain scene, the crew needed to take a helicopter to the top of the mountain, but Bin had a fear of flying, so he preferred to hike up the mountain. Although the role is not much, Polomere's heroic sacrifice in the first film makes this role, and interestingly, after this, Bing always seems to receive a role that dies tragically, such as his other representative character, Ned Stark in Game of Thrones.
Orlando Bloom, who had not yet graduated from acting school at the time, originally auditioned for the second son of the regent of Gondor, Polomere's younger brother Faramir, who appeared in the second film, but Jackson felt that he was more suitable for the elf prince Legolas - what a wise decision!
New Line, the production company of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, had been willing to pay the first generation of 007 Sean Connery as Gandalf for tens of millions of dollars per film, but Connery refused on the grounds that he did not understand the story and did not want to stay abroad for too long. Christopher Lee, a super fan of the original and who has seen Tolkien himself, also wants to play Gandalf the most, but because this role has equestrian swordsmanship and other scenes, the elderly Lee can only turn to play Sajuman. Eventually, veteran actor Ian McLean became Gandalf, and he became the only actor to earn an Oscar nomination for the film.
Christopher Lee plays Saruman
Sir McLean cherished the role of Gandalf and would not consume the image at will, and he refused to officiate at a Tolkien-themed wedding – despite the high price he paid, and therefore refused to play Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series because "the difference between the two characters is too great to create another legend".
Aragon is the only character who has undergone a "role change". The day before the start-up, Jackson replaced A shot of Stuart Townsend (who was 27 years old at the time) on the grounds that he had not yet filmed, but had been in the crew for two months. And such "drama bones" as Daniel Day Lewis and Nicolas Cage have all been invited to refuse to play this role, and after Thompson was fired, Russell Crowe also received the invitation, but still refused on the grounds of "similar to the character in "Gladiator", and another "tough guy" Van Diesel was enthusiastic about this role, but was not favored. So, Aragon's final cast, the versatile Vigo Mortensen, was the last to be added to the group in The Lord of the Rings.
Aragon's lover Alvin was originally determined to play Uma Thurman, but she had to quit because the latter was pregnant, which she regretted, and it was later decided that it would be starring Liv Taylor.
Similarly, Jackson originally wanted Lucy Lawris (starring in "Warrior Princess Sina") to play the fairy-like Kailantril, but she gave up because she became pregnant after reading the script, and finally fell to the queen professional Kate Blanchett.
In addition, music superstar David Bowie once expressed interest in the role of Elrond, the elf king, but Jackson said: They really don't match!
Hugo Viven plays the Elf King
John Ries Davis, although playing gillim, is the tallest of the nine, about 1.85 meters (Mortenson, Bloom, and McLean are all 1.8 meters). In the film, Pippin is the youngest of the four hobbits, but billy Boyd is the oldest of the four actors.
A perhaps well-known tidbit about the actors is that the actors of the Ring Alliance's Nine Squad also maintain a deep friendship outside the play, with eight other actors tattooing the elven character "Nine" on their bodies: "Sam" Sean Astin and "Pippin" Boyd tattooed on the outside of their right ankles in honor of the days when they wore Hobbits, Bloom on his right forearm, McLean, "Meri" Dominique Monahan and Binn on their right arms. Mortsen was in his left arm.