The Luck of LOTR.... in casting

Peter Jackson got quite lucky!

While watching the first parts of the trilogy again, I'm paying close attention to the acting, and have come to this realization.

Guys like Elijah Wood and Sean Austin prolly don't exactly get too many calls to play lead roles as you don't have many movies that are based on overly short heroes and dwarves.

Also, it prolly is much cheaper to land guys nearing their 70's to play large parts in movies. So, you're able to get great actors like Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee at prolly quite decent rates.

Of course, with some luck comes some talent. Landing practical unknowns like Virgo Mortensen, Sean Bean and Orlando Bloom who, if nothing else, played their roles very very well.

Also, he did a good job of landing many UK and Australian actors for the trilogy which is key because
1.) Tolkien was English and thus it is very fitting
2.) English speaking actors seem to bring a certain "olden" feel to movies which you need in a fantasy setting

All-in-all my favorite roles from the trilogy, in all, are.....
1. Elijah Wood - Frodo Baggins
2. Sean Austin - Samwise Gamgee
3. Ian McKellen - Gandalf
4. Bernard Hill - Theoden King

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i think after seeing the final film (oh btw- did anybody hear about 'the Hobbit' hehe supposedly after KingKong maybe beforehand, but last time I checked WETA was laready working on stuff for Kong and they had already casted Naomi Watts as that Amy chick) i think that the cast wouldn't of worked without all those specific actors there. Each and every one of them brought a special thing to each character that blew away. I really don't care to get into what i think every actor did, as of that it would require me to type much more, but it was all brilliantly casted and nobody could of done a better job than what those actors did.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying too.

Just, with having to cast short people, they were able get some really great quality actors without paying the big money for someone like a Cruise or Reaves or Affleck or some big "box office" star like that.

When you consider the amount of people they had to cast for this thing, it was very fortunate that they were able to get guys who don't do many movies, mainly because of their stature or age, to do some of the lead roles.

They aren't that short. They used computer rendering and compositing to make them appear shorter. Elijah Wood has been in many films and I would be very surprised if he came cheap. If Ben Affleck was in LotR it would be terrible. Ian McKellan is a well respected actor that does not come cheap either. Not that it would matter, as the budget for LotR was absolutely massive. Really, do you think a persons height determines their pay rate? I would think the role would dictate the type/size of actor needed.

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Yea those actors who did a great job should get alot more roles since they have a gift of acting that not too much actors do.The only actess who I thought was horrible was Liz Tyer I don't think she can acted for beans but the rest and the movie itself should get award for there great acting!
I wish more movies did this with there because there are some movies who's acting is really bad I hate those kind of movies but my hat goes off for peter Jacksin who did a great job with his picking a nd should also get an award!
See you around!JM

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I actually thought LiV Tyler, whom I thought would ruin the films when I first heard she would be in them, turned out to be captivating. I read she had to go to vocal coaches and body language experts to prepare for the part and I also heard she put all her heart into it and really got into the role. For a neophyte actress, I think she shows potential, even though she is admittedly rough around the edges right now. I agree there are a lot of popular actors out there who can't actually act very well, they are just pop icons for whatever reason. Ben Afleck is a prime example here, uber-popular and a bum actor. Alas, Peter Jackson didn't pick any of the actors, I would think the casting person did. Watch the credits to see who this was. However, my hat also goes off to Jackson for a stellar directing job, which he did do

Cheers

Actually, Elijah Wood is 5' 6", so he's pretty short. (as I am 5' 7.5" and am short compared to almost every guy I know) And he has been in some good movies (The Witness, The Good Son, North) but that was when he was younger and still looked more the part. In fact, he was supposed to co-star with MJ Hart in Drive Me Crazy a few years ago, but the directors said he looked "too young" for the part even though he was about the same age as the guy the ended up casting.

And you're right, the role would dictate the type/size of the actor needed and there just aren't many "big" roles for actors that tall, thus these type actors don't have the resume of a Heath Ledger or Leonardo da-Crapy-O (good comparisons considering ages) as those guys are more your typical height and build of lead actors. And, with any job, the better your resume, the better your pay. It's just sorta the way of things.

Yeah I'll second that, Liv Tyler really suprised me.

But I do see what Putts is saying, I just think he was a little confused. By casting all these great actors that aren't every day names/faces(well they weren't before) it lets the actors BE the characters.

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Well, you’re a ½ inch taller then Tom Cruise… … Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan are both the same height as Cruise … and John Rhys-Davies who played Gimli is 6’ 1” …

And I agree with Sedia… Ben Affleck would have ruined LOTR…

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When I first heard that gimli was 6'1" it totally blew my mind, that is some good film magic in action there. Btw, who is this Sedia, is she cute

Mike Sedai

I think the casting was intentional. I don't think they wanted to cast actors who the public where too familiar with so they could give the film a bit more authenticity and allow for the characters to be a bit more beilievable without everyone automatically thinking, ooh, ohh, that's Tom Cruise.

Besides it was a massive commitment for any actor hired. From the beginining all three movies were intended to be filmed back to back. I doubt the very famous actors would be able to commit to such a length of time.

Regardless the casting was an act of genius.

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Ooops... sorry about that...

Heh,

No worries! Actually it's an Alias (the Sedai part, not the Mike) that I started using in cyberspace years ago after reading some of the earlier Wheel of Time books. Taken from the Aes Sedai. The first few books in the series are amazing, but it goes downhill after a while when he decided he wanted to keep making money on this one series....

Cheers

Ah… that’s why it sounded so familiar… I haven’t read the books yet but my brother is a big fan… Thank you for forgiving a very tired Caity who has a tendency to mess up once in a while…

First off, my bad about the Tom Cruise thing - unaware he's only 5' 7" (damn, he's a just a wee lil guy)

Yeah, that's sorta the point I had in mind.

Sorta the Star Wars ideal. When you have a bunch of relatively no-name actors, their characters define them more than they define their character. Of course, that can stereotype their acting career and keep them out of some other roles (e.g. Mark Hammel).

In the end, I hope Elijah Wood (and maybe others) win some awards for the job he/they did in this movie (ROTK).
The acting was exceeded superb and I don't think anyone else could've done it as much justice.

Just a thought what other movies has she been in?a
I was going to look it up but I wanted to ask you guys instead!
See you ar ound and thanks!JM

If there's any nomination at all for acting, I hope it goes to Sean Astin as Samwise, or maybe Serkis.

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Yeah, Sean probably did the greatest acting in there, I would have to agree. Ian McKellen as Gandalf was terrific too.

And Al Pacino is 5'6".

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Completley agree. Alhtough I am suprised nobody has mentioned Viggo Mortenson, who was actually not the FIRST choice for the role of Aragorn. The first choice was actually Sean Townsend, who ended up having problems with Jackson, so a week into filming, a time when most of the cast had already done about 6 weeks of training they called Mortenson up and offered him the part. He had less than a day to decide to do it. And he just did it. The way he immersed himself into the role is incredible, and after years of just being a relatively unknown actor he is now finally getting teh credit he deserves.

John Noble as Denathor was outstanding, everytime he was on the screen he made me cringe...

I think Liv made every scene she was in tedious, with the exception of the crowning ceremony.

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