Long before Vin Diesel headlined Fast and The Furious, he was in the running to star in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Via: TheThings

Back when New Line Cinemas decided to produce three Lord of the Rings movies at the same time, it is hard to overstate how risky that was. Not only did the three films have to live up to the expectations that had been built up for decades, the movies were directed by Peter Jackson who’d mostly made low-budget movies at that time.

Thankfully for everyone involved, fans loved the Lord of the Rings movies and everyone knows they were hugely successful. Part of the reason for that is that lots of actors were dying to star in the franchise even though the cast was paid relatively little.

Since there were so many actors who wanted to star in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was impossible for them all to make the cut. Unfortunately for one of the biggest movie stars of the modern era, their attempt to land a role in the LotR movies utterly failed.

Why Vin Diesel Failed To Land A Role In The Lord Of The Rings Movies

Over more than two decades, the Fast and Furious film franchise has become one of the highest-grossing film series of all time. If that wasn’t impressive enough, there are still plans for the series to continue, so the franchise’s box office returns will only continue to rise.

Over the years, many huge stars have made their mark on the Fast and Furious franchise. After all, stars like Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Helen Mirren, and Charlize Theron have all starred in Fast films.

Via: Instar

Despite all of those famous actors, there is little doubt that Vin Diesel is the Fast and Furious franchise’s main star. As it turns out, however, things easily could have played out very differently.

Even though he often doesn’t come across this way, it turns out that Diesel is proud of his nerdy passions including playing Dungeons and Dragons. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that Diesel arranged to audition for the Lord of the Rings movies.

At the time that Diesel auditioned for the Lord of the Rings, his reputation was built on roles in drama films like Saving Private Ryan and the indie movie Multi-Facial. As a result, it makes sense that Diesel was considered for the role of Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movies.

In the past, Peter Jackson has called Diesel’s Lord of the Rings audition “very compelling”. However, Jackson explained he passed on Diesel for the role because Vin didn’t “feel like Aragorn” to the famed director.

If Diesel got the Lord of the Rings role, it is fascinating to think about how different film history would be. The reason for that is when Diesel was busy filming The Fast and the Furious, Viggo Mortensen was in New Zealand working on the Lord of the Rings movies.

What Famous Actors Missed Out On Lord Of The Rings Roles

As fascinating as it is to know that Vin Diesel was in serious contention to star in the Lord of the Rings movies, it turns out that is just a drop in the bucket. A long list of other actors were also up for roles in the legendary movie trilogy which made a fortune at the box office.

Easily the most talked about near-miss Lord of the Rings casting choice is Sean Connery. While Connery absolutely is an acting legend, the fact that he was asked to play Gandalf is pretty amazing since it is hard to imagine the wizard with a Scottish accent.

When Connery passed on the role, that opened the door for Ian McKellen but not before his close friend Patrick Stewart was considered by director Peter Jackson. David Bowie also reportedly was in the running to play either Gandalf or Elrond.

Just like Vin Diesel was considered to play Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movies, several other celebrities were considered for the character. Some of those actors include Nicolas Cage, Stuart Townsend, and Daniel Day-Lewis.

Some of the other actors who could have been part of the franchise include Kate Winslet, Lucy Lawless, Ethan Hawke, Warwick Davis, Sam Neill, Uma Thurman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Liam Neeson.

Of course, all of those actors are exceptionally talented. On top of that, Winslet’s debut film was helmed by the director of the Lord of the Rings films. With all of that in mind, it isn’t surprising that they all were considered for the franchise.

On the other hand, considering how close the Lord of the Rings trilogy’s stars became, it is easy to see how disruptive any casting changes could have been.

Source: thethings.com