This story may surprise you: Sir Ian McKellen was not the first choice to play Gandalf. Currently, no one could imagine the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy without his magnificent presence.
From Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter or Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen in Twilight, there are roles that would be practically impossible to imagine with a different face. One more to be added to the list is the character of Sir Ian McKellen in The Lord of the Rings. For three films, which were released from 2001 to 2003, McKellen played one of the most powerful wizards in the universe created by JRR Tolkien. However, the X-Men actor was not the first choice to bring the iconic character to life.
For many years, The Lord of the Rings was thought to be a film that was almost impossible to bring to the big screen. All that changed when Peter Jackson raised his hand to show that he would be in charge of showing the public the wonderful world imagined by Tolkien. The initial planning of the project was very different from the final result, especially since McKellen was far behind other actors before playing the powerful and wise Gandalf. As the British actor revealed to Variety magazine, the producers of The Lord of the Rings asked other actors before him.
As the professional that he is, the protagonist of The Da Vinci Code understands that in life you cannot always be the first option, just as happened in the film directed by Peter Jackson. “I don’t think you can always be the first choice,” were the words of the actor, who is realistic about the possibilities of getting a role on the first try. Surprisingly, two of the preferred candidates to be Gandalf were Anthony Hopkins and Sean Connery. Just the fact that we are sharing a place on the same list as the actors from The Silence of the Lambs and The Extraordinary League should be considered a great achievement.
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“I certainly wasn’t the first choice for Gandalf. Tony Hopkins turned down (the role) and Sean Connery certainly did too,” McKellen said of the fact that he was the one who took on the character. “Now everyone is coming out of hiding and I hope they feel stupid!” the actor joked about the fact that the Lord of the Rings trilogy was a success, and his character became one of the most dear ones.
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As for Connery, who sadly passed away in 2020, it is known that he was very upset after refusing the role, and as for Hopkins, he has never said anything about The Lord of the Rings. And speaking of saying no to a character, Sir Ian McKellen has remained firm to his iconic character, rejecting any proposal that involves playing another great wizard again after Gandalf once again positioned him as an unmatched actor.
2023-09-15 23:27:09
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