Russell Crowe has explained why he turned down the role of Aragorn in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
The Oscar-winning actor was among those considered to play the iconic character in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, though the part eventually went to Viggo Mortensen – who himself replaced original casting Stuart Townsend.
Speaking for a fan question segment for British GQ, Crowe was asked whether he regretted turning down the franchise, the star replying: “I don’t actually. I was a big Tolkien reader when I was a kid, so I got quite excited by the idea of Lord Of The Rings.
“But I very much felt the studio were making that decision, not the film director,” he added. “And I talked to Peter Jackson over the phone, and he wasn’t saying the sort of things that directors were saying to you if they were really trying to attract you to a project.
“And I just kind of got a sense that he already had somebody else in mind that he wanted to do. And me stepping forward and saying yes was actually going to get in his way.”
Crowe went on to note the “nuance” in their conversation, both being from New Zealand, continuing: “I knew in his own way without him saying anything negative, that he had another plan. So I just left it at that.”
The Lord Of The Rings franchise is set to continue in a number of new Middle Earth projects, recently confirmed by Warner Bros., starting with a 2026 film tentatively titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
The film will focus on the iconic character from the original trilogy, with Andy Serkis expected to return to star as well as direct. Jackson will produce alongside Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh.
Mortensen recently addressed whether he would return as Aragorn for the film, telling GQ: “I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard. Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually.
“I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot. I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth. I would only do it if I was right for the character. It would be silly to do it otherwise.”
Gandalf actor Ian McKellen also weighed in on his own character returning, telling the Sunday Times he would consider it “if I’m alive”.