BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?

Subject: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: michaelr
Date: 02 Jan 04 - 08:32 PM

In the Special Features on the Extended DVD set of TFOTR, it's mentioned that Viggo Mortensen joined the cast late because he was a last-minute replacement. Does anyone know who was supposed to play the role?

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 02 Jan 04 - 09:26 PM

According to a Google search for "Viggo Mortensen" "last-minute replacement" it was Irish actor Stuart Townsend.

Bruce

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Jan 04 - 09:49 PM

Because he looked too young....

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 02 Jan 04 - 10:13 PM

Not Mel Gibson?

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Peg
Date: 02 Jan 04 - 10:32 PM

I heard that   the   other   actor left   the set on the first day; so there was some sort of difficulty working   with him, it sounds like...

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: mouldy
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 02:35 AM

I think the difficulty may have been the sheer physical demands made by the role. He did walk out on the first day. I saw one of the "making of" bits, and I seem to remember something of that sort mentioned around the fighting/stunt section. (My teenage oracle/LOTR freak knows all about it, but she's away until tonight). I think he had some sort of idea that there wouldn't be so much fighting involved.

His loss, our gain.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: HuwG
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 09:55 AM

This, and other trivia connected with the film trilogy, are discussed in the IMDB page for "The Fellowship of the Ring".

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 10:07 AM

The 'official" party line from Peter Jackson and New Line has always been that very early on they realized that they had cast Aragorn "too young"...

That could mean that ST LOOKED too young to play Strider... or it could mean that he was ACTING like a spoiled little sh!t-stain and quit before he got fired...

I suspect it's a little of both...

As unimpressed with Viggo as I am, (Method actors are navel-gazing idiots!) I still count Stuart as a bullet dodged...

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Peg
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 12:00 PM

explain   in what way Mortensen is a 'method actor' (a term often misused by people who don't know what it is) or describe the ways in which his performance is lacking...

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 12:47 PM

Well, He's a method actor because that's what he calls himself for one...

But I'm not gonna bandy it about... suffice to say I KNOW 'The Method'... and I don't cotton to it... And I've hated working with them's that do...

and I'm not really much a fan of Viggo...

But that aside, I do believe he beat hell outa the cr@p fest "Aragorn" I'm sure S. Townsend woulda turned in!

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Peg
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 01:38 PM

it's kind of hard to defend a 'method acting' criticism leveled at a period film...because the sort of training and research an actor undergoes to play an historical character is part of an approach   that cannot, as a result, be fully dedicated to 'method' techniques...learning fight choreography to play a role is but one    factor which forces one to redefine this criticism. Same goes for learning how to move in period costuming, or learning a different dialect than what one speaks normally (all of which Mortensen did for this role).
Like I said, most people who think they know what method acting is don't actually know what they mean. It means quite simply preparing for a role by incorporating one's own emotional experiences into creating a character's responses. This is standard for any actor's approachh to performance. If it isn't, they're not doing their job, not good actors, or both.
the "method" is but one approach, and it is a very standard and effective acting model taught to virtually anyone who studies acting or directing   after   the 1950s. Not incorporating the principles of the 'method' technique basically would make an actor someone in the mold of melodrama or historical style...and that is clearly is not what defines the actors anyone considers "good" in this day and age.
Good acting incorporates a variety of approaches. I would hazard a guess that there is no one that anyone could refer to as a "method actor" these days with any accuracy, because EVERY actor is now trained in Stanislavski's methods....it is an idiomatic term that was fashionable for a time when this school of acting first made waves in the 1970s.

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 01:53 PM

"the "method" is but one approach"

And some take it way too seriously... for some it becomes the ONLY avenue they explore... and from what I've heard Viggo is one of those... And it's those folks, as has been my experience, who DEFINE the phrase "Difficult to work with"...

Like all things, it's a matter of interpretation... if it works for ya, cool... just don't be surprised when you meet people for whom it doesn't...

Omphaloskepsis just ain't my bag...

I recall the story of what Laurence Olivier said to Dustin Hoffman on the set of Marathon Man on the subject of "The Method"

"Darling... why don't you just try acting?"

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: The Shambles
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 02:53 PM

To me there was ONLY Aragorn in the film.

This probably demonstrates that it was a really fine performance by the actor - whatever method was being used.

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Cluin
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 03:17 PM

A minor quibble, but I thought Viggo was a bit too good-looking to be Aragorn... a character who was supposed to look fairly rough and "foul-looking", and unbelievable as a "king". The designer stubble just wasn't a convincing disguise, IMO. Especially with the cheap trick of having it become a full beard for the crowning.

But, as I said, a minor nit-picky quibble. I couldn't find fault with his acting at all, but then, I'm no actor.

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Peg
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 03:43 PM

actually, Mortensen looks a lot better with long hair and stubble than he does shorn and shaven and clean-cut...in Portrait of a Lady he has short hair and no whiskers and is referred to by other characters as ugly...

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 07:04 PM

" Mortensen looks a lot better with long hair and stubble than he does shorn and shaven"

Well Peg, we agree on that at least!

LOL

In "28 Days" he looked like his face had been made outa wax, and allowed to get a little to warm once or twice

"but then, I'm no actor."

Listen to him folks... I've seen him try to act sober, after way too may Dr. Peppers and he was lousy at it!

Hehehehehe

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Jan 04 - 07:18 PM

Never heard of the man before looking his name up in the cast list of Lord of the Ring. He seemed like Aragorn to me.

Myself, I think think most men look better with long hair and stubble or beard than they do shorn and shaven, but then I would think that.

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 04 Jan 04 - 02:21 AM

Viggo was in the Harrison Ford film 'Witness', playing one of the Amish men, with blonde hair and short stubbly beard. I watched it on TV the other night. Seeing him in LOTR a few days later, beating seven shades of crap out of the dark army was a bit of a culture shock!

Knowing what Hollywood is like with 'plain' actors in major roles, I was surprised that a better looking actor wasn't chosen, but having seen the energetic performance that Viggo put in, I'm vaguely impressed. How many actors would put up with having a tooth broken on set and not immediately scream for a lawyer, demand 3 weeks sick leave and the ministrations of an on-set dentist?

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: mouldy
Date: 04 Jan 04 - 02:50 AM

He was also in the remake of Psycho, playing the boyfriend.

The point is that, with him, acting is just one of the things he does. However good or bad people say he may be at it, he paints, writes poetry and music, and sings as well. He happens to make a decent living by acting.

Andrea

...and he definitely looks better without the bum-cleft chin!

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: The Shambles
Date: 04 Jan 04 - 04:33 AM

Do I detect a bit of the 'swoon' factor here?

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Metchosin
Date: 04 Jan 04 - 04:45 AM

I wish they had cast someone, anyone else, for the role, but not for any of the reasons given here. I personally, couldn't get past the fact that Mortensen is a dead ringer for my cousin, right down to the creases around his eyes. Each time they showed a close up of him in the movie, I was shaken out of my suspension of disbelief, while my brain processed the fact that that "this is really weird, this is not the kid with whom I spent my childhood". It was brief, but annoying enough to disrupt the continuity of the film for me.

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Peg
Date: 04 Jan 04 - 09:14 AM

He is also wonderful in A Walk on the Moon and the afore-mentioned Portrait of a Lady...

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 04 Jan 04 - 07:11 PM

Definately no swoon factor for me, that's reserved for the bloke who played Eomer.....


dribble dribble.

I'll get me coat off.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Peg
Date: 05 Jan 04 - 12:00 AM

I hear THAT, Liz!
Karl Urban (also seen in NZ film The Price of Milk with short dark hair...)

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: mouldy
Date: 05 Jan 04 - 02:40 AM

My daughter put my friend off him last night by showing her a photo of him in non-Aragorn mode. I don't mind him myself...something to do with bone structure.

For the same reason I also like to look at Johnny Depp.
You just know that with a decent framework underneath, they won't be the guys with the blobby saggy faces when they are older.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 05 Jan 04 - 06:42 PM

Ooh well if it's non blobby saggy faces you want, try Hugh Jackman (or Huge as he's known in our house) from the X men films....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: michaelr
Date: 05 Jan 04 - 07:12 PM

HuwG, thanks for that link. There's a lot of fascinating trivia on that site, and check out the "Goofs" page, too!

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jun 04 - 02:13 AM

Viggo I thought was an awesome actor. He did a wonderful job in creating Aarogon, and making him a name known in just about every household. This was his greatest performance yet!

Jessica

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 30 Jun 04 - 03:42 AM

Yup, there is a swoon factor here, and many polls taken (by myself with myself) determined that Viggo looked better with the hair and stubble. (As conversely, did a short haircut avec stubble suit better our Aussie friend in Gladiator.)

I have it on good authority (I haven't been to that site mentioned above yet) that Vin Diesel was up for the role of Aaragorn...so it was with great relief that I saw Viggo on screen, and a fine job he did.

And did someone mention Hugh Jackman??? SWWWOOOOOOOONNNNNN!

..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: LOTR: Who was to play Aragorn?
From: GUEST,Paul from Hull, sans biscuit
Date: 30 Jun 04 - 10:07 PM

Cant remember where I heard it, but recently I heard that Daniel Day-Lewis turned the part down (whether because of other commitments or not, it didnt say).

Soon as I saw 'Fellowship' though, I was of the opinion that Sean Bean would have woked at least as well as Aragorn as he did as Boromir...