The street to creating The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was a protracted and winding one. The casting course of alone is a wealthy story crammed with “what ifs” and “might have beens,” as iconic actors from Sean Connery to Nic Cage had been virtually thought of for roles in Peter Jackson‘s epic Tolkien adaptation. Jackson was significantly selective when selecting an actor to play Frodo, although. For the Hobbit protagonist, he wished a younger, comparatively unknown, and ideally English actor. However, Jackson nonetheless obtained audition tapes from actors world wide, together with some would-be stars. One in every of them specifically got here from a present Hollywood A-lister, who was nonetheless within the early levels of his profession when he turned in an audition so infamous that it precipitated the director to facepalm.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the highly effective One Ring and save Center-earth from the Darkish Lord Sauron.

Launch Date

December 19, 2001

Runtime

178 minutes

What Occurred Throughout Jake Gyllenhaal’s Audition for ‘Lord of the Rings’?

Again within the late ’90s, Jake Gyllenhaal was a younger actor recent off of enjoying the lead teenager in 1999’s October Sky. He recounts in an interview on The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon how, round that point, his brokers referred to as him with pleasure, telling him that New Line Cinema had simply green-lit Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and that the director was searching for actors to fill Center Earth. Gyllenhaal reminisces with self-deprecating humor how his brokers instantly thought he would make an ideal Hobbit.

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“The time of the orc has come.”

Being just below twenty years previous with a boyish face, small stature, and harmless blue eyes, Gyllenhaal did certainly seem like a pure Frodo. Nevertheless, the interview continues with Gyllenhaal explaining how he went in particular person to learn for the half and needed to act out a scene earlier than Peter Jackson. He describes the scene as having hardly any dialogue, however numerous stage instructions — together with Frodo choosing up the One Ring. Maybe unaware of the Ring’s significance within the narrative, Gyllenhaal carried out the scene casually. Within the Fallon interview, he reenacts his understated audition, pantomiming choosing up the Ring with seeming indifference earlier than asking Jackson how he did. Gyllenhaal then reenacts the director’s response of hanging his head in disgrace for the younger actor and facepalming. In a roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter, Gyllenhaal revealed his camp heard it was “actually one of many worst auditions.”

Peter Jackson Was Not Impressed With Jake Gyllenhaal

Gyllenhaal claims that the scene’s lack of dialogue led him in direction of ignorance, because the script didn’t clarify the Ring’s gravity. Nevertheless, he additionally shares that when he did a subsequent scene with dialogue, he as soon as once more missed the mark to equally hilarious impact. He explains that he did not do an accent for Frodo’s strains, regardless of all of Center Earth’s residents needing to sound English. As a substitute, the Southern California-raised actor performed the half in his regular, American voice. Then, after Gyllenhaal defined to the director that no person instructed him in regards to the character’s accent, Jackson allegedly suggested him to “hearth his agent.” Gyllenhaal laughs about how he received defensive over being a Hobbit, and jokes that he needed to be ushered out of the room.

The Fallon interview came about in 2016, and although Peter Jackson has not publicly commented on Gyllenhaal’s audition, the incident is referenced in Ian Nathan‘s definitive behind-the-scenes e-book, Something You Can Think about: Peter Jackson and the Making of Center Earth. Thus, whereas it’s attainable that Gyllenhaal embellished or dramatized the hysterical state of affairs within the interview, it appears there may be reality to the story — in spite of everything, Gyllenhaal shouldn’t be our Frodo.

Elijah Wooden Is the Good Frodo

The half, in fact, went to Elijah Wooden, one other rising American actor who was only a teen on the time. In an Esquire interview, Wooden revealed that his audition was not with out its personal eccentricities. Like most actors, Wooden didn’t audition in particular person, however despatched a VHS tape to Jackson. He carried out a scene sporting a wig and a makeshift Hobbit outfit and filmed the audition together with his buddies in a Los Angeles park, evoking the natural nature of Tolkien’s world. And sure… he placed on a British accent.

All of this charmed Jackson. Based on Nathan’s e-book, Jackson had solely beforehand identified Wooden for his half within the campy 1996 dolphin film, Flipper. However, Wooden’s stellar filmography, earnest appearing abilities, and intensely harmless appears to be like led Jackson to deem the younger American “the right Frodo.” After a few months of deliberation, Jackson gave Wooden the callback that Gyllenhaal by no means received, merely asking from New Zealand, “I used to be questioning in case you wished to come back down and play Frodo.” In fact, he did simply that.

Jake Gyllenhaal and the ‘Lord of the Rings’ Forged Made It There and Again Once more

Regardless of — or in some instances due to — all of the twists and turns alongside the best way, The Lord of the Rings’ casting ended up being near good. Every actor has develop into the picture of their character, and we will not think about anybody aside from Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, and Elijah Wooden making up the Fellowship. The identical could possibly be stated for Christopher Lee as Saruman, Andy Serkis as Gollum, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, and Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, too.

Issues didn’t fizzle out for Jake Gyllenhaal, both. Whereas he by no means received to play a Hobbit, his profession actually accelerated throughout the 2000s. The identical yr that The Fellowship of the Ring premiered, Gyllenhaal obtained reward for taking part in the titular disturbed teenager within the surreal cult thriller, Donnie Darko. In 2004, he would leap into blockbuster territory in Roland Emmerich‘s The Day After Tomorrow. Then, the next yr, he turned in his first and solely Oscar-nominated efficiency up to now, portraying cowboy Jack Twist in Ang Lee‘s Brokeback Mountain.

On the finish of the last decade, Gyllenhaal starred in DavidFincher‘s Zodiac, and all through the 2010s, he was in a position to work with esteemed administrators like Denis Villeneuve, Bong Joon-Ho, and extra. He additionally leaped into the producer’s seat for Nightcrawler in 2014, which by the way contained one among his finest performances. Lastly, though it wasn’t Lord of the Rings, he received the prospect to make his mark on comedian e-book fantasy motion pictures by enjoying supervillain Mysterio within the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man: Far From Residence.

Clearly, not enjoying Frodo hasn’t stifled Gyllenhaal’s success. Furthermore, in the identical Esquire interview the place Elijah Wooden recounts his audition story, he additionally pays deference to Gyllenhaal. He enthusiastically says that he is not shocked Gyllenhaal was on the high of the shortlist to play Frodo, and describes his fellow actor as “unbelievable.” As evident in each Gyllenhaal and Wooden’s modern interviews, every actor has discovered wholesome amusement within the would-be casting. Given how nice the Lord of the Rings motion pictures wound up being, and all of the fantastic performances Gyllenhaal has supplied audiences elsewhere, we will fortunately chuckle together with them.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is accessible to stream on Max within the U.S.

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