Why Viggo Mortensen felt “unprepared” on the set of ‘The Lord of the Rings’
Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings was immaculately cast from top to bottom, but one of the most pivotal roles proved a great deal more difficult to cast than the rest.
The ensemble was locked in place by the time cameras started rolling on the mammoth production, with one notable exception. Having been tasked to play Aragorn, Stuart Townsend was giving his marching orders the day before principal photography kicked off when Jackson decided he was too young and altogether unconvincing as the heir to the throne of Gondor.
Understandably, the actor was furious at the last-minute decision. He had spent months preparing for The Lord of the Rings, but even getting to Townsend proved to be an arduous process, with Aragorn turning out to be the trickiest of all the key players to find.
Incredibly, Vin Diesel auditioned for the part, which would have been every bit as fascinating as it would be ridiculous, while Jackson’s dream candidate was Daniel Day-Lewis, who wasn’t interested. Nicolas Cage declined on account of family obligations, with Russell Crowe operating under the belief he was only contacted by the director at the behest of the studio.
By the time Viggo Mortensen arrived on set, The Lord of the Rings was already in full swing, leaving him struggling to play catchup. He devoured the books on his initial flight to New Zealand and took a crash course in stunt training and fencing, with his first scene being the duel on Weathertop. Hardly the easiest introduction, but it’s not even noticeable in The Fellowship of the Ring that Mortensen was the new guy.
As he inevitably admitted to Yahoo, “I felt unprepared”. Not only that but he was overcome with awkwardness, having “never been in the position of replacing another actor”. There wasn’t any time to dwell on either of those facts, though, with The Lord of the Rings having a schedule to maintain.
Referring to Townsend’s dismissal as “just a bad luck situation”, it was one that proved to be hugely fortuitous for his replacement. Mortensen was already an experienced performer by the time he was cast in The Lord of the Rings, but his performance across the trilogy elevated him to superstardom, with heartthrob status as one of the many by-products.
Every other member of the on-screen fellowship had months, if not years, to immerse themselves in Middle-Earth and get to grips with both their characters and the scripts. However, Mortensen still managed to show up on short notice, dive headlong into an action sequence, and make it look as though it was the easiest thing in the world. Things could have turned out incredibly different, but it’s impossible to imagine anybody else in the role.
