[Eurytus]

On the removal of Saruman I will admit that of all the changes that PJ has made to the books this is the one that worries me the most. However I think I will trust PJ until shown otherwise.<P>As for Christopher Lee's reaction. Well I'd start by saying that Lee is one of my favourite actors. He has been superb in the films and I loved him in Sleepy Hollow and back in the Hammer Films and The Wicker Man. A class actor all the way.<BR>However his reaction is to be expected from an actor. After all their primary concern is that all their scenes be up there on the finished work. Other actors have faired far worse including Johnny Depp being cut pretty much totally out of Platoon.<BR>So I would expect Lee to be upset. However PJ's concern is not any one actor but the overall films. That being the case he is entitled to make any change he feels necessary and does not need to feel concerned about his actors reactions.<BR>And moreover I think that Christopher Lee has done OK out of the films. If you view the first two films, especially FOTR, then Saruman's part has been bulked up already in terms of screen time. He features a lot more in FOTR than he does in the book where he is off stage at all times and only appears in one flashback at the Council of Elrond. He then appear once in the Two Towers and twice in the ROTK. So overall I do not think his part has been overally poorly treated when taken over all the films to date.<P>And I am sure that he will come out of the EE OK.