Your ideal LotR cast

[mark12_30]

Recasting Frodo and Merry: couldn't agree more.

THe names that pop up for me are Mel Gibson (as Frodo) and Kenneth Branagh (as Merry.) Or you could flip the two.

Why choose them: maturity, depth, gravitas. Humor beyond mere silliness. They've both tackled Hamlet (haven't you ever imagined Frodo pacing, ring in hand, debating to be or not to be...?) I also really enjoyed Branagh's Henry V.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

Are you sure you don't want Mel Gibson doing the
movie Strider speech in ROTK.
He could say something like:

They can take our lives but they'll never take our FREEDOM!

(And would that mean the good guys would all be painted
(unhistorically) blue?

And while it may seem a bit off the wall, how about
Michael Caine as Saruman? And Catherine Zeta-Jones
as Galadriel (cute, but tough).

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Tuor in Gondolin

Are you sure you don't want Mel Gibson doing the
movie Strider speech in ROTK.

Yes.

[Folwren]

Aragorn defenitely needed re-casting, but for my lack of movie actor knowledge, I haven't yet found a replacement. However, I will put more thought into it and come back later and say. Actually, off the top of my head, Sean Bean would have been great as Aragorn, but the problem is - he was excellent as Boromir. So keep Boromir the same. Give me time to think of an Aragorn.

I liked Merry, actually. . .but Frodo needed changing. Kenneth Branagh is an awesome actor, and he wouldn't have been a bad Frodo. . .that seems like a good idea, Helen!

I'll be back later to edit the post (or add one, maybe) with who I think should have done Aragorn.

-- Folwren

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Folwren

Sean Bean would have been great as Aragorn, but the problem is - he was excellent as Boromir.

He was. There it is.

In the same vein-- Christopher Lee was excellent as Saruman, but I would have preferred him as Gandalf. Gravitas again.

Are we recasting as Book characters? Or just redoing movie characters? If we are trying to find a book-Aragorn, that'll take some thought.

I wonder... Richard Dean Anderson (Stargate) is rattling around the edges of my mind, but I'm not sure who to cast him as.

[Folwren]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

Are we recasting as Book characters? Or just redoing movie characters? If we are trying to find a book-Aragorn, that'll take some thought.

In my mind, I'm recasting Book characters. The movie Aragorn was. . .lacking. If only because of the casting of him.

Okay, I've got a fellow. And I have thought of him more than once, and don't understand how I could forget when I first posted here. Liam Neesen, the chap who played in Star Wars I. He play Qui Gon rather well, and I think that that character is very much like Aragorns - laid back, quiet, calm, but noble and wise. I would get you a picture, but I can't find a decent one of him out of costume, and I've a vague feeling that most people know who I'm talking about.

And, Tigerlilly, lots of people liked Viggo as Aragorn. Loved him as it. But I don't think that he filled the part properly. He wasn't kingly. But, of course, that's only my (and my family's) opinion. You may disagree, and many people will, and I can't change the fact that he did Aragorn's part.

-- Folwren

[Lalaith]

Hmmm...Branagh and Gibson are a bit too old for (human years) thirtysomething hobbits.
What about David Tennant for Merry?

Folwren - we're thinking along the same lines, I thought Sean Bean would have been quite a good Aragorn and I thought of Liam Neeson as well. But then I thought, Bean wasn't quite noble enough, Neeson not quite intellectual enough. It's a sod of a part to cast....