As Aragorn Viggo Mortensen became world famous. To this day, the experience of working on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is probably one of the most formative experiences for the actor Even though he later received Oscar nominations for various roles, for many fans he is still primarily the Ranger and King of Gondor. This chance almost went to someone else. However, shortly before filming began, the role was recast.
Originally, Stuart Townsend was supposed to take on the iconic role of Aragorn. He even rehearsed and trained for months. a Day before shooting begins However, the film’s producers changed their minds. A decision that Peter Jackson apparently supported, as Townsend explained to Entertainment Weekly.
Still frustrated today: Stuart Townsend was replaced by Viggo Mortensen, who was almost 15 years older, in The Lord of the Rings
Losing a role at such short notice is certainly a tough fate. It must be even harder when months of rehearsals and training have already been completed. But one day before filming began, the producers had the feeling that Stuart Townsend, in his late 20s, was not old enoughto portray the wisdom of Aragorn. Instead, Viggo Mortensen, who is almost 15 years older than Townsend, was cast.
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This was a hard blow for the actor:
I have no good feelings towards those responsible, really not.
In addition, Stuart Townsend himself claims that he was not even paid for all the preparations.
I rehearsed and trained there for two months and was fired one day before filming began. After that, I was told that they wouldn’t pay mebecause I had breached the contract because I had not worked long enough. In several interviews, Townsend explained how surprising the decision was for him. For a long time, he could not understand it and was very frustrated. After all, this role would have possibly his breakthrough He has now made his peace with it, but he has not seen the Lord of the Rings films to this day.This is how things continued for Townsend after the Aragorn exit
After losing the role, Townsend has worked on a variety of other film projects. He enjoyed minor successes with Queen of the Damned and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but his big breakthrough in a celebrated Hollywood film has yet to materialize. He was last seen in Apache Junction in 2021.
Viggo Mortensen, on the other hand, became a global star as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and was able to choose his projects carefully from then on. It felt like an entire generation had a poster of him in the iconic role hanging in their room. Townsend can probably only dream of that.