Peter Jackson’s iconic The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is probably one of the greatest trilogy ever made. Starring an ensemble cast of several actors and a thousand extras, Jackson had an ambitious project on his hands.
During the auditioning of the film, MCU star Jake Gyllenhaal also auditioned for the role of a Hobbit in the film. Not putting effort into his acting and not doing a British accent, Peter Jackson had some harsh words for Gyllenhaal back in the day!
Peter Jackson Had Some Harsh Advice For Jake Gyllenhaal!
Starring Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Sir Ian McKellen, and several others in lead roles, The Lord of the Rings was quite something to witness. With the production being chaotic with several hundred extras as Uruk-hai or Orcs, the project was a nightmare.
But it wasn’t the case for Peter Jackson who had faith in himself for being a veteran director. During the audition of the actors, Jake Gyllenhaal got a call from 14 agents about his chance to work with Jackson! Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the MCU actor revealed how he bombed his auditions in front of Peter Jackson and the director’s reaction to Gyllenhaal.
“I got a call from like 14 agents. They were all so excited, and when agents are excited, it’s intense. So they were like, ‘Oh guess what? They’re making The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson’s making it, it’s gonna be three movies over three-and-a-half years, and when they said they need a hobbit, we thought, ‘Jake!’ I was like, ‘Thank you?’”
Gyllenhaal further continued,
“Then I had a scene with lines, and everyone has a British accent in that, but I didn’t do an accent, and Peter Jackson literally turned to me like, ‘You are the worst actor that I have ever seen,’”
However, this wasn’t the end of the matter since when Gyllenhaal revealed that he got the same casting call from 14 agents, Peter Jackson simply remarked that he should “Fire his agents“!
Peter Jackson Advised Jake Gyllenhaal To Fire His Agents!
Since the actor had got a call from 14 different agents, no one told him that he had to do a British accent in the scene. With Gyllenhaal doing his usual American accent in front of Peter Jackson, the director had some sound advice for the MCU actor.
“He was like, ‘Did anyone tell you you were supposed to do an accent?’ I was like, ‘No.’ He was like, ‘Fire your agents.’ But they were so excited!”
Well, with rumors that Gyllenhaal would have almost become Frodo, it was Elijah Wood who took the trophy home. Spanning three years and three films to his name, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings franchise took home a total of 17 Oscars across three films.
The Lord of the Rings franchise is available to stream on Max in the U.S.
