Peter Jackson became one of the highest-grossing directors in Hollywood with his The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. While the ensemble cast for the films was a dream team, there were many actors who missed out on various roles. Notably, one actor particularly managed to irk Jackson with his audition. It was none other than a young Jake Gyllenhaal, who later went on to earn an Oscar nomination.
It was not Gyllenhaal’s lucky day when he auditioned for the role of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The Spider-Man: Far From Home actor revealed that Jackson called him the worst actor he had ever seen and even suggested he fire his agents.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s Audition Left Peter Jackson Upset
Jake Gyllenhaal appeared in an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he shared some of his less-than-stellar audition experiences. The standout story was his audition for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Gyllenhaal revealed that nearly 14 of his agents called him at once to inform him that the role of Frodo Baggins, the Hobbit, could be a career-changing one for the actor.
The Prisoners actor even jokingly mimicked the excitement of his agents when they told him about the opportunity. However, the audition was one of the forgettable moments for the Nightcrawler actor, as he miserably failed to impress director Peter Jackson. The scene given to him was Frodo finding the One Ring. Gyllenhaal described how once he finished acting out the scene, Jackson was facepalming himself in sheer disappointment.
The director called him one of the worst actors and asked him whether he was aware that he needed a British accent. In all their excitement for Gyllenhaal’s success, the agents had failed to mention perhaps the most important requirement for the role. When he said he didn’t know, the King Kong director suggested that Gyllenhaal fire his agents. The Source Code actor told Jimmy Fallon:
“He literally turned to me and said, ‘You are the worst actor that I have ever seen.’ He said, ‘Did anyone tell you you were supposed to have an accent?’ I was like, ‘No!’ and he said, ‘Well, fire your agents’”.
It was an honest mistake on the part of the Zodiac actor, as he eventually proved to be far from a bad actor. Gyllenhaal received an Academy Award nomination in 2006 for his role in the Ang Lee film, Brokeback Mountain.
Other Actors Who Missed Out On Starring In The Peter Jackson Films
Apart from Jake Gyllenhaal, Vin Diesel also faced rejection for the role of Aragorn. Diesel, who was an up-and-coming actor at the time, wasn’t a prominent choice with the director and the studio executives. Moreover, they had eyed Daniel Day-Lewis for the role, who declined the offer. Their second option was Russell Crowe, who also rejected the role due to his commitments to A Beautiful Mind, but there were also salary issues involved.
Another actor who turned down the role of the heir to Gondor was Nicolas Cage. The role eventually went to Viggo Mortensen. It was also reported that then-celebrity couples Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman were considered for the roles of Faramir and Arwen, respectively. Other notable actors who missed out on roles included Liam Neeson as Boromir, Kate Winslet as Éowyn, and both Patrick McGoohan and Patrick Stewart as Gandalf.
Elijah Wood eventually bagged the role of Frodo Baggins. The Lord of the Rings trilogy made a total of $2.993 billion at the box office. The films in the trilogy are now available for streaming on Max.
