JourneywomanLord of the Rings - Where are they now?
July 4th 2007 15:30
One Trilogy Ruled The Box-Office!
It brought a grand revival to the works of Tolkien - all books even remotely involved with Middle Earth hit the shelves and the best sellers lists in increasing price and volume!
It also made stars of many actors and actresses who might otherwise have remained unknown.
Who, for instance, had heard of Orlando Bloom before 2001? Who knew the names Billy Boyd, Karl Urban or Domnic Monaghan? Who cared about the names of B-list actors Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Bernard Hill or John Rhys-Davies? Who outside of Oz really knew the names of such Australian talent as Miranda Otto or David Wenham?
Sean Astin - Sam Gamgee
Age: 38
Career before Lord of the Rings: B-movies and bit parts
Role in Lord of the Rings: Sam Gamgee of the shire
Career after Lord of the Rings: B-movies, bit parts, TV cameo's
Highlight since Lord of the Rings: stint on 24
Final Assessment: Corny lines and cute faces didn't help this Hobbit side-kick make it after... the destruction of the one ring destroyed his three years of fame.
Sean Bean - Boromir
Age: 48
Career before Lord of the Rings: Villains and anti-heroes in action movies
Role in Lord of the Rings: Boromir, heir to the throne of Gondor
Career after Lord of the Rings: Villains and anti-heroes in action movies - all blockbusters
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: The Island, Troy, National Treasure, Flightplan, North Country, Silent Hill, The Hitcher
Final Assessment: Sean Bean has almost always played a baddie of some sort and really did so again in Lord of the Rings - business as usual, the trilogy served only to up his fee.
Cate Blanchett - Galadriel
Age: 38
Career before Lord of the Rings: Featured roles and leads of increasing importance
Role in Lord of the Rings: Galadriel - Lady of Lothlorien
Career after Lord of the Rings: Leads, leads and more leads, an Oscar win and a concrete Hollywood career
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: The Aviator, Babel, Notes on a Scandal, The Golden Age
Final Assessment: This gorgeous Aussie elf already had a thriving Hollywood career, Lord of the Rings won her some extra exposure and reminded everyone just how sexy she was.
Orlando Bloom - Legolas
Age: 30
Career before Lord of the Rings: 1 Bit part and 2 TV roles
Role in Lord of the Rings: Legolas - you know, the hot blonde elf!
Career after Lord of the Rings: Featured parts and leads where a pretty boy was required
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Troy, Pirates of the Caribbean
Final Assessment: I know! He's 30?! What does he use on that skin? Though Bloom at first appeared to be the big winner of The Lord of the Rings saga, serial sex appeal clearly isn't enough. You have to be able to act. So far he is yet to prove that he can outside the genre of "pretty" action hero. He has one "rumoured" credit to his name just now and Hollywood specialists are apparantly telling him to grab what he can while it lasts.
Billy Boyd - Pippin
Age: 39
Career before Lord of the Rings: Dodgy bit parts in B-movies
Role in Lord of the Rings: Peregrin "Pippin" Took
Career after Lord of the Rings: featured parts in B-movies
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Master and Commander, On a Clear Day, Seed of Chucky, The Flying Scotsman
Final Assessment: As one of the cuter (and funnier) Hobbits and, with a decent part in Master and Commander to follow, he surely should have done better than this?! He has plenty of films in progress but nothing to scream about. Still at least he's working. This member of the Fellowship has clearly made the best of what he can get.
Bernard Hill - Theoden
Age: 63
Career before Lord of the Rings: Featured parts in movies of varying quality (did Titanic)
Role in Lord of the Rings: Theoden, King of the Rohirrim
Career after Lord of the Rings: Featured parts in movies of varying quality (did Wimbledon)
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Gothika, Wimbledon, TV's The Grid
Final Assessment: Business as usual. Hill was always good for an "older bloke" role and he has plenty of those on there way... including one called Lesbian Vampire Killers. Let's hope being King of Rohan for three years at least meant they upped his salary!
Ian Holm - Bilbo Baggins
Age: 76
Career before Lord of the Rings: Featured roles and occassional leads in... well you name it!
Role in Lord of the Rings: Bilbo Baggins
Career after Lord of the Rings: Featured roles and occassional leads in... well you name it!
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Garden State, The Day After Tomorrow, The Aviator, Strangers With Candy, Lord of War, Ratatouille
Final Assessment: Though Holm was already an Oscar nominated veteran actor, Lord of the Rings bought him exposure and a pay rise and set him up in some choice Hollywood real estate. Is he the real owner of the one ring here?
You all know this guy right?
Age: 46
Career before Lord of the Rings: Dead in the Water
Role in Lord of the Rings: Director, Writer, Producer and a few quick walk-ons
Career after Lord of the Rings: Director, Writer Producer, weight watchers
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Directed King Kong, he is also apparantly going to produce Halo the movie
Final Assessment: Lord of the Rings won this struggling director a swathe of Oscars, immortality as the mind behind a screen legend and the right to claim himself the director behind the biggest single box-office in cinematic history. As a result he could pick any project. Okay King Kong sucked badly in some places, but the overall effect was breath-taking. He hasn't lost his touch. Fans continue to barrack for him to make Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit but he has been busy for the last couple of years with something called The Lovely Bones... whateere! Just hurry up and give us another epic!!! There hasn't been a director like Jackson since Cecil B. DeMille.
Christopher Lee - Saruman
Age: 85
Career before Lord of the Rings: Everything! Literally everything!!!
Role in Lord of the Rings: Saruman the White (EVIL!!!) Wizard
Career after Lord of the Rings: Some well chosen but forgettable featured roles
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Star Wars III, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Pope John Paul II
Final Assessment: He didn't need Lord of the Rings. He's already a legend. This just made him a bigger one!
Ian McKellen - Gandalf
Age: 68
Career before Lord of the Rings: Shakespeare and period work mostly with Gods and Monsters and X-Men thrown in to mix it up
Role in Lord of the Rings: Gandalf the Grey/White
Career after Lord of the Rings: Some choice roles and some rotters!
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: X-Men 3, The Da Vinci Code, Flushed Away
Final Assessment: He could probably do better than what he's doing, but it really doesn't matter eitherway. He was a legend before Lord of the Rings, he is now an internationally recognised legend. He can have his pick.
Dominic Monaghan - Merry
Age: 31
Career before Lord of the Rings: continuing TV role and odd bad movie
Role in Lord of the Rings: Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck
Career after Lord of the Rings: continuing Tv role and odd bad movie
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: TV's Lost
Final Assessment: Google him and you don't go straight to his Lord of the Rings pics. He's doing well so far! Lost (though it gets kookier every week!) doesn't look like dieing any time soon so he should be around for a while yet. Hardly epic though is it if this is all a featured part in a hundred million dollar trilogy can do for your career?
Viggo Mortensen - Strider / Aragorn
Age: 49
Career before Lord of the Rings: Featured roles of increasing importance in some good films
Role in Lord of the Rings: Strider / Aragorn
Career after Lord of the Rings: two forgettable leading roles in two dull movies
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Hidalgo, A History of Violence
Final Assessment: Hugely disappointing! Given that almost every woman on earth was in love with him he should have done much much much better!!! The King may have returned, but Mortensen's career didn't!
Mirando Otto - Eowyn
Age: 40
Career before Lord of the Rings: Aussie movies mainly but nothing heart stopping
Role in Lord of the Rings: Eowyn, Lady of Rohan
Career after Lord of the Rings: Schmeh! She barely has one!
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: TV Movie Though My Eyes, War of the Worlds, Flight of the Pheonix
Final Assessment: Boring! This Lady of Rohan ended up losing the King and her shot at a movie career.
John Rhys-Davies - Gimli
Age: 63
Career before Lord of the Rings: B-movies and TV movies - forgettable all!
Role in Lord of the Rings: Gimli the dwarf - he was funny and gruff?
Career after Lord of the Rings: B-movies and TV movies - forgettable all!
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: The Princess Diaries 2
Final Assessment: We didn't care before the Rings trilogy, we don't care after! He can act but he really has terrible taste in movies! He's been in every bad movie since 2004 save For Your Consideration - and no doubt that was a close run thing!
Andy Serkis - Gollum / Smeagol
Age: 43
Career before Lord of the Rings: Minor roles and British TV-series - nothing memorable
Role in Lord of the Rings: Gollum / Smeagol
Career after Lord of the Rings: Bit parts, voices and giant apes
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: King Kong, The Prestige, Flushed Away
Final Assessment: No one really expected that playing Gollum would really help his career! It hasn't either.
Liv Tyler - Arwen
Age: 30
Career before Lord of the Rings: Vague featured roles in Indie movies and failed action flicks
Role in Lord of the Rings: Arwen Evenstar
Career after Lord of the Rings: Female leads in a series of disastrous flops
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Jersey Girl, Lonesome Jim, Reign Over Me
Final Assessment: Okay her role wasn't much, but she's hot! A Ben Affleck movie was seriously the BEST she could do??? Okay so she has The Incredible Hulk remake coming up, but surely being a hot, sword-wielding, King stealing Elf has more perks than the pointy ears!
Karl Urban - Eomer
Age: 35
Career before Lord of the Rings: crappy TV action roles and some forgettable fright flicks
Role in Lord of the Rings: Eomer - Rider of Rohan, Theoden's nephew
Career after Lord of the Rings: Featured roles in some muscle bound popcorn flicks
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: The Chronicles of Riddick, The Bourne Supremacy, Doom, Out of the Blue, Pathfinder
Final Assessment: Urban has at least managed to carve out a career for himself in the action/sci-fi/gore cult genre. He is by no means a star or even much of an actor but he at least rode the wave Sauron made when his eye popped at the end.
Hugo Weaving - Elrond
Age: 47
Career before Lord of the Rings: About every good Aussie movie since 1980, The Matrix trilogy was his first big Hollywood break
Role in Lord of the Rings: Elrond, Lord of Rivendell
Career after Lord of the Rings: Dark, powerful, anti-heroes in big budget stuff
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: V for Vendetta, Happy Feet, Transformers
Final Assessment: No Oscars yet for this talented actor, but surely Hollywood will eventually offer him something other than action puff? If his career in drama stays in the too-much-swearing-and-not-eno ugh- substance Aussie film industry then his Lord of the Rings stint may then be judged a failure. But not yet.
David Wenham - Faramir
Age: 42
Career before Lord of the Rings: TV and featured roles in Aussie movies
Role in Lord of the Rings: Faramir, son of the Steward of Gondor
Career after Lord of the Rings: Featured roles in some big budget stuff
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Van Helsing, The Proposition, 300
Final Assessment: He's doing pretty good. When you come down to it, 300 was really more about him than Gerard Butler. Van Helsing sucked. The Proposition was so brilliantly scary it still gives people nightmares and Wenham is presently making Baz Luhrman's epic movie Australia. Not bad. He may have lost his brother, his father and his throne, but he hasn't lost his career by a long shot!
Elijah Wood - Frodo
Age: 26
Career before Lord of the Rings: Child star, some good leads and featured roles
Role in Lord of the Rings: Frodo Baggins
Career after Lord of the Rings: Some excellent leads and featured roles
Highlights since Lord of the Rings: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sin City, Everything is Illuminated, Paris je t'aime, Bobby, Happy Feet
Final Assessment: He's done well enough. After all that ring-bearing and guy-on-guy inuendo with Sam Gamgee he had to deal with, he's gone on to carve out a decent career for himself. Elijah is yet to prove himself to be an independent box-office draw, but he's young, he'll get there - or at least he should. Okay so he starred opposite Lindsay Lohan in Bobby, but it surely takes more than that to kill a career!
Overall it could be said that almost everyone did badly out of The Lord of the Rings. A slate of actors had five seconds of fame. A few went on to grab an extra five seconds. A few got ten. Most of them crashed and burned or are in the process of doing so. Those who did stay "stars" after the quest finished had already been "stars" before it had started. David Wenham and Peter Jackson are really the only two members of The Lord of the Rings ensemble to see their careers made by their association with the trilogy...
Now there's something up with that!
Biggest disappointment? Definitely Viggo Mortensen!
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Miranda Otto did In my Fathers Den, which was amazing, again quality instead.....unlike Orlando with crap like Pirates and Troy.
Fun Post