To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, let’s take a look at what the actors have been up to since and what the future holds for Middle Earth enthusiasts!
The first film adaptation The Fellowship of the Ring, based on J.R.R Tolkien’s best-selling novel The Lord of the Rings, was released in 2001. Since then, two following films have completed the trilogy a few years later and a further trilogy, set in the same fictional universe, was produced from Tolkien’s prequel novel The Hobbit.
The epic journey of Frodo Baggins’ (Elijah Wood) quest to destroy the One Ring in Mordor, equipped with elves, dwarves, orcs and hobbits, is a visual masterpiece. If you haven’t already seen it or you just want to watch it again, grab some snacks and lose reality in this fantasy phenomena – extended edition only!
For me, film locations completely transform the viewing experience, and I was lucky to be able to visit some of the places from the franchise in New Zealand. Why not start saving for a trip next year or lookout for these locations as you watch the trilogy?
So what are the actors up to now?
Master Frodo – Elijah Wood
Since his debut in all three of The Lord of the Rings films, Elijah Wood made a brief appearance in the opening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as we discover how Frodo’s uncle first encountered the One Ring that Frodo must go on to destroy in The Lord of the Rings. Wood has continued acting, but away from the Middle Earth world. This includes providing the voice for the tap-dancing leading penguin of Mumble in Happy Feet and hand-stitched doll #9 in Sci-Fi animation 9, produced by The Nightmare Before Christmas’ Tim Burton.
Gandalf – Sir Ian Mckellen
An incredible actor whose career spans six decades! Mckellen appeared throughout in The Hobbit trilogy and most recently starred as Gus the Theatre Cat, alongside Taylor Swift, James Corden and Rebel Wilson in the new Cats film adaptation of T. S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. Support the theatre and arts industry and check out his portrayal of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Theatre Royal Windsor.
Hamlet is running from 21st June 2021 – 4th September 2021, find more info here.
Legolas – Orlando Bloom, everyone’s favourite heartthrob
Bloom reprised his role of elf Legolas in The Hobbit trilogy, but he is also well-known for playing Will Turner in the many Pirates of the Caribbean films – starring Johnny Depp and Keira Knightly. An understated series that Bloom made a recent appearance in, alongside a star-studded cast such as Jake Johnson (New Girl), Dave Franco (The Disaster Artist) and actress-model Emily Ratajkowski, is the Netflix show Easy.
Fact: Orlando Bloom was named a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador in 2009. Watch some of his work in Bangladesh in Season 3 of Tales By Light on Netflix.
Samwise Gamgee – Sean Astin
The true hero of The Lord of the Rings. Astin has since been seen in many films and Netflix’s Stranger Things. In 2004 he published a memoir, There and Back Again, where he speaks about his acting career, with the focus on his role in The Lord of the Rings.
Aragorn – Viggo Mortensen
Mortensen has most recently starred in Green Book, a film set in 1960s American South and one of my favourite films, Captain Fantastic, which shows you an alternative way of living.
Boromir – Sean Bean
Bean is best known for his part as Ned Stark in the popular series Games of Thrones. However, you can also find him in Netflix’s new Snowpiercer, an intriguing series about the last surviving humans living on a train and circling the globe.
Lady Galadriel – Cate Blanchett
Considered to be one of the best actresses of her generation, Blanchett has been in countless films since the trilogy including reprising the role of Lady Galadriel in The Hobbit, playing the character of Lou in Ocean’s Eight and Hela in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok. Her latest venture is the upcoming fantasy film Pinocchio, coming to Netflix soon.
You can find these actors and other leading cast members, such as Merry (Dominic Monaghan), Pippin (Billy Boyd), Gollem (Andy Serkis) and Arwen (Liv Tyler) in Josh Gad’s online web series Reunited Apart, episode One Zoom to Rule Them All: Reunited Apart LORD OF THE RINGS Edition. Here, cast and crew members got together last year over Zoom to raise money for charity.
Another thing to look out for is the Amazon Lord of the Rings series, which is currently filming in New Zealand. In 2017, Amazon bought the television rights and the supposed official synopsis of the series will date back to thousands of years before the events of Lord of the Rings. The announced cast so far includes Sir Lenny Henry, Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones, Behind Her Eyes) and Nazanin Boniadi (How I Met Your Mother, Homeland).
By Yasmin Turner
Feature image: CinemaBlend