Anyone know why he originally turned down the part? and if he is sore because of it. Thanks in advance.

I dunno if he's sore about it, but what I've read/heard is that he kept on insisting to Peter that he was too young for the role and Peter finally took his advice.

you are thinking of russell crowe. it is alleged crowe turned down the part. townsend was originally cast, but after a few days on the set, PJ said they realized he was too young for the part.

i never really believed this as that is why one has make up people. i have a feeling their parting had more to do with artistic differences....whatever that means.

yeah he was casted
I heard it was townsend an PJ had differences in the interpretation of aragorn, the oh we decided he was too young was probably to avoid drama
They casted him, they knew how he was gonna look

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Movi....ap/index.html

Well I'm glad they cast who they did. Anyone big vigo as Aragorn would have made it a totally different movie, IMO. He was great for the role, and if it was Russel Crowe, then all 3 of the films would have been thought of as "Russel Crowe movies" by most people... I'd rather see less known great actors than big superstars

same reason why tom selleck turned down indiana jones. they just did.

Townshend was fired; he didn't turn it down.

Tom Selleck was set to play Indiana Jones but he was already in contract to play Magnum P.I. Much like Pierce Brosnan couldn't play James Bond (in the mid 80's) as he was already in contract for Remington Steele (which got cancelled shortly after).

I guess the key is don't get involved in a series that has a name that sounds like a gun.

They actually filmed a bunch of scenes w/ Townshend, but he came off too young and they fired him - Jackson says as much in the extars on the Fellowship EE dvd (though he doesn't give Townshend's name).

Jackson's first choice for Aragorn was Daniel Day-Lewis, but he turned it down because of it's huge commitment.

If I were casting the films, I never would have picked Viggo Mortensen over Daniel Day-Lewis, but after seeing the final product I'm glad things turned out how they did.

Had Russell Crowe taken the part, he would have immersed himself in the role, as he does with every part. You would not look at him and think "Russell Crowe" - you would look at him and thing "Aragorn".

Probably going to catch some heat for this, since Viggo did such a fantastic job, but had Crowe done these movies they would be even MORE powerful...the guy is just that good of an actor!

i also like using lesser known actors in situations like this. it would be hard to picture Maximus or the Butcher as Aragorn

I kept expecting Elrond to call Frodo Mr. Anderson

I completely agree.

But even moreso with DDL.

I cannot picture Russell Crowe as Aragorn. At all. I truly believe that if he had played him it would have ruined the trilogy for me. Viggo's performance in all 3 films is a study in subtlety. One of my favorite scenes with him came from the EE of FOTR, and it's when he is singing the Lay of Luthien to himself at night. Frodo asks him what happened to the lady he sings of, and just the look on his face when he says "She died", it just breaks my heart every time I see it. Russell Crowe could not have pulled that off IMO, and it's the little moments like the above mentioned that really defined the character of Aragorn for me.

Who's Stuart Townsend? Ahhh..who cares. PJ did a perfect casting for the movie.

Viggo may of been the last choice, but he is the defining role. He has the looks and the subtle acting skills to do it.

I think Viggo Mortensen was the best actor for the role of Aragorn because he is tall enough and has the right "rugged look" to look like a convincing Aragorn as Tolkien described him in The Fellowship of the Ring novel. Works for me!

oh brother, EVERY time i see crowe... on screen, in character, or at an awards show ALL i think is "oh look, russel crowe:"... [yawn]. the guy has about as many different characters as Jack Nicholson has over the last 10 years.

j

My thoughts exactly. I can only imagine that we would have seen some variation on Maximus if Russell had been Aragorn, complete with ridiculous English sounding accent.

Crowe would've been decent because he's a good actor but Viggo has been great in the role and I can't imagine anyone else playing Aragorn.

Thank God, they got rid of Stuart Townsend -- he was horrible in the movies I've seen him in.

Viggo was great, but the only person who would have been even better (or at least as good) would have been Daniel Day-Lewis.

If Crowe had done these movies even more emphasis would have been taken from the hobbits and placed onto the "Hollywood superstar".