It’s hard to imagine a world where the original Lord of the Rings cast didn’t get their respective parts in the adventure movie saga. The likes of Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, and Viggo Mortensen are all so good, that we dread to think what the Lord of the Rings movies would be like had James Corden succeeded in his audition for a role.
There are so many iconic Lord of the Rings characters in the series, but a large part of their success is down to the fantastic actors bringing them to life. The first three films from Middle Earth are widely considered some of the best movies of all time, but what if the casting process had led to different decisions?
In an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Corden detailed his failed auditions for the fantasy movie.
“Every single person in London auditioned for The Lord of the Rings. Everybody. I auditioned for Samwise. I was doing it! The accent and everything! ‘Mr Frodo!'” Corden explained. It was one of his first major film auditions, and the actor described his audition as “not good.”
“Two of my other friends went in and we all got called back the next day, and then we got called back the next day. And then none of us got called back after that,” he added.
All’s well that ends well, though. Sean Astin was incredible in the role of Samwise, and we wouldn’t want anyone else to take on that character. As for Corden, he would go on to great success with comedy series like Gavin and Stacey, and also bag film roles for himself, like in the musical Cats.
If you like The Lord of the Rings, check out our guide to the Rings of Power season 2 release date or dive into our list of five characters we want to see in The Rings of Power season 2.