Jake Gyllenhaal's LotR Audition Was So Awful, Peter Jackson Told Him To Fire His Agents
There are times when even the most talented actors do not get the role of their life.
Summary:
- Jake Gyllenhaal has a large number of prominent roles among his acting achievements, but the actor missed very important one – Frodo in The Lord of the Rings.
- During the audition, Jake was unaware of the significance of the Ring and treated it as an ordinary trinket, which Peter Jackson did not like.
- In addition, Jake spoke with an American accent, while Peter Jackson required the actors to speak with a British accent.
- Gyllenhaal's audition was so disappointing to Jackson that he called him one of the worst actors to ever audition for a role in his movie and advised him to fire his agents.
Jake Gyllenhaal's list of acting credits is so diverse that everyone can have their own Jake Gyllenhaal. For some, he is Mysterio from the Spider-Man franchise, for others the sad cowboy from Brokeback Mountain, and for the movie buffs he will always be that strange guy from Donnie Darko.
Jake Gyllenhaal Auditioned for The Role of Frodo Baggins
Jake also could have been Frodo from The Lord of the Rings, but he failed the audition miserably. Yes, it's hard to imagine an actor as talented and versatile as Gyllenhaal failing an audition, but perhaps the reason was Jake's young age – he was only 19 years old at the time.
Jake shared that one day he received a call from an agent who excitedly told him that a Lord of the Rings movie was greenlit, directed by none other than Peter Jackson himself, and he needed a perfect Frodo. And young Jake, with his piercing blue eyes, looked like the main candidate for the role of the brave Hobbit.
Gyllenhaal's LotR Audition Went Horribly Wrong
This time, however, the actor's perfectly fitting appearance was not enough. Jake shared that his scene had almost no dialogue and he had to interact mostly with the Ring.
When Peter Jackson asked him to take the ring out of the box, Jake walked over and casually picked it up, as if it were not an artifact of limitless power, but an ordinary one-dollar piece of jewelry. This was the first, but unfortunately not the last failure of this audition.
Peter Jackson required all actors auditioning to speak with a British accent, which Gyllenhaal was unaware of, and played the entire scene with his usual American accent. This infuriated Jackson so much that he said that Jake was one of the worst actors to ever audition for his films and advised him to fire all his agents.
Whether or not Jake Gyllenhaal has listened to Jackson's advice is still a mystery.
Elijah Wood Was The Perfect Frodo, And Gyllenhaal's Failure Proves It
In 1999, it was announced who would play the role of Frodo, and the choice was not unexpected. Elijah Wood simply fit the description of the hero once given by the author of the trilogy – a man with big blue eyes and an elfish appearance. Wood's reputation as one of the most experienced young actors in Hollywood only contributed to him being chosen for the part.
The actor persuaded his friend, who was a director, to give him a screen test as Frodo. The video was a success: Elijah Wood sent it to the director in New Zealand, and Jackson agreed to audition the young talent. And after the meeting, he had no doubt that they had found their lead actor.