Russell Crowe's Reason for Turning Down LotR Role Is Surprisingly Noble
Russell Crowe is well-known for his roles in movies like The Nice Guys, Gladiator, and Cinderella Man.
One could say that in early 2000s he was among the most famous actors in the world, and he is not exactly obscure today, too. Of course, like any veteran actor, during his long career Crowe turned down a number of roles.
But one role he turned down probably would be a surprise to you. He willingly decided to reject a star role not in some trivial film project, but in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Certainly, at that point no one could have guessed that the trilogy would do as well in the box office as it did. But declining the role had little to do with doubts about its success. Crowe had a rather nobler reason.
Today it is hard to imagine Aragorn being portrayed by anyone other than Viggo Mortensen. But when the work on Jackson's trilogy began, several other actors were tried for the role. Stuart Townsend was cast at first, but eventually rejected due to his refusal to work out or train in safety and sword fighting. Russell Crowe was Jackson's next choice.
However, as Crowe revealed in an interview with Howard Stern, he felt that this choice was forced upon Jackson:
"I didn't think Peter Jackson actually wanted me on the film because I think he was forced into talking to me because there was a moment in time when everybody wanted me in everything."
Crowe said he believes Jackson had another person in mind for the role back then, and didn't really have an idea of who Crowe was or what he had done – which is not especially surprising, given that there obviously was a hurry to find another actor, and Jackson probably was under a lot of pressure, after his initial choice for one of the most important characters ended in a blunder.
"He should be allowed to hire the actor that he wants," Crowe explained. The actor that Jackson wanted, was of course, Viggo Mortensen. So, thanks to Crowe's largeness, Mortensen got to play an iconic role, and we got an iconic image of Aragorn.
Even now, knowing how successful The Lord of the Rings trilogy ended up, Crowe does not display regret about his decision to reject the role, and does not give much thought to what could have been.