12 Actors Who Almost Played Gandalf In The Lord Of The Rings Movies

Published Sep 10, 2026, 9:30 AM EDT Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic. Sign in to your ScreenRant account It’s hard to imagine the Fellowship of the Ring in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies being anything other than Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, and, of course, Sir Ian McKellen. But since the trilogy’s release, lots of near-misses and alternative LOTR castings have been revealed. Famously, Mortensen almost didn't play Aragorn, after Stuart Townsend was originally hired and went through two months of training and rehearsals, we know that James Corden auditioned twice for Samwise Gamgee, and Nicolas Cage was allegedly in-line for the role of Boromir. It’s all enough to make you even happier that the final cast was what we ended up with. Ranking how well those casting decisions worked out would be very difficult, to the point of redundancy, but McKellen’s Gandalf is such a key figure that he might be the most important actor in the franchise. The wizard bridges the relatively “normal” world of Hobbiton and the high fantasy realms of orcs, elves, and dwarves. And remarkably, McKellen wasn’t the first choice, and even when he was offered the role, he almost had to drop out. Thanks to his commitment as Magneto in the first X-Men movie - another equally important role that transformed McKellen’s career basically overnight - and a delay in filming, McKellen had to call Jackson and drop out, but as he revealed on his blog - https://mckellen.com/cinema/lotr/wb/030916.htm - that Bob Shaye, the founder of New Line Cinema simply refused to accept his withdrawal, and the producers managed to work out a schedule change. But if it hadn’t worked out, some big names were, at times, in line to play the iconic LOTR character. 9 Patrick McGoohan, Morgan Freeman, Sir Nigel Hawthorne, Max Von Sydow & Others Credit: MovieStillsDB During the early stages of development, before New Line Cinema was involved in the production in Peter Jackson’s long-gestating project, the director pitched the Lord of the Rings to Miramax, out of contractual obligation. As part of the earliest casting discussions, which saw Daniel Day-Lewis considered for Aragorn, the more Americanized approach led to Morgan Freeman’s name being suggested for Gandalf. Nothing came of that as Miramax’s Lord of the Rings - then a two-movie set-up - stayed stuck in development hell, and New Line Cinema came in. But no matter what company name is above the door, executives will always be executives, and the new producers reportedly had their own ideas on who to cast. New Line, somewhat predictably, wanted to have a big star name leading the cast. Swedish legend Max Von Sydow was floated, while Sir Nigel Hawthorne was apparently Jackson’s early preference, but he wasn’t able to commit due to failing health. A similar story led to Patrick McGoohan, the star of The Prisoner, who turned down the opportunity over the required longevity of the role. Those early discussions threw up some interesting names, but one above all else tends to dominate the discussion when this topic comes up… 8 Sean Connery MovieStillsDB In what might well be the most famous "what if" in Hollywood casting history, Sir Sean Connery was probably the biggest name New Line Cinema eyed for the role of Gandalf. The studio apparently pulled out all the stops to convince him to join Middle-earth, offering a staggering salary and a 15% cut of the trilogy’s total box office receipts, which would have netted him around $450 million. Not yet retired, Connery infamously turned down the role entirely because he simply did not understand the material. It was a stunning example of poor judgment, as revealed by producer Mark Ordesky “We did make an offer to Connery but he said no. We never got an answer until years later, but apparently he read the material and just didn’t get it.” To be fair to Connery, he later admitted that he eventually read JRR Tolkein’s book, the script, and watched the finished films, and his opinion didn’t change, even with 450 million reasons to regret: "I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it." 7 Patrick Stewart Credit: MovieStillsDB If there’s an alternative Gandalf casting that looks most like Sir Ian McKellen, on paper, it’s probably Sir Patrick Stewart. The Royal Shakespeare Company veteran had spent more than a decade playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and had both the necessary gravitas and the classical training to pull off the role. Even if a long grey wig and beard would have been a radical new look for him. Stewart actually met with Jackson directly to discuss the project and review early concept work, and while he reportedly expressed admiration for the director’s vision for Middle-earth, he declined the offer. Unlike Connery’s confusion, Stewart felt the demanding nature of the shoot didn’t align with his career aspirations, and he still had commitments to the Star Trek movie franchise. His X-Men casting being on the horizon may have further complicated matters, too. 6 Anthony Hopkins Another apparent Gandalf offer, and another knight of the realm. Several years after his iconic, Oscar-winning portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Sir Anthony Hopkins was another name high on New Line Cinema’s Gandalf wish list, for what would have been a very different role. Again, he had significant classical training, and like McKellen and Stewart had trodden the boards in Shakespearean plays a lot in his early career. Hopkins was identified as a powerhouse performer capable of bringing gravitas, and he would have offered an interesting edge of danger to the performance, but he reportedly politely declined because of the intense, multi-year production in New Zealand. Years later, McKellen claimed he was only called upon because Hopkins and Connery turned it down, but there's another interesting link here. When Mission: Impossible 2 was casting, McKellen was offered the cameo role McKellen revealed later of Mission Commander Swanbeck, which eventually went to Hopkins. McKellen revealed later that the tiny role would have meant we would have got a different Gandalf entirely, and all for a couple of days of filming: “I was offered it. But they’d only show me the scenes I was in. On those grounds alone, I turned it down. Had I done it, it would have meant I couldn’t do X-Men or The Lord of the Rings”. 5 Christopher Plummer The late Sir Christopher Plummer - another knight - was another esteemed actor offered the role of Gandalf directly by Jackson. A Canadian, rather than another of the British contingent of actors linked to the role, Plummer had amassed a career of towering roles over decades, including, of course, playing Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. After speaking to Jackson directly, Plummer turned the offer down, and later expressed some regret for having done so, even if his reasons were sound. Like Stewart and Hopkins, it came down to the commitment required to play Gandalf across the full trilogy, as he told Conan O'Brien: “I don’t know why I turned it down. I thought 3 or 4 years in New Zealand… I thought there were other countries I would like to visit before I croak. It was a marvelous part and I loved The Lord Of The Rings, I grew up on it actually. It is a great, great, great book and then it became a great film.” Plummer also said he didn’t believe he would have brought the same energy to the performance that McKellen did, saying he was: “absolutely marvelous in it. And he couldn’t have been warmer, which I might not have brought to it. I might have been a little cold and imperialist. He was warm.” Still, difficult not to feel some pangs of regret when something turns out so well. 4 Richard Harris By the time the Lord of the Rings trilogy ended, Richard Harris had already played a hugely popular, long-bearded wizard from a mega-selling fantasy book series, but it wasn't Gandalf. The Irishman was cast as the first Dumbledore, and appeared in the first two Harry Potter movies before his death in 2002. But at one point, he was also linked to the key role in Lord of the Rings too. Harris was sent the script and approached by the production team, he, again, didn’t want to commit to the filming schedule. In the documentary film In 2022, the documentary The Ghost of Richard Harris, Harris’ acting son Jared Harris spoke about his father and revealed the information: “Dad was offered Gandalf and Dumbledore at the same time, but he didn’t want to spend all that time in New Zealand.” Nothing much to argue with, especially as Harris was reaching the end of his life. Famously, Harris took on Dumbledore - a role he also almost turned down according to some reports - and when he died, McKellen was approached to take over. McKellen, who apparently didn’t want to play another famous wizard so close to Gandalf, also revealed that an insult helped his decision:also revealed "There was a question as to whether I might take over from Richard Harris, but seeing as one of the last things he did publicly was say what a dreadful actor he thought I was, it would not have been appropriate for me to take over his part. It would have been unfair." 3 John Astin You'll know the name, of course, because John Astin does still have a major link to the Lord of the Rings, having played a key role in a young Sean Astin's life, as his adoptive father. Having famously played Gomez Addams in the original 1960s The Addams Family television series, Astin is easily one of the more fascinating near-misses in the Lord of the Rings production story, thanks to that link. Speaking to the AV Club, Astin revealed that he knew both Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh after working with them on underrated 1990s horror gem, The Frighteners, in which he played a ghost. He revealed the efforts he went to in order to bag the role, to no avail: “I tested a few times for Gandalf. The last test I did, they gave me something out of the second book, and I studied it and came up with what I thought was a good interpretation of it, but it wasn’t at all what Peter and Fran wanted." He would have made an unconventional Gandalf, certainly, and it's positive to note that even with an existing relationship with the bosses, Astin didn't slip in as a nepotism pick, as wonderful as he is as Gomez. 2 David Bowie A long time ago, Michael Jackson famously campaigned to play Spider-Man, which might have led to the strangest big movie casting of all time. David Bowie, in stark contrast, was an excellent actor who just happened to also be one of the biggest rock stars in the entire world. And he had precedent playing a magical character, albeit at the other end of the moral spectrum, after winning hearts and minds as evil kidnapper and Goblin King, Jareth in Labyrinth. Perhaps fairly considered the least likely name on this list, Bowie's link to the role of Gandalf was something of a Hollywood myth until 2016, when casting director Amy Hubbard told EW that he had genuinely been in consideration for the role, and came in to meet with the cast and crew. He didn't, however, audition because he couldn't commit: “He was unavailable...It was a very quick conversation with the legendary Chris Andrews at CAA. I do believe that [Bowie] went over and played for everybody at the Millennium party. That would’ve been New Year’s Eve in the year 1999, which was when the films were being shot. He went over and entertained everybody, but he never auditioned. That’s for sure.” Confusingly, Dominic Monaghan claimed he actually saw Bowie during his own auditioning process at an entirely different casting agency: "As I was reading a magazine waiting, David Bowie came in and signed his little list and went in. I’m assuming he read for Gandalf. I can’t think of anything else he would’ve read for. He may have read for something else, but I’m a huge David Bowie fan, and I’m lucky enough to know his son. Just seeing him in person was pretty special to me.” as he told Entertainment Weekly in 2001 Ultimately, whether Bowie was available or if he actually auditioned probably wouldn't have mattered, because Jackson wasn't entirely sold on the idea, as he told Entertainment Weekly in 2001: “These are famous, famous characters, loved for nearly 50 years. To have a famous, beloved character and a famous star colliding is slightly uncomfortable.” 1 Sam Neill? Clemens Niehaus/Future Image/Cover Images And finally, the late, great Sam Neill. The only New Zealand native on this list, Neill was a fairly natural consideration for Jackson, particularly after his global star had risen so stratospherically after Jurassic Park. There is some debate over which role Neill was actually offered for Lord of the Rings, and his own reveal avoided specifics: "Interesting, isn't it? There's always conflicts. I was asked to do something good in The Lord of the Rings, but that conflicted with Jurassic Park III.'" An unfortunate downgrade, it has to be said. It's often suggested Neill was actually up for the role of Elrond - which, of course, went to Hugo Weaving - but he's also widely linked with Gandalf, which would have fit his heroic spirit well. And as for whether it really was Gandalf he was up for, before his death Neill charismatically refused to settle the debate: "No, I couldn’t say that, because that would make the person who played it feel like I was a prick." The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.