Christopher Lee Really Wanted to Play Gandalf in LORD OF THE RINGS
Last year, legendary actor Christopher Lee passed away. He had the opportunity to star in some pretty awesome and wonderful films over the course of his career. His role as Saruman the White in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings is definitely one of his most memorable roles.
According to Jackson, Lee was actually more interested in the taking on the role of Gandalf in the fantasy epic. The director wanted him in the role of Saruman from the very beginning, but Lee really, really wanted to play Gandalf.
During a recent interview with EW, Jackson recounted the story of what went down when they met with Lee and what it was like for them throughout the shoot because apparently the whole time Lee was bummed out he wasn’t playing Gandalf.
“A very awkward 30 minutes followed, with Fran and I trying our best to explain to a rather peeved Christopher Lee that we were already talking to Ian McKellen about Gandalf — but what an incredible Saruman he would be!
“Chris wasn’t hearing a bar of it, and eventually commanded us to turn on the video camera so he could audition for Gandalf ... Eventually we confirmed Ian for Gandalf and officially offered Chris the Saruman role. We started shooting, and whenever we discussed Saruman’s scenes with Chris, he would always feel the need to say, ‘You must understand, Peter — he’s really not an evil man.’ He was carrying some heavy scars of Dracula of his own, and I felt it quite strongly.
“Chris also let Ian McKellen know that he had really been hoping to play Gandalf. At one point during the shoot, Chris said, ‘I’m perfectly happy to be in an ‘Ian McKellen film.’ Ian immediately turned to Chris, and with great affection he replied, ‘But not as thrilled as I am — to be in a ‘Christopher Lee movie’!’
“That was the bittersweet reality with Chris — while he regarded his cinematic history with a certain amount of disdain, everyone around him had the opposite opinion.”
Make sure to read the entire interview here. It’s worth the time, especially if you’re a fan of Lee’s work.