Think about strolling into an audition for The Lord of the Rings, considering you’ve received it within the bag. Now think about you’re Jake Gyllenhaal, and also you’re about to make Peter Jackson facepalm. Yep, that occurred.
Again within the late ‘90s, Jackson was on the lookout for his Frodo, somebody younger, recent, and ideally English. Enter Gyllenhaal. Contemporary off October Sky, this boyish-eyed actor appeared like an ideal Hobbit candidate. However when it was time for an audition, Gyllenhaal missed the memo on one essential element: Frodo ain’t your common carefree teen.
Gyllenhaal’s audition, as he hilariously alluded to The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon, was… nicely, let’s say “informal” isn’t the phrase Jackson hoped for. He strolled in, casually picked up the One Ring, and acted like he was choosing up a rock within the Shire. No drama, no pressure, only a nonchalant wave.
Jackson’s response was priceless as he mimed the scene along with his laid-back angle. “Actually one of many worst auditions,” Gyllenhaal later asserted in a roundtable, recalling Jackson’s facepalm second with a vivid cringe.
Now, Gyllenhaal was no unhealthy actor. He simply wasn’t, you recognize, Frodo. The burden of the Ring? Not a care. However Jackson wasn’t about to accept a “meh” Frodo. This was Center-earth, child.
Whereas Gyllenhaal was busy being… nicely, Gyllenhaal, Jackson had his eyes on another person: Elijah Wooden. Wooden wasn’t simply the precise top or look; he received the soul of Frodo. It’s not nearly wanting doe-eyed and harmless—it’s about having the ability to carry the emotional weight of carrying the freaking One Ring throughout a continent. And that’s one thing Wooden may pull off in his sleep.
Frodo’s journey wasn’t nearly strolling by way of Center-earth. It was about rising, struggling, and being examined in methods no strange Hobbit may. Wooden’s Frodo is a personality with grit, vulnerability, and quiet energy, taking us from Shire to Mordor with out ever shedding the essence of who Frodo is. It’s no marvel that, regardless of the stiff competitors, Wooden grew to become the enduring Frodo followers nonetheless adore right now.
In the meantime, Gyllenhaal’s facepalmed audition grew to become simply one other legendary Lord of the Rings casting story. A enjoyable little “what if” within the grand timeline of epic auditions that would have gone both means. However ultimately, we received Wooden, and Frodo was without end sealed in popular culture because the candy, robust, and surprisingly heroic Hobbit everyone knows and love.
And Gyllenhaal? He laughed about it, changing into greater than only a humorous anecdote—he finally discovered his legendary roles (Donnie Darko, anybody?). However that Frodo gig? Yeah, that ring was by no means meant to be his.
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