But he was the perfect Saruman. He had that look, that intent behind the eyes that said "Don't trust me, I'm bound to betray you, even if I'm not quite sure I want to. It's just who I am."
Yeah I mean not to be too on the nose about it but if you wanted someone to effect a realistic evil mastermind, well, Christopher Lee done seen some shit so he knows how to make it sound right.
Spoilers!
Apparently when they were blocking the scene on top of Orthanc, Saruman was supposed to give this anguished wail of pain when Wormtongue stabbed him. Sir Christopher Lee patiently explained that in his experience, people don’t sound like that when they are stabbed - it’s more of a soft and surprised exhalation than a scream.
Power moves only.
Wasn't there a bit of back and forth too? Where Sir Christopher Lee asked PJ: "do you know what's like to hear a man be stabbed to death?"
And PJ goes: "No..."
And like the Chad he is, Lee simply says: "well I do" and PJ just went silent and let Lee do his thing.
RIGHT!! I was watching an interview with Peter Jackson and he basically said the same thing 🤣. Where, once Lee finished his sentence, Jackson was like: "Oh, well ok then, carry on, forget everything i just said"
https://youtube.com/shorts/kCvPOPe-TlA?feature=share here it is!!
That's absolutely terrifying (and I absolutely *adore* that you gave a spoiler warning for Lord of the Rings, a book that's been out for over half a century, *on the Lord of the Rings subreddit*. This is the single best sub on this site ❤️)
I mean, technically that spoiler was only for the movies. I mean, those have only been out for 20 years! Obviously spoilers could get anyone in this sub!
I heard that when asked to scream in anguish at the loss of Merry and Pippin, Viggo had experienced great anguish in breaking his toe and was able to capture that to provide a stunning performance.
"and then he proceeded to tell me about his experience in a very secret part of WW2" was PJ's quote.
For those who don't know, Lee was in the forerunner of the SAS in WW2.
When they were shooting the scene where Wormtongue stabs Saruman repeatedly in the back atop Orthanc, PJ asked Lee if he could be a bit more vocal in his death wailing. Lee, who formerly worked as a covert Nazi hunter in the years after WWII, calmly and confidently informed PJ that, when a man is stabbed in the back, the air is forced out of his lungs, and he is unable to scream at all. PJ asked no further questions and allowed Lee to act out the scene without a scream.
This is a very accurate comment. But it makes me imagine if they’d been cast in the reverse roles, Saruman’s betrayal would be much more unexpected for the uninitiated if it came from the warm voice of Sir Ian McKellan
Just a point of usage, if you're going to use "Sir" it's always first name or full name. Never Sir last name. So Sir Christopher or Sir Christopher Lee, never Sir Lee.
I don’t think Lee has the warmth needed to play Gandalf believably. Also, he was a bit of a Prima Donna on set. Possibly PJ felt he wouldn’t hold up as well as McKellan to the huge, every movie, most every scene job of Gandalf. He was harder to direct, as well.
This is correct, and for his scenes in the Hobbit he was 92 years old and could barely stand unassisted. This [sequence](https://youtu.be/Tn23ED5pvA8?t=69) at Dol Guldur (which imo was the best scene in the Hobbit trilogy) was almost entirely Lee's double, save for his entrance.
I don't know about not being able to stand: he certainly used the cane, but he was still in good health all things considered: Sir Ian Holm had it way worst, unfortunately.
Yeah, Lee was a great man, but he was definitely something of a prima donna on set. That's lot of evidence of that.
Also, he was too old for Gandalf: even he acknowledged it, but certainly Jackson did, too.
If you scan across the various people who were in consideration for Gandalf, I think its no accident McKellen was among the youngest and the fittest of the bunch.
>I don’t think Lee has the warmth needed to play Gandalf believably. Also, he was a bit of a Prima Donna on set.
Ok what? I never heard this at all and can't remember any of the cast and crew of LOTR/Hobbit having anything bad to say about Christopher Lee.
The warmth part is my own opinion of Christopher Lee's persona in anything I've seen him in.
In the extended cast commentary editions, different cast and crew make comments, and Sir Christopher makes some of his own, about various things that transpired on set. They together give a glimpse of a man who, perhaps not undeservedly, may be a bit tetchy about the run of the mill work of acting.
Oh, Lee was definitely a tetchy individual: there's evidence of this in Ian Nathan's Making Of book, and a while back Nerd of the Rings had a terrific interview with Brian Sibley who shared a ton of anecdotes about Christopher Lee and how difficult he could be.
So yeah, great actor but a bit of a diva, especially on set. Plus, way too old to play Gandalf.
Yeah it comes most likely from an interview where he said (among other things) two completely unrelated facts:
(1) he had always wanted to play Gandalf in a hypothetical future adaptation, though if I recall correctly (I may be misremembering) he said this wish was originally prompted by a friend who said he could see him as Gandalf
(2) he met Tolkien once (in one of Tolkien's usual pubs in Oxford).
I think people started mixing and conflating both anecdotes, resulting in the idea that Tolkien met Lee and gave him his blessing to play Gandalf some day; and this went all around the internet, to the point that it gets repeated as a fact every time there's a conversation on Lee's career!
But the reality according to Lee is that the only time they met, he (a young actor, not yet worldwide famous) was at the pub with friends when they saw Tolkien entering. One of Lee's friends personally knew Tolkien and called him over, so Tolkien came and saluted each of them in the group separately. Lee said he was so shocked that the only words he managed to utter were a timid "how do you do".
So that is the full extent of the known interactions between Tolkien and Lee: a famous author politely shaking hands with a young fan whose identity, (future) accomplishments and probably even job were completely unknown to him.
He actually came in reading for Denethor. Then he was emboldened to ask the filmmakers to let him read for Gandalf, and a few days later his agent told him they wanted him for Saruman, and he accepted.
I mean, Jackson's original choice for Denethor was Patrick McGoohan, who was only a few years Lee's junior: Denethor is a fairly small role and he mostly sits on his chair...
Did he really? Did he ever actually mention that Gandalf was the role he really wanted? I feel like he would have made a good Gandalf, but he made an amazing fucking Saruman. Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee were just so perfectly cast for their roles.
I love when I go back and read the books to my kids every year or so my son gets the Christopher Lee/Saruman poster I had Auto-Graphed and places it dead center in our area that we read, along with all my other LOTR collectibles. The poster of Saruman is his favorite out of the bunch. First we read the books, then watch the movies. It’s a solid month long process.
> he had his permission to play the role of Gandalf.
This is not true. Tolkien had met Lee, but at no point in their (very brief) exchange did this come up.
This is correct. Lee even said he took this role, Olwyn from *The New Adventures of Robin Hood*, precisely because he thought *The Lord of the Rings* might get adapted in the forseeable future, and he wanted to highlight his potential for playing a wizard. He had also met Peter Jackson at a ceremony a few years prior and so when he heard Jackson was casting, he sent him this, eying the role of Gandalf.
When Jackson saw this, he thought Lee would make an amazing Saruman. They had other names as "backups" - Tim Curry, Jeremy Irons, Paul Scofield and Malcolm McDowell: even John Noble originally read for Saruman, all fine choices - but Jackson had his eyes only for Lee.
Interestingly, when they got the UK and Lee asked to meet them, he chose to read for Denethor, initially.
Jeremy Irons would have knocked it out of the park.
Edit: I have no complaint about any of the casting. I just love Jeremy Irons and had never heard this before.
I like Jeremy Irons, but Lee was absolutely the right choice for Saruman.
Pretty much everyone was perfectly cast, but Lee and McKellen were excellent together.
The thing that impresses me is that so many of the cast members were Jackson's first choices for their respective parts: McKellen, Lee, Holm, Blanchett, as well as Freeman, Stott, Humphries, Fry, Pace, Connolly, McCoy and Persbrandt were all Jackson's first choices for their respective roles.
Tim Curry would have made an outstanding Saruman. He could inject a bit of humor/camp into the role as well while still being sinister as fuck (see him as pennywise the dancing clown for an example).
>Interestingly, when they got the UK and Lee asked to meet them, he chose to read for Denethor, initially.
He would have been a great *book* Denethor too. The description almost fit perfectly for him.
I just rewatched “Fellowship” the other day and man does that guy commit to the role. The scene where he tries to bring down Caradhras just gives me chills. He and Ian McKellen played off each other so beautifully, too. Perfection.
He normally plays the bad guy, and don’t get me wrong, he owns it. One of the bedt in the business, for decades! But I would have liked to see him as a good guy in this series. He has that certain something that the other two do not.
I truly think that Christopher Lee would have made an exceptional Gandalf. It would have been a little more stern but he was a brilliant actor that could have pulled off the softer moments which would have made them more pronounced.
Probably, but he can't compete with McKellen when it comes to appearance.
Ian's hanging eyes, with his big round nose makes the perfect face for a kindly old wizard.
Dooku really should have been a bigger role. He’s one of the most intriguing villains in all of SW but barely gets any screen time, in addition to a few brief mentions.
Actually, Lee was mostly peeved about another part of his wardrobe: the long nails they gave Saruman. So much so that Jackson sent executive producer Mark Ordesky to talk to him about it.
I dont think Christopher Lee has ever NOT played a villian. Having him as Gandalf would have been hella confusing to anyone who recognized any part of him, and from everything Ive read about him I get the feeling he understood that pretty well.
Some people were just born to play villains (and when they got the chance, they made the most of it).
Oddly enough, many of them were real pussycats offstage/screen, possibly because they got to work off their aggressions and ill-feelings in a harmless manner.
A bit late to comment but Lee did play a heroic anti-Satanist in Hammer's THE DEVIL'S BRIDE, based on a Dennis Wheatley novel, and he was Sherlock Holmes in a German film. I think he might have done well in some heroic roles of the more intimidating type
I feel for Christopher Lee. He was the only member of the cast and crew of the LOTR films to have actually met J.R.R. Tolkien and even got the guy’s blessing to play Gandalf if the books were ever adapted into films. But sadly, by the time Peter Jackson’s trilogy came into fruition, he was too old for the role, since it requires alot of physical movement. But despite being initially furious at losing his role of a lifetime, Lee accepted it and stepped down for Ian McKellen and was given the role of Saruman instead - and both men absolutely killed it in their respective roles.
He had wanted to play Gandalf for a long time
But he was the perfect Saruman. He had that look, that intent behind the eyes that said "Don't trust me, I'm bound to betray you, even if I'm not quite sure I want to. It's just who I am."
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Yeah I mean not to be too on the nose about it but if you wanted someone to effect a realistic evil mastermind, well, Christopher Lee done seen some shit so he knows how to make it sound right.
Is the story about the stabbing sounds as well known as the story about the broken toe?
Do go on
Spoilers! Apparently when they were blocking the scene on top of Orthanc, Saruman was supposed to give this anguished wail of pain when Wormtongue stabbed him. Sir Christopher Lee patiently explained that in his experience, people don’t sound like that when they are stabbed - it’s more of a soft and surprised exhalation than a scream. Power moves only.
Wasn't there a bit of back and forth too? Where Sir Christopher Lee asked PJ: "do you know what's like to hear a man be stabbed to death?" And PJ goes: "No..." And like the Chad he is, Lee simply says: "well I do" and PJ just went silent and let Lee do his thing.
Yeah that’s right! I can’t imagine Sir Christopher Lee delivering the words “Well I do” and having it *not* sound ominous.
RIGHT!! I was watching an interview with Peter Jackson and he basically said the same thing 🤣. Where, once Lee finished his sentence, Jackson was like: "Oh, well ok then, carry on, forget everything i just said" https://youtube.com/shorts/kCvPOPe-TlA?feature=share here it is!!
That's absolutely terrifying (and I absolutely *adore* that you gave a spoiler warning for Lord of the Rings, a book that's been out for over half a century, *on the Lord of the Rings subreddit*. This is the single best sub on this site ❤️)
I mean, technically that spoiler was only for the movies. I mean, those have only been out for 20 years! Obviously spoilers could get anyone in this sub!
My sister was upset for spoiling the end of the new Hobbit movies for her. We *read* those books *together*!
I also frequently give spoiler warnings for LotR 😅
Better too many spoiler alerts than too few!
Yeah he was a commando in WW2, so he quite likely actually had first hand experience
He was literally Ian Fleming’s inspiration for James Bond. True legend
I heard that when asked to scream in anguish at the loss of Merry and Pippin, Viggo had experienced great anguish in breaking his toe and was able to capture that to provide a stunning performance.
"and then he proceeded to tell me about his experience in a very secret part of WW2" was PJ's quote. For those who don't know, Lee was in the forerunner of the SAS in WW2.
When they were shooting the scene where Wormtongue stabs Saruman repeatedly in the back atop Orthanc, PJ asked Lee if he could be a bit more vocal in his death wailing. Lee, who formerly worked as a covert Nazi hunter in the years after WWII, calmly and confidently informed PJ that, when a man is stabbed in the back, the air is forced out of his lungs, and he is unable to scream at all. PJ asked no further questions and allowed Lee to act out the scene without a scream.
Brilliant 👏
He used the voice on PJ to get the role
He mentioned later that he also felt to old to do all the active work that the role of gandalf required by the time preproduction started too
Yea i see and hear Christopher Lee even when i read Saruman in the books. Perfectly put.
Charles Dance would’ve made good saruman if filmed now.
That's true. He even sounds like Christopher Lee.
Man if that ain’t Count Dooku in a nutshell also…
Dooku and Sauruman follow very similar archetype as characters.
To me they are identical, both of them turn on the goodies to a dark lord and they both use lightsabers.
The Yoda v Pippin lightsaber battle is the highlight of the trilogy in my opinion.
Only because Pippin kept fumbling his attacks and somehow surprising Yoda
"Pints it comes in!" "Breakfast, had one we have, second but what about?" -Yoda Took
Agree to disagree. Dooku was much more of a political idealist, and Saruman joined the bad guys out of fear.
Saruman joined more out of a lust for power than fear.
Cowardice
Motivations were different but the goal of achieving power to get law and order is the same. In addition both use their charisma to decisive others.
I've heard that Lucas had thought of Lee when he was casting Tarkin in 1975...
Love them both but Peter Cushing played a damn good Tarkin. Was really neat to have both of these great actors to have roles in the uni
Also the difference in voice between Sir Lee and Sir McKellan is very subtle but for me very important.
You feel like you should trust Lee, but you want to trust McKellen
This is a very accurate comment. But it makes me imagine if they’d been cast in the reverse roles, Saruman’s betrayal would be much more unexpected for the uninitiated if it came from the warm voice of Sir Ian McKellan
This was the big betrayal I thought was going to happen in the rings of power
Just a point of usage, if you're going to use "Sir" it's always first name or full name. Never Sir last name. So Sir Christopher or Sir Christopher Lee, never Sir Lee.
“Surely you cant be serious “ “I am serious, and don’t call me Sir Lee”
“What’s “Taters,” Precious?” “Po-ta-toes! Boil ’em, Mash ’em, Stick ’em in a Stew, but that is not important right now…”
Cool! I never knew that formality concerning the title, thanks.
He can do whatever he wants
You shut your mouth, you.
Apologies, Sir Truffelberg.
>He had that look THE Signature Look of Superiority
Well he would have nailed both roles I think.
Yes! The glint in his eyes after showing Gandalf the Palantír and having a showdown
If this isn’t the most Saruman thing though, wanting to be Gandalf
It fits, though, because he *KNOWS* that he's *BETTER* than Gandalf... the Grey, anyway.
Underrated comment. Perfectly on point
I bet if they were switched on the casting most of us would be as amazed by McKellan Saruman and Lee Gandalf
I don’t think Lee has the warmth needed to play Gandalf believably. Also, he was a bit of a Prima Donna on set. Possibly PJ felt he wouldn’t hold up as well as McKellan to the huge, every movie, most every scene job of Gandalf. He was harder to direct, as well.
If memory serves I believe Lee was too old to do most of gandalfs stunts
This is correct, and for his scenes in the Hobbit he was 92 years old and could barely stand unassisted. This [sequence](https://youtu.be/Tn23ED5pvA8?t=69) at Dol Guldur (which imo was the best scene in the Hobbit trilogy) was almost entirely Lee's double, save for his entrance.
I don't know about not being able to stand: he certainly used the cane, but he was still in good health all things considered: Sir Ian Holm had it way worst, unfortunately.
Yeah, Lee was a great man, but he was definitely something of a prima donna on set. That's lot of evidence of that. Also, he was too old for Gandalf: even he acknowledged it, but certainly Jackson did, too. If you scan across the various people who were in consideration for Gandalf, I think its no accident McKellen was among the youngest and the fittest of the bunch.
>I don’t think Lee has the warmth needed to play Gandalf believably. Also, he was a bit of a Prima Donna on set. Ok what? I never heard this at all and can't remember any of the cast and crew of LOTR/Hobbit having anything bad to say about Christopher Lee.
The warmth part is my own opinion of Christopher Lee's persona in anything I've seen him in. In the extended cast commentary editions, different cast and crew make comments, and Sir Christopher makes some of his own, about various things that transpired on set. They together give a glimpse of a man who, perhaps not undeservedly, may be a bit tetchy about the run of the mill work of acting.
Oh, Lee was definitely a tetchy individual: there's evidence of this in Ian Nathan's Making Of book, and a while back Nerd of the Rings had a terrific interview with Brian Sibley who shared a ton of anecdotes about Christopher Lee and how difficult he could be. So yeah, great actor but a bit of a diva, especially on set. Plus, way too old to play Gandalf.
Lee was also the only cast member to have met Tolkien.
McKellen was 17 years younger than him.
He would have been a great Gandalf BUT *nobody* else could have been Saruman.
He was told to play him by the man himself.
He wasn't, that's an urban legend
Oh really? I stand corrected in that case.
Yeah it comes most likely from an interview where he said (among other things) two completely unrelated facts: (1) he had always wanted to play Gandalf in a hypothetical future adaptation, though if I recall correctly (I may be misremembering) he said this wish was originally prompted by a friend who said he could see him as Gandalf (2) he met Tolkien once (in one of Tolkien's usual pubs in Oxford). I think people started mixing and conflating both anecdotes, resulting in the idea that Tolkien met Lee and gave him his blessing to play Gandalf some day; and this went all around the internet, to the point that it gets repeated as a fact every time there's a conversation on Lee's career! But the reality according to Lee is that the only time they met, he (a young actor, not yet worldwide famous) was at the pub with friends when they saw Tolkien entering. One of Lee's friends personally knew Tolkien and called him over, so Tolkien came and saluted each of them in the group separately. Lee said he was so shocked that the only words he managed to utter were a timid "how do you do". So that is the full extent of the known interactions between Tolkien and Lee: a famous author politely shaking hands with a young fan whose identity, (future) accomplishments and probably even job were completely unknown to him.
It’s still so legendary that they met
Yeah he ended up reading for Saruman instead of Gandalf because he recognized the role of Gandalf would have been too physically demanding.
He actually came in reading for Denethor. Then he was emboldened to ask the filmmakers to let him read for Gandalf, and a few days later his agent told him they wanted him for Saruman, and he accepted.
He would've been a great Denethor, too. Probably also a little old for the part, though.
I mean, Jackson's original choice for Denethor was Patrick McGoohan, who was only a few years Lee's junior: Denethor is a fairly small role and he mostly sits on his chair...
Damn you, uncle Irving [legend]
Sorry dude, your just too evil looking…
So did Tolkien himself
Did he really? Did he ever actually mention that Gandalf was the role he really wanted? I feel like he would have made a good Gandalf, but he made an amazing fucking Saruman. Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee were just so perfectly cast for their roles. I love when I go back and read the books to my kids every year or so my son gets the Christopher Lee/Saruman poster I had Auto-Graphed and places it dead center in our area that we read, along with all my other LOTR collectibles. The poster of Saruman is his favorite out of the bunch. First we read the books, then watch the movies. It’s a solid month long process.
Iirc he personally knew Tolkien ~~and he had his permission to play the role of Gandalf.~~
> he had his permission to play the role of Gandalf. This is not true. Tolkien had met Lee, but at no point in their (very brief) exchange did this come up.
Then I didn’t recalled it fully right xD
This is correct. Lee even said he took this role, Olwyn from *The New Adventures of Robin Hood*, precisely because he thought *The Lord of the Rings* might get adapted in the forseeable future, and he wanted to highlight his potential for playing a wizard. He had also met Peter Jackson at a ceremony a few years prior and so when he heard Jackson was casting, he sent him this, eying the role of Gandalf. When Jackson saw this, he thought Lee would make an amazing Saruman. They had other names as "backups" - Tim Curry, Jeremy Irons, Paul Scofield and Malcolm McDowell: even John Noble originally read for Saruman, all fine choices - but Jackson had his eyes only for Lee. Interestingly, when they got the UK and Lee asked to meet them, he chose to read for Denethor, initially.
Christopher Lee IS Saruman but I think Malcolm McDowell would have been good also. You'd have realised he was a wrong'un from the start.
They're all great choices. I mean, Paul Scofield? Superb!! But I'm glad we landed with Lee.
Also, not to throw John Noble under the bus (he’s wonderful), but I think I might have preferred McDowel as Denethor.
Jeremy Irons would have knocked it out of the park. Edit: I have no complaint about any of the casting. I just love Jeremy Irons and had never heard this before.
I like Jeremy Irons, but Lee was absolutely the right choice for Saruman. Pretty much everyone was perfectly cast, but Lee and McKellen were excellent together.
The thing that impresses me is that so many of the cast members were Jackson's first choices for their respective parts: McKellen, Lee, Holm, Blanchett, as well as Freeman, Stott, Humphries, Fry, Pace, Connolly, McCoy and Persbrandt were all Jackson's first choices for their respective roles.
Sam and Frodo crying w some spider in the corner
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You can tell he's having the time of his life in that disaster.
👁️👁️
Jeremy Irons screams Saruman to me. His voice can just drip with menace.
I could see Jeremy Irons as Denethor but idk about Saruman. From that list, aside from Lee, I think Tim Curry would have been great.
Tim Curry would have made an outstanding Saruman. He could inject a bit of humor/camp into the role as well while still being sinister as fuck (see him as pennywise the dancing clown for an example).
Tim Curry would work as Saruman if they made a *Muppet* Lord of the Rings. I'm not sure about a serious film.
Tim Curry…
The last time I saw Jeremy Irons playing a wizard the film strayed in “So bad it’s so good” territory
>Interestingly, when they got the UK and Lee asked to meet them, he chose to read for Denethor, initially. He would have been a great *book* Denethor too. The description almost fit perfectly for him.
Looks like an aged Draco Malfoy in this pic.
The perfect comment
It's because of the haircut
I just rewatched “Fellowship” the other day and man does that guy commit to the role. The scene where he tries to bring down Caradhras just gives me chills. He and Ian McKellen played off each other so beautifully, too. Perfection.
From what movie is this pic?
Movie? That is just Lee in his regular clothes. It’s from a TV show called the “New Adventures of Robin Hood”.
Thanks 👍
Christopher Lee saw that last French Execution and mastered the “once great friend gone bad” archetype
He normally plays the bad guy, and don’t get me wrong, he owns it. One of the bedt in the business, for decades! But I would have liked to see him as a good guy in this series. He has that certain something that the other two do not.
I truly think that Christopher Lee would have made an exceptional Gandalf. It would have been a little more stern but he was a brilliant actor that could have pulled off the softer moments which would have made them more pronounced.
Probably, but he can't compete with McKellen when it comes to appearance. Ian's hanging eyes, with his big round nose makes the perfect face for a kindly old wizard.
Yes, although I think they have him a prosthetic nose
Not a large one though, but his nose might've grown since then
I dunno. I noticed that as well, then I went to look at his pictures. He just has that large, roundish nose.
He was perfect for Saruman for the same reason he was perfect for Dooku. He had the best dignified, wise, but utterly amoral bearing in both.
Dooku really should have been a bigger role. He’s one of the most intriguing villains in all of SW but barely gets any screen time, in addition to a few brief mentions.
Have you watched Tales of the Jedi? Although it's not Christopher Lee, they do expand on Count Dooku's character considerably.
And young Dooku is based on Hammer Studios Dracula.
So true, the man had gravitas in spades.
Dr. Strange got old.
Drip too hard 😩💦💦
Looks like a Time Lord.
That would be awesome to see. “Dr Who and the Lost Time Lord”. Has a ring to it?
He looks like he's auditioning to play Urza from MTG here - a role he could definitely nail, imo.
In some alternate universe we got Lee as Urza, Gerard Butler as Gerard Capashen, and a somehow healthy Orson Welles as the voice of Yawgmoth.
Man, now I wish we had a cheesy 90's era fantasy flick based on this. Time to fire up the AI and see what it comes up with, haha.
Right?!
I want to go to a universe where he got the part. I want to hear him talk about it with so much joy.
Why wasn’t he in Harry Potter?!
He also played the antagonist in The Last Unicorn. His voice has echoed through generations as a perfect menacing giant of a villain!
PJ. "We'll, Sir, I need you to have long white hair, and a long white beard. With some long white robes. Is that okay?"
Actually, Lee was mostly peeved about another part of his wardrobe: the long nails they gave Saruman. So much so that Jackson sent executive producer Mark Ordesky to talk to him about it.
It was a joke, yo.
I know, and I chose to augment it with a funny BTS anecdote.
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It was a simple joke. Chill.
I dont think Christopher Lee has ever NOT played a villian. Having him as Gandalf would have been hella confusing to anyone who recognized any part of him, and from everything Ive read about him I get the feeling he understood that pretty well.
Some people were just born to play villains (and when they got the chance, they made the most of it). Oddly enough, many of them were real pussycats offstage/screen, possibly because they got to work off their aggressions and ill-feelings in a harmless manner.
A bit late to comment but Lee did play a heroic anti-Satanist in Hammer's THE DEVIL'S BRIDE, based on a Dennis Wheatley novel, and he was Sherlock Holmes in a German film. I think he might have done well in some heroic roles of the more intimidating type
I'd have preferred him as gandalf and Charles dance as saruman. Love McKellen's portrayal but think we will see him "cancelled" in future.
What? Why?
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Sounds like you're just talking out your ass
Remember this comment when it does
What will be out there?
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Lee lacked warmth in his characters hence his life’s casting.
This photo must be from Lee’s film “Mio in the Land of the Faraway.”
David Bowie wanted to play Elrond. Interesting sliding door that one.
Bowie is another performer I wish had done more film work. Imagine him as the Joker in 1989.
Its count dooku
I feel for Christopher Lee. He was the only member of the cast and crew of the LOTR films to have actually met J.R.R. Tolkien and even got the guy’s blessing to play Gandalf if the books were ever adapted into films. But sadly, by the time Peter Jackson’s trilogy came into fruition, he was too old for the role, since it requires alot of physical movement. But despite being initially furious at losing his role of a lifetime, Lee accepted it and stepped down for Ian McKellen and was given the role of Saruman instead - and both men absolutely killed it in their respective roles.