The Lord of the Rings trilogy and larger franchise is one of cinema’s most epic and recognized stories to have been released since 2000. Its cast spotlighted many already famous actors like Ian McKellen and Sean Bean but also featured names that would go on to be even larger stars like Orlando Bloom and Karl Urban. Because of the book’s iconography, word of the film being made caused quite a stir. As a result, some famous names auditioned for the roles, but not all of them nailed it, like actor Jake Gyllenhaal who sadly bombed his chance to join the franchise.
Gyllenhaal has been acting for the better part of the ’90s and 2000s and has been a part of some iconic films like Nightcrawler, Donnie Darko and Brokeback Mountain. However, he’s been most recently recognized as Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home. But for each iconic role, there were also many that slipped through the cracks. During an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Gyllenhaal spoke about when he got the chance to play Frodo in The Lord of the Rings and subsequently bombed it after his agents failed to give him enough information.
While chatting with Fallon, they got on the subject of bad auditions, and Gyllenhaal immediately recalled how he bombed his audition for the role of Frodo Baggins. Frodo was iconically played by Elijah Wood, but the casting call for the role was extensive and went out to many agencies. Gyllenhaal jokingly mentioned how his agents thought he would be the perfect person to be a Hobbit, which had Fallon and the audiences laughing. But as the story continued, it became clear why the accomplished actor didn’t get the role.
As he told the story, Gyllenhaal described the audition as something different from what was usually done. He barely had any lines to read in front of director Peter Jackson. Instead, he was supposed to react to finding the fabled One Ring as he felt Frodo would. But without any proper reference for how he was supposed to respond, Gyllenhaal simply took out the Ring with little to no wonderment and even spoke in his normal voice. However, the most surprising (or embarrassing) part of the audition was when Jackson shook his head and supposedly called him the worst actor ever.
While Jackson didn’t verbally berate the young actor, he did ask him if he was aware that he was supposed to do a British accent. Gyllenhaal told him that he had no idea, and Jackson suggested that he may need to get new agents for future projects. As the interview continued, the entire audience laughed, but it showed just how appalled Jackson must have been as he isn’t known for being a rude person, professionally speaking. However, considering how accomplished Gyllenhaal is, it’s likely that Jackson was more surprised at his lack of information on the role rather than his acting quality, as both are masters of their craft.
With The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring over two decades old, the franchise has reached iconic status in cinema, and the cast involved have found their own way, being a part of films that inhabit various genres. While Gyllenhaal didn’t get the role of Frodo, he has made a name for himself and perhaps was better off for not being cast in the film. Unfortunately, it was never explained if he got new agents following the audition. Still, in hindsight, the story is, at the very least, one of the funniest audition stories in recent Hollywood memory.
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