in six of Peter Jackson’s films, he played the legendary wizard Gandalf. When he started working on the trilogy, he was only 60 years old and at the peak of his acting career. Although the films did not win him the Oscar he undoubtedly deserved, in the minds of Tolkien’s viewers and fans he will forever be Gandalf from “” and “The Hobbit”. It’s no wonder that with the announcement of the new Middle-earth project, questions arose about McKellen’s presence on the set.
“The Hunt for Gollum”. Ian McKellen as Gandalf again?
Ian McKellen is 85 years old today. He is not planning to retire – although he can be seen less often in films, he still acts on stage. In an interview with “” McKellen was asked if he would be willing to become Gandalf again. The actor responded to his age:
I’ve heard rumors from Tolkien’s world. But I have neither a script, nor a proposal, nor a plan, he said. When asked if the role would interest him at all, he added: If only I was still alive… (…) A person begins to realize that he is mortal when he looks at his phone book. Now, when a script comes to me or a rumor about an offer comes to me, I think: “This could be my last role. No, I won’t do it.”
Virtually nothing is known about “The Hunt for Gollum” as far as the planned plot is concerned. The project is being undertaken again after many years by Peter Jackson with the support of Phillippa Boyens and Fran Walsh. He will be assisted in directing and acting by Andy Serkis, who played Gollum years ago. The two-part film will most likely focus on showing the long-term hunt for the creature that left Moria after losing the Ring to Bilbo. The hunt took part, among others, Aragorn and Gandalf, as well as the elves of Mirkwood. The problem is that the role of Gandalf will most likely require the actor to be quite physically fit and to play off the green screen – Gandalf was actively searching for Gollum together with Aragorn. However, Peter Jackson has years of experience working with an aged wizard – Sir Christopher Lee, who plays Saruman, was a seriously ill 92-year-old actor while working on “The Hobbit” and was unable to fly to New Zealand for the set. Although he complained a lot, he shot all the scenes in Great Britain without the participation of the other actors from the set.
Meanwhile, he did not rule out playing Aragorn again. Like his older colleague, he points out that he has not received the offer and will agree provided that the character of Aragorn is properly written and consistent with Tolkien’s world. JRR Tolkien wrote relatively little about the hunt for Gollum – he did not devote a separate book to it, the director and screenwriters only have short fragments of text in which the entire story is briefly described.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
