UPDATE: Earlier this morning, Andy Serkis confirmed to ScreenRant what we already knew: Viggo Mortensen will not be returning to play Aragorn in “The Hunt for Gollum.” He added that they are “on our way to find someone” to replace Mortensen.
EARLIER: There’s been a lot of talk about Andy Serkis’ upcoming “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum,” which would reunite the original cast for this new instalment. Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Sean Bean, and Orlando Bloom are likely to return in their respective roles.
Sadly, Viggo Mortensen refused to come back, and that’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ writer Philippa Boyens publicly admitting that Mortensen had been asked, multiple times, to sign on. The result is that there has been a casting process over the last few months to find an actor in his 30s to replace him.
Now comes word from DanielRPK, who sometimes gets access to casting grids, that Leo Woodall is in talks to replace Mortensen in “Hunt For Gollum” and will portray Aragorn.
The British-born Woodall is honestly a strong choice. He’s had a very quick rise following his debut in the Tom Holland-led “Cherry” and the second season of HBO’s “The White Lotus”. I last saw him in the small indie “Tuner,” set to release this spring, where he plays a piano tuner who stumbles into a criminal underworld — he has great screen presence. Woodall can also currently be seen in Netflix’s hit series “Vladimir,” opposite Rachel Weisz.
Boyens originally had this to say about Mortensen’s return, and as you can tell by the wording, there was already some doubt last year that he’d be returning:
Honestly, that’s entirely going to be up to Viggo, collaboratively, and we are at a very early stage,” she said. “I’ve spoken to Viggo, Andy [Serkis] has spoken to him, Peter [Jackson] has spoken to him, we’ve all spoken to each other and honestly, I cannot imagine anyone else playing Aragorn, but it will be completely and entirely up to Viggo.
Boyens had mentioned that if Mortensen was not game to return, then they’d have to “hand off” the character to another actor. That seems to have now happened, and it is yet another controversial decision—one that fans will probably not be too happy about.
“The Hunt For Gollum” is set during the “The Fellowship of the Ring” era, shortly before Frodo Baggins leaves the Shire for Rivendell. The film starts with Gandalf sending Aragorn on a quest to find Gollum.
Production is set to begin on the film in May, with a 2027 release already planned, which might actually be the start of a trilogy.