It’s long been rumored that the late rock star David Bowie was originally up for a part in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies. Dominic Monaghan, who played the hobbit Merry, once said he saw Bowie at the film’s casting offices. But obviously, it didn’t work out. We’re pretty sure we would have noticed him.
So what happened? Speaking at New York Comic Con about their upcoming movie The Mortal Instruments, Lord of the Rings writers Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh cleared up the mystery. “I don’t think the studio were that keen at that point, so we never did meet with him,” Walsh said.
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It turns out that Bowie was up for the role of Elrond, who resides at Riverdale. “I remember that conversation,” Boyens said. “There was a little hesitancy there because Elrond and the Goblin King. I mean, you know, elves.”
Basically, Boyens is saying that Bowie’s performance as Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth, codpiece and all, cost him a shot at Lord of the Rings glory. I can’t imagine why:
I’m being serious. Whatever Bowie is doing in that clip, I want it in my Lord of the Rings.
The role of Elrond eventually went to Hugo Weaving, who wasn’t as well known as Bowie at the time but still had a reputation; The Matrix had just come out, after all. If we can accept Agent Smith as Elrond why couldn’t we accept Jareth the Goblin King?
But it was not to be, and the movie turned out great regardless, so it’s probably fine for me to let it go.
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h/t Huffington Post