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Mission: Impossible star Dougray Scott was approached to play Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings

By Ashley Hurst

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 17: Documentary Jury actor Dougray Scott attends a photocall during the 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival at The Apex Hotel on June 17, 2016 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - JUNE 17: Documentary Jury actor Dougray Scott attends a photocall during the 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival at The Apex Hotel on June 17, 2016 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images) /
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Mission: Impossible 2 star Dougray Scott has revealed that he actually turned down the opportunity to play Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The role was originally offered to Stuart Townsend (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) before he was replaced by Viggo Mortensen, who impressed fans around the world with his performance as the future king of Gondor. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that for a lot of fans, Mortensen is Aragorn.

Talking to NME, Scott revealed that he was also interested in the role, but wasn’t able to commit to the time needed for filming in New Zealand. “They sent [the script] to me,” he said. “They wanted me to go meet Peter Jackson in New Zealand, but to be honest with you I’d just finished doing MI:2 and the idea of spending two years away in New Zealand I just couldn’t quite contemplate.”

"I read [the script]. I thought it was great, and I thought the movie was terrific. Like everyone else, everyone’s agents were getting sent the script. They didn’t offer it to me, but they sent me the script to read for sure."

I completely understand not wanting to make that kind of time commitment, especially when filming takes place on the other side of the world and you’re just coming off another big project. Still, you have to wonder if he has any lingering regrets about not further pursuing a part that ended up being so memorable and famous.

As it ends up, no.“I don’t have regrets about anything,” Scott said. “I thought Viggo was great.” I think everyone thought this, right?

For what it’s worth, I think that Scott would’ve been great as Aragorn. And seeing as how he missed out on that, I’m all for him getting a role in Amazon Prime’s upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series.

You can see Daugray Scott in his latest movie Sea Fever, which goes on sale on Blu-ray & Digital from April 24.

Next. Will Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series embrace J.R.R. Tolkien’s original vision?. dark

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