Fifty Shades of Grey actor Jamie Dornan's next role will be especially challenging. The Lord of the Rings fans are still waiting for Andy Serkis's The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which will hit theaters on Dec. 17, 2027. The new installment takes place between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
The story will follow Aragorn and Gandalf's quest to find Gollum and determine the whereabouts of the One Ring. But while several legendary actors are reprising their roles from Peter Jackson's film trilogy, Aragorn has been recast, placing a huge responsibility on the new actor's shoulders.
Jamie Dornan on playing Aragorn: "Aragorn will always be Viggo"
Serkis is directing and once again playing Gollum, while Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood are returning as Gandalf and Frodo, respectively. However, multi-time Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen is not returning as Aragorn, who has been recast. In an interview with L'Officiel, Jamie Dornan expressed that he is not trying to replace Mortensen, knowing it is impossible.
Dornan stated (translation via ScreenRant), "There's pressure when you're trying to follow in those footsteps. I've been asked to play a super-iconic role, and I'll do my best. But for me, Aragorn will always be just Viggo. His performance is one of my all-time favorites, and I feel honored to try to recapture at least some of the energy he originally brought to the character. There's no part of me that's trying to outdo him."
The Hunt for Gollum will show us some of Aragorn's time as a ranger, when he was known as Strider. Leo Woodall will play Halvard, another Dúnedain Ranger. Woodall thus stated, "I can say that, now, my Aragorn is Jamie Dornan."
Why isn't Viggo Mortensen returning as Aragorn?
It is not entirely clear why Mortensen isn't reprising his role, though he stated in an interview with GQ in 2024, when he was apparently still considering it, "I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth." He also expressed distaste for the technology that might be used to make him look younger.
Of course, several other actors are still coming back, but how easy it will be for them to appear the ages the characters would be some years before The Lord of the Rings depends on a variety of factors, including the size of their role and how old they were when they first portrayed them.
Lee Pace, an actor who joined the franchise in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, is also returning as Thranduil. Newcomers include Kate Winslet as Marigol and Anya Taylor-Joy as Seren.
How well does a recast like Jamie Dornan as Aragorn work?
The fandom's reception to Dornan as Strider will depend on several things, including the overall quality of The Hunt for Gollum as a film. It may, however, strike them as odd, when a number of veteran Lord of the Rings actors are coming back.
In the past, recasting a character this iconic and heavily associated with the original actor has not been so successful. The association between Aragorn and Mortensen might not be quite as strong as Han Solo to Harrison Ford, but it comes close, and 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story got only a middling reception with Alden Ehrenreich in the lead role.
However, The Hunt for Gollum has a better setup to be a holiday box office hit, with its December release date and more than a decade having passed since the last theatrically released live-action Middle-earth film. If fans are just glad to see the world return to the big screen, they might also be happy with a new Aragorn.
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