LOTR Star On The Stunning Recasting Of Aragorn

Lord of the Rings actor Dominic Monaghan has shared his thoughts on the recasting of Aragorn, saying it was a "big blow" for the original actor. As is widely known, Stuart Townsend was hired to play Aragorn originally, and he trained for some time, before director Peter Jackson decided to make a change and bring in someone older, Viggo Mortensen.

Monaghan told the Manchester Evening News that it was especially difficult given the times--in the late 1990s, the lack of technology made it more challenging to communicate, so Townsend left set without much of a goodbye.

"He left very quickly. I think he was probably sad about how it turned out," Monaghan, who played the hobbit Merry, said.

Monaghan also spoke about when he first heard that something was going down. After the end of the first week of filming, producer Barrie Osborne pulled the hobbit actors aside and said he and Peter Jackson needed to speak with them. Monaghan thought he was going to get some positive news, but in fact it was something else.

"In my naivety I just thought they were going to say we'd had a great week, we love what we're seeing, love you guys, have a great weekend blah blah blah. And unfortunately they said Stuart has left the project," he said.

Monaghan said he and his castmates were stunned by the news, in part because he never thought the producers would replace someone after cameras started rolling. Questions also came up about whether Townsend left on his own volition or if he was fired.

"We were all stunned, I didn't think we could get fired at that point, I thought you were in... but it wasn't the case," Monaghan said. "And Sean [Astin] said, 'Well has he left the project or has he been fired?' And I think they were trying to protect Stuart as much as they could. They just said, 'We will let Stuart tell you that, but he's no longer with us.'"

Townsend "just disappeared," Monaghan said, adding that he and the rest of the cast didn't have much time to mourn because of the hectic shooting schedule.

"I saw him years later, and I've seen him here and there," Monaghan said of Townsend. "Obviously it was a big blow for him but it was ruthless, we were working all the time, we had one day off a week. Our hours were ridiculous. We didn't have time to mourn anything you were desperately trying to learn lines and stay on top of it all."

Reflecting on his departure from The Lord of the Rings in a 2005 EW interview, Townsend said he feels better now that some people attached to the movie reportedly admitted that they made the wrong choice to recast the role.

"I finally read an article where the filmmakers said, 'We were totally wrong about Stuart and we accept that it was our fault,' which was so nice because I did get shafted up the a--. I was there rehearsing and training for two months, then was fired the day before filming began," Townsend said. "After that I was told they wouldn't pay me because I was in breach of contract due to not having worked long enough. I had been having a rough time with them, so I was almost relieved to be leaving until they told me I wouldn't be paid. I have no good feelings for those people in charge, I really don't. The director [Peter Jackson] wanted me and then apparently thought better of it because he really wanted someone 20 years older than me and completely different."

Lord of the Rings was recently back in the news after an actor on the new Amazon TV series announced his departure from the show due to creative differences.