Peter Jackson talks Christopher Lee's casting in LOTR 

Join me LIVE on Tuesday as we chat with director Jon Spira about his new Christopher Lee documentary: ru-vid.comNEihZWIYbSw?feature=share

Man, the fact that Lee wanted badly to be Gandalf but was a better Saruman is so true to the dynamic of those two characters - all Saruman wanted was to be Gandalf, ever since the Grey Pilgrim got the elven ring from Círdan.

“Good as Gandalf, better as Saruman.” I really hope we see that audition tape one day.

His performance as Saruman was simply perfect. I use that word rarely in movies, but I really can't think of anyone else that could have delivered something better or even comparable, nor how it would be even possible to do so. In a trilogy with fantastic casting and acting, he is still among those at the very top.

Christopher Lee is such a badass

"A great eye, lidless, WREATHED in FLAME.." the power he put into the capped words above, especially "flame", seemingly effortless.. oof

Rest in Peace Mr. Lee 🕊️ It was a joy to witness all of your brilliant performances over the years….

Woah! Now I'm picturing his "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!".

We'll never witness something as epic as Peter Jacksons LOTR films ever again:(

As a fellow Lotr fan i often find myself thinking of Sir Chirstopher Lee. His voice, his presence, his knowledge and his stories. I wish i met him... i would just sit back and listen

I could see 1970s Christopher Lee as Morgoth. That would be truly terrifying. There aren't many actors that could pull off being menacing, but command your atttention the way Christopher Lee could.

Christopher Lee = giga chad who knew Tolkien personally and was a Lord of the Rings expert.

Clicked on this so fast. Christopher Lee is my favorite! Was so thrilled he was a part of the LOTR films. His portrayal of Saruman was fantastic.

Woww his voice aged :( Time flies by for each of us.

Good to see Peter looking healthier once again. Similar to how he looked at the start of the Hobbit trilogy!

Now I want to see that audition for Gandalf. I mean: Ian McKellen was so iconic in the role, I think nobody can imagine someone else to play it physically. Not even Sean Connery who was offered the role too.

Thank you for posting this! Just made a pledge to the Kickstarter! The Legend Sir Christopher Lee would be so happy about this project about him!

I could never imagine him playing Gandalf

I went and pre-ordered a blu-ray copy as soon as you first retweeted the filmmakers first tweet! Glad to see this project getting traction!

So, Saruman wanted to be Gandalf? How true to the character, seeing himself as the hero. Christopher Lee was a legend and his Saruman portrayal was absolutely perfect. He elevated the character and made him as memorable as the lead actors with a fraction of their screen time. THAT is perfect casting.

Oof looks like my dream of you interviewing him is coming nearer! 😍🤩🌟

He was a profoundly talented actor ❤

Wish we could have had a short clip of Christopher and Ian swapping rolls in full costume just to see.

It's funny, through all the years and all the "I wonder how this actor would have done in this role" conversations with friends and Saruman was never debated. Lee is just too iconic.

I'm sure he would have been an excellent Gandalf but things worked out superbly with him as Saruman and Ian as Gandalf.

I have such deep admiration for Christopher Lee. He’s like the ultimate man. No comes even close in the modern world to how accomplished he was. After all he’d done and seen, it’s a high bar to reach. I do prefer him as Saruman though. Not just because that’s what I’m used to, and not because he couldn’t act it, but rather I feel he’s got to much of an edgy character to him to play someone with a kind deep admiration for Hobbits. I don’t know if anyone else sees it that way. Let me know what you think.

Christopher Lee was great as Saruman (and as Count Dooku). A great & legendary actor with over 300 things he played in.

I can imagine a reversal with Lee as Gandalf and McKellen as Saruman. That might have worked out well.

He was the only choice for Sauromon. It HAD to be him, I can't even imagine someone else in the role.

Christopher's voice by itself makes him the perfect 'Saruman'. Ironically his voice is as powerful in the movies as it is in the books.

The Hobbit trilogy gets a lot of hate (and rightfully so for a lot of reasons), but the thing that partially redeeems them for me is that we got to see Christopher Lee in his last ever screen role. Not only that, we got to see the good Saruman fighting Nazgul alongside Galadriel and Elrond and being an absolute badass. The moment he shows up and says 'Are You In Need Of Assistance My Lady' is one of those wish fulfillment moments that made the whole audience cheer.

He wasn't a mere mortal. I hope the documentary also show his endeavor in music, especially with being the narrator on Rhapsody's (later "Rhapsody of Fire") albums wich are deeply inspired by Lotr

Man I would love to see that audition tape

While I feel bad for him not getting the role he wanted, the selfish part of me is really glad things worked out the way they did. Ian McKellen was simply the perfect Gandalf. And as Peter said here, no one could have played Saruman like Christopher Lee.

Playing both Saruman AND Gandalf, would've been perfect. I'm Saruman as he was meant to be.

Great audio!

Christopher Lee was amazing in every movie role he tackled, but he was LEGENDARY as Saruman.

Sauraman’s power lay in his voice. Lee was perfect because he could read the phone book and still mesmerize you.

Lee did a fantastic job as sauruman . His acting was so breathtaking. My dad said he was a big Tolkien fan. And I say Lee was the right man for the film.

Peter has a gift for picking the right actor to play the part. Only once in the case of Aragorn his fist pick wasn't right but he corrected that just in time and switched to Viggo.

Nice to see!

I love you Peter

I can imagine Sir Lee being a sweetie and also facing the Durin's bane, but I think no other could speak with the voice of Saruman. PJ managed to put a bit of effort to show him more, I think I can feel that he really wanted to show us more of the wizard, but the movies didn't had any gaps, so tight knit they were.

quick question, is Peter ok? ❤

Lee did have a number of good guy roles in the 50s/60s but eventually became typecast the way Christopher Reeve and Mark Hamill became typecast. You don't see that happen today as actors who play superheroes, villains, James Bond, etc. are now able to expand into other roles.

I believe Saruman was Christopher Lee’s greatest role. He completely embodied that character. I agree that no one could have done the character better.

Would be cool to see Lee as Gandalf and McKellan as Saruman. Never considered McKellan as Saruman but his performance as Magneto shows he could play the villain.

He was just such a perfect fit for Saruman that there’s just no other option. They got the casting on these movies so right.

It's difficult to see Lee as Gandalf. First because of how iconic McKellan was. But also Lee (as he said of Saruman) has such power in his voice alone, and (whether he liked it or not) had cultivated such an aura of menace and presence, that it would be difficult to see him embracing some of Gandalf's more humble characteristics. The fact that the role of Gandalf also required a long, physical shoot would've made it difficult also.

I NEEEED to see his Gandalf

Id LOVE to see the audition footage of christopher lees gandalf and saruman!

Christopher Lee was an icon!

I recall Christopher saying that he did realize that by that time he was too old for the physicality that the role of Gandalf required .

It's hard to imagine a better actor to play Saruman. He was born to play this role.

He was also the ONLY actor before he passed away to have Actually met JRR Tolkien while HE was still alive.

We get a teeny hint of what he might have been like as Gandalf, with his toned-down performance as Saruman in the Hobbit Trilogy where he's not quite as menacing or cold.

LEGEND!!!

Well now I want to see that audition…

He definitely had the acting skills to do a very good Gandalf, I have no doubt, and while I hate type-casting or excluding actors from roles because what they've done earlier, it's just a fact: it wouldn't have worked to have a former Bond-villain, and a guy who played Dracula in several movies (being a 70s kid when I think of Christopher Lee I think of him as Dracula), to play an angelic being that DOESN'T succumb to the evil side. All of us with my experience would feel that something is off with Gandalf, from the start, and it just wouldn't sit right. Gandalf is one of the very few uncorruptable beings in LOTR (even if there are more of them in the novel than in the movies), so to have even the shadow of a doubt cast over Gandalf, unconsciously or because you just associate the actor playing him with "villainous" roles would have been severely detrimental. Now I realize that a large portion of the audience who watched these movies when they came out were a lot younger than me (I was 27 at the time of the first movie) and had never watched Christopher Lee in anything, nor had they read the LOTR novel (as I had). Buuuuttttt, again, in a very calculated way - and correct in my opinion - the casting team decided to not risk anything. And as they say here, Christoper Lee was PERFECT as Saruman, I literally cannot think of an actor that would have done a better job.

The casting of Lord of the Rings could not have been better!

I read that Christopher Lee read "The Lord of the Rings" every year for over 30 years prior to the movie being released. Sir Ian McKellen was fantastic of Gandalf, warm hearted but stern. However, it was a very "Hollywood" casting where someone who looks gentle is the good guy whereas casting Christopher Lee as Gandalf would have flipped everyone upside down where someone who has almost always played the "bad guy" ended up as the good guy. I actually would have loved to have seen that.

And then his death scene was cut out of the theatrical release. That was such a weird decision to make.

Fortunately Mr Lee will no doubt rise from his grave again in a few years and honor us with even more amazing films.

I would LOVE to see that Gandalf audition from Christopher...

What’s not mentioned in this video is that Sir Christopher Lee had actually met Tolkien before he died, and the author gave Sir Christopher his blessing to play Gandalf should his work be adapted for screen. I am sure that Professor Tolkien would have definitely agreed that Sir Christopher was a perfect Saruman.

PJ is a fantastic diplomat.

They need to release the footage of Sir Christopher Lee auditioning as Gandalf.

Can Jackson please, please bring us these 3 things: 1) his video he describes here, of Christopher Lee auditioning as Gandalf - the world needs to see this 2) the early AI tests he described, where his AI soldiers ended up getting too "intelligent" and running away from the battle lol 3) a commentary video of his Tintin film w Spielberg, featuring UK film critics David THOMSON and David THOMPSON

Having Saruman die like the Count from one of Hammer’s Dracula movies was a bit of a cheap move (and a bit of an insult to Lee) on Jackson’s part. There were way too many happy endings during the finale of The Return Of The King. Looking back, seeing the chapter The Scouring Of The Shire referenced in some way (with the book’s less cliched ending for Saruman) would have been preferable. Tolkien would have hated the ending that was filmed.

Christopher lee probably could have done gandalf the white as good as ian mckellan, maybe even better, but the reason we all fell in love woth gandalf was gandalf the grey and no one can top ian mckellan at that.

Pete looks and sounds like my Nan after so recovered from a stroke. Wonder if something like that happened in the last few years and was kept private.

Perfect Saruman, perfect as voicing king haggard in the last unicorn too.

I can see him being Gandalf, but he has such a great villainous presence!

As much as he would’ve love to play Gandolf I’m happy he excepted the role of Saruman Otherwise the live action movies would be just off. RIP Christopher Lee we miss you.

Pretty much everyone was perfect for their role imo :)

Let's go 😎! all things Lord of the Rings .

Just curious about his scenes that Peter left out of the final mix. Cbristopher wasnt too happy about that as I recall. Anyone clue me in on this?

They should've cast him both roles.

Allegedly, Tolkien himself had given Christopher Lee his blessing to play Gandalf

HOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOO PETER dont get old i love you

I thought the whole point of that well known story is that Christopher Lee is the only one who had met Tolkien and he has endorsed him for Gandalf.

I would've liked to see him as Gandalf. It would've been interesting.

Damn i wanna see that audition as Gandalf

I think he would be a great Gandalf. The problem is who is intimidating enough to then play Saruman.

Ian just displayed that warmth and kindness better. No offense to christopher. It made more sense why the fellowship and especially frodo to love ians gandalf so much.

I just wish Peter didn't cut Sir Lee in the (theatrical version) RotK. He was terribly disappointed.

I think he would have been a great Gandalf and honestly I think McKellen could have been a great Saruman (watch his Richard III or his Macbeth). The big thing that counts against Lee is his age. Lee was 17 years older than McKellen and its doubtful that he could have done as much of the physical stuff for Gandalf in the original movies and they would have had to recast for the Hobbit movies.

Christopher Lee was spectacular as Saruman. Wonder what he would have done with Gandalf though.

What a choice it was RIP C. Lee

If you liked him so much as Sauron, then why did cut him out of the movie?

I do genuinely miss Tolkien's original ending for Saruman in Jackson's LOTR. That shortcut was not well done at all. I wanted to see The Scouring of the Shire and watch Sam with his 'box of dirt' restore the Shire.

Has PJ been ill recently?

His voice has changed entirely

Who else could fight Yoda, Gandalf, and James Bond

The late Sir Christopher (may he rest in peace) was perfect as Saruman but I think he would’ve made a good Gandalf. Not as perfect as Sir Ian but still good.

Crikey! How do you break the news to Christopher Lee that he wasn't going to be Gandalf? Brave man that Peter Jackson in more ways than one.

I hated how they squandered Saruman in the third movie. And his death being a reference to Hammer was silly. Saruman was essential to the third book. Tolkien and Lee were actually friends by the way.

Is this Matt's shortest video?,😂

Is PJ okay? He seems visibly older and maybe ill

A great actor, real life WW2 SOE operative, and a lunatic woo beliver! Quite the life!