I think that Daniel Day Lewis would have been superb as Aragorn. Not that Viggo is bad but Day-Lewis has been superb in everything he has been in and one look at The Last of the Mohicans shows that he could do the whole action thing.<P>And that picture of Stuart Townsend?? What were they thinking of?

I am so glad that Viggo was asked to play Aragorn. He plays Aragorn so well that it is scary.

I doubt Daniel Day Lewis would have wanted to have anything to do with the Lord of the Rings. The fact that he simply does not enjoy acting would not bode well for his chances of playing a part which would require him to do two straight non-stop years of it!<P>I heard a rumor recently which I had not heard before that Donald Sutherland was considered for the part of Denethor Steward of Gondor. Did anyone else hear about this?

Yes I did hear the rumor of Donald Sutherland playing Denethor. And I totally agree with you LordofAngmar. Daniel Day Lewis enjoys acting very little, it would be highly unlikely that he would be in LOTR, I mean two years of shooting, that is next to impossible for him.

I was thinking Arnold Schwarzenegger would have been pretty interesting as the voice of Treebeard.<P>"Lee-tol orcs, Boo-RA-oommm!"<P>I guess it's just me. <P>H.C.

Whatever elven Maiden david bowie would have rocked as elrond. David Bowie rocks as anything

Stuart Townsend would have made a much better Denethor (he'd have to be aged a LOT) or an Annatar, because he's got that slightly creepy/seductive look about him (for those who've seen League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). <P>I think that the cast are absolutely perfect in their roles, and any other actor/actress would have changed the Frodo, Eowyn, Arwen, etc. that we know and love. One of the reasons those specific actors/actresses were picked was for their personality and their humility. They recognized that it was an honor to be in such an epic venture, and accepted the role that they were given. If it had been a more high-profile actor/actress, used to getting his/her way on set, then the characters would have been irreparably changed (unless PJ fired them all and hired a new cast, which would be a waste of time and money).

Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who) was just beating to Bilbo by Ian Holm.<P>thinking of the doctors, I always thought Tom Baker would have made an excellent Gandalf.

Donald Sutherland (just checked him out):<P>- good for the role, probably, but I *much* prefer John.<P>Stuart Townsend... now I wouldn't complain if he wanted the role

heh heh...if we had Donald Sutherland for Denethor, we could have had Kiefer for Faramir *swoon*. Only Sean Bean could play Boromir!!!<P>

Stuart Townsend would have been great for Annatar! (Sauron's alter ego). I agree he's got a very strange look about him. He looks awesome but also something terribly wrong with him (in the League of Extraodinary Gentlemen).

But then again, playing a character like Dorian Grey would make an actor appear quite "strange."