Andy Serkis reveals Viggo Mortensen’s reaction to the casting of the new Aragorn in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’: “absolutely thrilled”

One of the biggest pieces of news regarding the cast of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’ is that Viggo Mortensen, the actor who played Aragorn in the original trilogy, will not be reprising his role as the Ranger. Jamie Dornan has been cast to take on the character. In an interview with the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, director and star Andy Serkis revealed Mortensen’s reaction to this casting decision.

Without getting into too many specifics, Serkis has made it clear that Mortensen is thrilled with the casting choice: “I really, really don’t want to go into it right now because I do want to save that for, you know, further down the line,” he said in response to a question about Mortensen. “I’m gonna save all discussion about casting. Other than that, we are thrilled that Jamie’s doing it. I mean, we’re, you know, we’re absolutely thrilled. And, by the way, so is Viggo.”

Viggo Mortensen’s seal of approval

The podcast host replied, “Oh, good, seal of approval—that means a lot.” And Serkis replied: “100%.” Although the filmmaker didn’t want to discuss the Viggo Mortensen matter, he did express excitement about reuniting with actors from the previous trilogies, such as Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Elijah Wood (Frodo), and Lee Pace (Thranduil); he also celebrated the opportunity to work with Jaime Dornan himself, Leo Woodball (Halvard), and Kate Winslet (Marigol).

Viggo Mortensen hasn’t explained why he decided not to appear in the film, but he made it clear at the time that the script was the most important factor for him.

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‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’ is set to premiere on December 17, 2027. Filming will begin this summer in New Zealand.

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