Liam Neeson turned down a role in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ because of ‘Star Wars’
The actor didn’t want his character to die again at the beginning of a trilogy.
At the end of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’, Boromir redeems himself and fights the Uruk-hai to buy Frodo time. Shortly before, he had tried to steal the One Ring from him. His fate is sealed at Parth Galen, where he dies pierced by arrows. Boromir is played by Sean Bean in ‘The Lord of the Rings’, but that role could have gone to Liam Neeson... if it hadn’t been for ‘Star Wars’.
At least, that’s what some leaks from CBS suggest. Liam Neeson was one of the candidates to be part of the main cast of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but the actor didn’t want to repeat the situation of Qui-Gon Jinn. In The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s master dies at the hands of Darth Maul. Therefore, he does not appear throughout the trilogy, although the character later returned in The Clone Wars and in a cameo appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Bruce Willis and Nicolas Cage could also have been Boromir
Neeson did not want to play another character who would die so soon. In addition, the actor was filming Gangs of New York at the time. It is said, rumored, and recounted that Bruce Willis was also interested in playing Boromir, although it is unknown whether he actually auditioned for the role. Another actor who could have played the character was Nicolas Cage himself, although in the end it was Sean Bean who got the part.
After the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson directed the three Hobbit films. This cinematic universe was expanded with the anime War of the Rohirrim, but it will return to live action with The Hunt for Gollum, directed by Andy Serkis.
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