This is how ‘The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim’ brought back Saruman 10 years after the actor’s death

On June 7, 2015, actor Christopher Lee passed away at the age of 93. Shortly before, he had recorded his last sequences as Saruman for ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy, which culminated his cinematographic journey in 2014. The veteran performer could no longer travel to New Zealand due to health reasons, but he was able to film his sequences in a studio in London. A decade after his death, Saruman will return for ‘The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim’, an anime film directed by Kenji Kamiyama and set in the universe of the Peter Jackson adaptations. The character will be played by Christopher Lee himself, but how did they achieve it?

In an interview with The One Ring, producer Philippa Boyens explained what the process was like. And no, artificial intelligence has had nothing to do with it. The creative team has used archival recordings to shape the interpretation: “When we riched out to Gitte, Lady Lee, who is sadly no longer with us, (-) She honestly said the thing that I think Peter [Jackson] felt in his heart which was ‘actually, Sir Christopher [Lee] would have wanted this”. And so, we went into his records, I got to go back and hear his voice, not just doing the lines but talking to us as we were recording him. And so we based it on one of his lines from ‘The Hobbit’, which was are you in need of assistance, my lady?’”

They ruled out hiring another actor to imitate his voice

Taking that line of dialogue as a reference, they considered whether they could use it in the film. “We can see how many shots he took, is it possible to use them? Can we find another interpretation and change it a little? And our guys did it, but it’s based on an authentic performance by Christopher Lee.” Boyens assured that they would not have done it if they had not been sure it would work. They also thought about looking for someone who could imitate his voice, but they came to the conclusion that there was no one who could do it. “I’m so glad we used his own voice, it’s fantastic.”

‘The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim’ is set centuries before the original trilogy. It is not clear if the appearance of Saruman will be a cameo or something more, but what is certain is that there is a second character who returns: Miranda Otto will once again play Éowyn, who will take the role of narrator of the story. The film will hit theaters on December 13th.

Follow MeriStation USA on X (formerly known as Twitter). Your video game and entertainment website for all the news, updates, and breaking news from the world of video games, movies, series, manga, and anime. Previews, reviews, interviews, trailers, gameplay, podcasts and more. Follow us now!