A Major Lord Of The Rings Actor Has Never Watched The Complete Trilogy

Actors aren't required to watch all of their projects. Heck, sometimes actors totally forget they were in a movie in the first place. That isn't the case for Liv Tyler. Fans of Peter Jackson's trilogy have ensured that she remembers all too well that she was in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Nevertheless, in a recent interview with Empire magazine, Tyler revealed that she hasn't watched all of the movies she played a role in bringing to the silver screen. Here's what she said while trying to remember a scene with fellow actor, Elf queen, and interviewee Cate Blanchett (who may or may not be the best actor ever):

"I remember a scene where we're talking. I think I'm sitting in a chair? I've only seen the first half of the first [film]. I try to play it for my kids, who aren't that interested."

There you have it, folks. 25 years after "The Fellowship of the Ring" came out, Liv Tyler still hasn't watched beyond the first half of that film. One has to wonder if she'll finally get around to it once her kids get old enough for the full Tolkien experience? What will that first-time watch be like, I wonder?

To be clear, this doesn't mean Tyler wasn't committed to the role. On the contrary, in the same interview, when Blanchett complimented her Elvish speech as "mellifluous and beautiful to listen to," Tyler revealed:

"I used to listen to it [Elvish] on cassette tapes. I would walk around listening to it over and over. My character was so interesting because she's not in the book a lot."

Despite her lack of interest in actually watching her performance after the fact, Liv Tyler wasn't just committed to her role. She was in more than audiences saw, too. Stories of Arwen's axed appearance at the Battle of Helm's Deep in "The Two Towers" have long been talked about, and they came up in the interview, too:

"Originally, when I came into the project, I was included in the Fellowship. I was in Helm's Deep, fighting [...] I was there with Viggo and everyone. It was f***g hard, man. It was brutal. And it didn't really work."

That wasn't the only scene that was cut. Blanchett and Tyler also talked about another deleted scene that they were both in. (That's the one she was trying to remember when she talked about sitting in a chair.) Arwen already pops up relatively often throughout the story (as a side character), and a quarter of a century on, we're still hearing tidbits about additional attempts to get her involved in more of the plot.

Pulling Arwen from the fighting wasn't the worst move. The movie trilogy already expands her admittedly minimal role in the books into a much larger on-screen presence. She absolutely influences the story, even if it's from afar at times, to the point where even book-obsessed individuals like yours truly have to consciously think to remember that she really shouldn't be in that famous Black Rider chase scene as Frodo arrives at Rivendell. (That honor originally belonged to the warrior Elf Glorfindel, who might show up soon in another Tolkien project, "The Rings of Power.")

Tyler might be integral to director Peter Jackson's adaptation, and the Elven queen actor even wants to return when the gang gets back together for the upcoming "Hunt for Gollum" film. But it will never cease to amaze me that, despite the elevated role and flawless execution, that isn't enough of a reason to get her to actually, you know, watch it. That has to be a point of pride at this point, right? How many people in the world were in "The Lord of the Rings" and haven't seen it? My guess: one.