Why Peter Jackson Is Glad Sean Connery Turned Down Gandalf In Lord Of The Rings

Whenever a movie makes it big, one of the natural follow-up questions is "who had a chance to get on board early and turned it down?" Whether it's for personal reasons, scheduling issues, or simply not "feeling it," actors often get offered parts in a project and then turn them down, even when those parts were written with them in mind. One of the most famous of these was Sean Connery passing on the opportunity to play Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings."

In an interview with Empire for the 25th anniversary of "The Fellowship of the Ring," director Peter Jackson was asked how he felt about Connery turning down the role. In response, he took a moment to imagine what that would have looked like and then started his answer with an imitation of Connery's well-known Scottish brogue: "I am the wielder of a sccchecret fire." After the light-hearted start, he got real:

"Look, I'm only speculating, but I just can't imagine Sean Connery being as supportive as Ian McKellen was, and being as willing to do whatever we wanted as Ian was, and being as tolerant as Ian was. And there were the tee times to consider."

Jackson had previously lauded the Gandalf actor from England, saying, "You just like him. He's a twinkly-eyed old rascal." McKellen certainly brought a magic to the role that has, in many ways, made it his own.

Sean Connery wasn't the only one to miss out on the Middle-earth fun. There were many other actors who turned down the "Lord of the Rings" franchise. Russell Crowe famously walked away from the role of Aragorn (he starred in his breakout role in "Gladiator" right around the same time). Uma Thurman said she couldn't play Éowyn because she was pregnant. Sam Neill turned down an undisclosed role because it conflicted with his schedule for "Jurassic Park III." Adrien Brody is pretty sure he said no to an offer to play one of the hobbits (and regretted it as soon as he went to watch the movies in the theater).

And Gandalf? That role was bounced past a few different actors before it landed in Sir Ian McKellen's lap. Along with Connery, David Bowie was considered for the role, but he was too busy at the time. Patrick Stewart revealed he was asked to play Gandalf, too, but he wanted to play another character, and it just didn't work out. Christopher Plummer couldn't even remember why he said no. (At least he's a fan.) McKellen has said that Anthony Hopkins turned the role down, too. McKellen Gandalf fans should be grateful that things ended up the way they did. There were a lot of "might have beens" along the way to that clearly elite option.

While there's no end to the speculation of what things would have looked like in the past if others had filled key roles in "The Lord of the Rings," there's also the question of the future. Warner Bros. has officially greenlit "The Hunt for Gollum" movie, and the casting for that has been vague and, frankly, all over the place.

We know that Peter Jackson is back to produce, and Andy Serkis is going to direct. After that, things get hazy. Some actors, like Orlando Bloom, have teased that they were approached to return. Others, like Liv Tyler, have said they want to come back.

And Ian McKellen? Rumors have popped up from time to time claiming he's reprising his role as Gandalf. He's even said a few things himself. But in the more recent anniversary interviews, the actor actually put a damper on the chatter. He didn't say he's not involved. Here's how he put it when asked how he was feeling about playing Gandalf again in "The Hunt for Gollum":

"I don't think that has actually been decided. And certainly you can't put it in your magazine as fact. Gandalf is in that movie, I think that's not a secret. But there are still some things to be worked out."

Okay then. While we settle in for the interminably long wait for "The Hunt for Gollum" (Andy Serkis has confirmed a December 2027 release date), fans can continue to enjoy Sean Connery-less rewatches of "The Lord of the Rings" — and here's hoping we get another season of "The Rings of Power" in the interim, too.