X-Men Actor Shawn Ashmore Was In An Adaptation Of This Beloved Fantasy Book Series

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There was a moment where it looked like Shawn Ashmore was going to be the next big thing. He starred as Iceman in 2000's "X-Men" and 2003's "X2: X-Men United," which raised the bar for superhero movies at the box office and remains one of the best comic book movie sequels ever made. Then, in 2004, he got the opportunity to lead a TV adaptation of a beloved fantasy book series for the Sci-Fi Channel (before it became Syfy). Things just didn't go as well as anyone involved might have hoped.

"Earthsea" was a two-part miniseries based on the best-selling series of novels by Ursula K. Le Guin. They are considered some of the best fantasy books of all time, so the TV show's source material certainly wasn't lacking. Its cast was equally impressive, with Danny Glover ("Lethal Weapon") and Kristin Kreuk ("Smallville") among those filling out its ranks.

Directed by Robert Lieberman, the series takes place in a magical world. The Amulet of Peace has ensured harmony between humans and dragons for centuries. But when the Amulet is broken and a piece of it disappears, it's up to a novice wizard named Ged (Ashmore) to restore balance and stop a nefarious king from conquering the land.

This was right around the time that "The Lord of the Rings" became the fantasy movie franchise to rule them all, and the Sci-fi Channel was clearly trying to capture that same, hungry audience. The thing is, though, Peter Jackson's films were cinematic miracles with huge budgets and highly skilled craftspeople giving it their all ... whereas, with all due respect to this particular TV network, its productions were never quite on the same level. As a result, there was a lot of untapped potential left on the table with this particular adaptation.

For one, critics of the day were not very kind to "Earthsea." It holds a very poor 2.8 on Letterboxd. Beyond that, there was a bit of controversy. Ursula K. Le Guin stated that the miniseries' director "put words in my mouth" when speaking on the press tour, as she wasn't involved in the making of the show at all. Writing on her personal website in 2005, Le Guin made it clear how she felt about the whole thing, explaining:

"It was hard keeping silence for months while I knew how bad the script was. It was hard watching them spend all that money on PR and hype, and still keeping silent. It was hard, having seen the thing, knowing a lot of people were going to tune in to the Sci Fi Channel that night expecting to see 'Earthsea' ...But I tell you, it was almost worth going through it all, to get such an outpouring of anger, grief, indignation, outrage, and sympathy from you ever since."

Unfortunately for Shawn Ashmore, "Earthsea" wasn't his "Lord of the Rings." Instead, it was a job he had to try and move on from. It didn't help that 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand" is considered one of the worst "X-Men" movies to date. He's continued to work pretty consistently since, but his career never took off in the way it could have.

As for the "Earthsea" books, they've still not received the adaptation they deserve. 2010's "Tales from Earthsea" was an improvement in the eyes of many, but it's regarded as one of Studio Ghibli's worst movies to date. Maybe someone will do them justice one day, but that certainly hasn't happened yet.

You can grab "Earthsea" on DVD from Amazon.