The Lord of the Rings trilogy has a downright fantastic cast that helped make the films timeless classics. Few can match the wisdom of gentleman Ian McKellen as Gandalf, or Viggo Mortensen’s performance as Aragorn. Before these actually got the roles, however, many auditioned to be part of making history, and one of them was none other than James Corden.
Today, Corden is best known for his talk show (which he is due to leave in 2023) and for being rude to restaurant staff, but in the late 1990s he was hoping for a big break by securing the role of Samwise Gamgee. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Corden revealed that “everyone in London” was trying to land a role in The Lord of the Rings.
Corden was actually called back after his first audition, but as you know, it led nowhere. However, the presenter doesn’t seem too bothered by the turn of events and says he can still enjoy the films.
Considering how well Sean Astin played Samwise Gamgee, we’re guessing that in the end, no one would want to replace him with James Corden as Mr. Frodo’s gardener in The Lord of the Rings?
