Viggo Mortensen's career-defining role as Aragorn was not originally meant to be. In fact, the film trilogy had an entirely different actor cast in the role before a dramatic change had Mortensen flying from America to New Zealand at the last minute to give one of his most memorable performances. And it all came together thanks to a 12-year-old boy.
The original actor
Peter Jackson was said to have considered a number of actors for the role of Aragorn, including Russell Crowe, Nicolas Cage, Dougray Scott, and Daniel Day-Lewis. But it was Irish actor Stuart Townsend who was cast as Aragorn. However, Townsend famously lost the role when Jackson had a breakthrough revelation: the actor was just not right for the part. At 27, he was too young.
Naturally, Townsend wasn't thrilled. He said he trained for months and was prepared to go, before he was fired just one day before filming was due to begin. As Townsend tells it, he believes Jackson wanted someone older and didn't realize this until late in the process.
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