David Bowie Was Almost In Lord Of The Rings

Could David Bowie have been in ‘Lord of the Rings’?

Quite possibly, it seems, according to Dominic Monaghan, who witnessed the Thin White Duke going for his audition.

Speaking to the Huffington Post, the actor – who landed the role of Merry in the Peter Jackson epics – set the scene.

“I was at the Hubbard’s, which is a pretty notorious casting agency office in London,” he said, “doing an audition for 'Lord of the Rings,’ and when it ended I went over and talked to John Hubbard, who was running the audition, and he said, 'Hey, it went really well. You should wait around for 5 or 10 mins. We’ll give you some feedback.

“I thought, 'Oh, OK, cool, and I sat in the reception office. As I was reading a magazine waiting, David Bowie came in and signed his little list and went in.

“And I’m assuming he read for Gandalf. I can’t think of anything else he would’ve read for.

“He may have read for something else, but I’m a huge David Bowie fan, and I was lucky enough to know his son now so just seeing him in person was pretty special to me.”

Looking back into 'Lord of the Rings’ movie lore, however, it seems that Bowie was more likely auditioning for the role of Elrond than Gandalf, which eventually went to Hugo Weaving, a much lesser-known actor at the time.

Jackson has said that he intentionally cast lesser-known actors, telling Entertainment Weekly back in 2001: “These are famous, famous characters, loved for nearly 50 years. To have a famous, beloved character and a famous star colliding is slightly uncomfortable.”

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Image credits: AP/New Line