'The Lord of the Rings' Cast: Then And Now
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'The Lord of the Rings' Cast
The first The Lord of the Rings movie was released in 2001. Almost 20 years have passed since The Fellowship of the Ring premiered and we will show you where the cast members are now!
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Liv Tyler
This picture is solid evidence of how beautiful Liv Tyler looked during the shoot of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of the trilogy. For her role as "Arwen", Liv even studied the elvish language. Fun fact: Liv had never read any of the books when she was approached to appear in the film. She quickly studied up on Middle-earth lore, to the extent of even learning some Elvish.
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Liv Tyler
After the final movie The Return of the King came out in 2003, Liv had some minor roles in a couple independent films and starred in the box office hit The Strangers with Scott Speedman. From 2014 until 2017, she was part of the regular cast of the HBO show The Leftovers. Since 2020, she has starred in the hit TV show 9-1-1: Lone Star alongside Rob Lowe.
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Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen plays the handsome human "Aragorn", chief of the Rangers of the North. He first introduces himself to the Hobbits as "Strider", keeping his real identity and lineage a secret. He is madly in love with the beautiful "Arwen“ but can’t be with her until he has taken his rightful place as the King of Gondor.
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Viggo Mortensen
By now, the Danish-American actor is in his late fifties and still looks incredible. His last appearances were in the independent film Captain Fantastic and in the Oscar-winning movie Green Book, for which he received his second and third Best Actor nominations. He was already nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for the film A Dangerous Method in 2011.
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Elijah Wood
The Lord of the Rings made Elijah Wood to one of the most popular actors on the planet. As "Frodo" he displayed his huge talent throughout all three films - and convinced both the fans and the critics. Fun fact: Director Peter Jackson gave one of the rings used in the movies to both Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis as a gift when the shoot was finished. They both thought they had the only one.
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Elijah Wood
Today he still is a successful actor and looks pretty much the same. He reprised his role as "Frodo" for one last time in first few minutes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. His other roles in recent years include the lead in the popular TV show Wilfred and in the Netflix feature film I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore.
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Sean Astin and Elijah Wood
Sean Astin played "Frodo’s“ gardener "Samwise Gamgee ", who quickly becomes his best friend and most trusted companion. The loyal and devoted "Sam" is the only one, who dares to follow "Frodo" all the way to Mordor and ultimately to "the end of all things" inside the fiery depths of Mount Doom.
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Sean Astin
Would you have recognized him? After the successful The Lord of the Rings trilogy Sean was mainly seen in productions for TV. He had a small part in the hit movie 50 First Dates alongside Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in 2004. He also starred in the second season of the Netflix hit show Stranger Things 2017.
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Dominic Monaghan
The role of "Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck" brought him worldwide fame. Dominic had loved The Lord of the Rings ever since he was a teenager - he had already read Tolkien's three-part novel by the time he was 13. Fun fact: Dominic was one of the first British actors cast for the trilogy and one of the tasks director Peter Jackson charged him with was to coach Elijah Wood and Sean Astin in the ways of British pub culture.