Speaking to The Guardian about why he turned down a role in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, explained, “Before they started shooting, back in 2008, one of the producers did ask if I would be interested. I said, ‘You do know, don’t you, that Aragorn isn’t in The Hobbit? That there is a 60-year gap between the books?'”
It’s not as daft as it sounds, though there is a 50-60 year gap between the films, Aragon is 87 at the Battle of Helm’s Deep – that’s magical aging, or elven heritage for you. So it’s entirely possible we could have seen some digital de-aging going on for the once and future king of Gondor.
“I’m interested in seeing that world again, and seeing what Peter Jackson’s done, how he’s made use of the improvements in special effects and cameras and the different way of shooting, which will probably enhance the visual aspect of the experience, the sound also.
“And I’m interested in seeing how he’s managed to make three movies out of a relatively slim volume…Jackson is a clever person – I’m sure he’ll have done something really interesting with it.”
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is in cinemas 13 December 2013. You can pick up The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD now from Amazon.co.uk.
