Culture news He hated this version of Lord of the Rings: this actor felt offended by Peter Jackson
Among all the great moments of Lord of the Rings, there is a sequence present in the books which did not end up in the cinema version of the third part. An absence which irritated one of the best-known actors of the shoot who made it clear to the director.
Twenty years later, The Lord of the Rings remains one of the best adaptations of fantasy novels on the big screen today.. It must be said that Peter Jackson’s involvement was impressive and we feel his attachment to the basic material. But he wasn’t the only one in this situation. Christopher Lee who plays Saruman on the big screen is also a big fan of JRR Tolkien’s work which pushed him to accept the role even though he wanted that of Gandalf. However, there is one thing that he has hardly forgiven the Australian director.
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An essential scene missing?
Remember. At the end of the second part, The Two Towers, after the defeat of the Uruk-hai at Helm’s Deep, the Ents, these famous giant living trees, end up breaking their neutrality and come to attack Ishengard, the domain of Saruman. By blowing up the dam, the water swallows the base of the tower and all the “factories” in Uruk-hai located there. The magician watches this scene helplessly from the top of the building… and this is the last time we see the character on screen. And that’s what put Christopher Lee beside himself!
To put things in context, the scene of Saruman’s death present in the novel was indeed filmed and was to be included in the third episode, The Return of the King. However, in the version shown in the cinema, this key sequence is completely absent, angering Christophe Lee. The latter was so beside himself that he refused to go to the premiere of the film. For him, this is a more than essential passage, as he explains so well in his own words:
This scene is one of the most important in the entire trilogy, because it pits Saruman, the great mortal enemy, the most evil of them all, against the Fellowship of the Ring!
An angry actor!
To describe the scene to you, Gandalf the White, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli accompanied by the troops of Rohan arrive at the foot of the flooded tower and speak with Saruman who finds himself at the top of the Tower. After casting a spell against his former friend, Saruman sees his staff destroyed and after a short conversation, Grima Snaketongue ends up stabbing the mage in the back before being shot down with an arrow from Legolas.. Saruman then falls from his tower, and that is the end of him.
Fortunately, this scene appears in the long version of The Return of the King, allowing Christopher Lee’s anger to be contained. Some time later, the British actor ended up making amends with Peter Jackson, to the point of calling him to film The Hobbit, even though his character does not appear in the original story. Everything ends well!
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