The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf was almost the narrator of the film

“The world has changed. I see it in the water, I feel it in the land, I feel it in the air. remember…”

These few words, mysteriously pronounced from the first seconds of The Fellowship of the Ring by the Elf Galadriel (played by Cate Blanchett), still resonate today for all fans of the famous saga like a call to adventure, like the beginning of an epic, the first lines of an ancestral work.

Lasting 7 minutes and 30 seconds, this masterful introduction to the trilogy serves as a gateway for newcomers to Middle-earth, but also as a contextual reminder, tracing the long journey of the One Ring from its creation until its meeting with Bilbo Baggins.

Carried by the remarkable staging of a more inventive Peter Jackson than ever, the sequence is therefore lulled by the enchanting tone of the actress. However, as we learn in the audio commentary of the film, the narration of this scene was almost entrusted to a completely different actor.

Indeed, at the start, it was Ian McKellen, interpreter of the Magician Gandalf, that the production had thought of to vocally embody the prologue of the Lord of the Rings:

“At one point there was talk of Gandalf telling the story, and I begged them to do so”recalls Ian McKellen, apparently disappointed not to have been chosen. “They said to me: ‘You have enough to do in this film, you are not going to do the prologue more.’ When you see it, I wonder if you think it’s Galadriel or if you recognize Cate Blanchett. It’s not the same thing.”

Ian McKellen and Cate Blanchett were not the only two candidates considered by Peter Jackson to narrate the sequence. As he reveals in the same audio commentary, Elijah Wood, who plays the Hobbit Frodo in the trilogy, was also approached to take on this role:

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“It’s difficult to express yourself on such a brilliant narration”he confided. “It was originally written for Frodo. But I’m glad Cate did it. In a way it makes more sense.”

“Elves have been around for thousands of years”then replies Sean Astin, alias Sam Gamegie. “She was there when it happened. If you had, there would have been no suspense. Frodo can only talk about the story after he has lived it.”

Once again, Samwise (Sam Sagace) will have shown himself worthy of his nickname: a story can only be told after it has been lived. Therefore, as much to entrust the narration to a peripheral protagonist to the main plot, and moreover immortal, in order to preserve all the suspense for central characters such as Gandalf or Frodo.

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