With six films and a television series, The Lord of the Rings has certainly given fans plenty to talk about over the years, and if that is not enough, a new film focusing on Gollum/Smeagol is in the works. Both Peter Jackson and Andy Serkis will be back to helm The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, but they could very well see another familiar face.
In an interview with GQ, Viggo Mortensen, who played the iconic role of Aragon in the original trilogy, shared that he was more than happy to don the boots again of the legendary hero, as long as it makes sense, of course.
“Sure. I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard. Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually. I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot,” Mortensen said about The Hunt for Gollum. “I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth. I would only do it if I was right for the character. It would be silly to do it otherwise.”
According to Jackson, who was speaking to Deadline, many things are still up in the air, including who will cross paths with Gollum. But what is most important is showing off the personalities within the character.
“The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic. I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there’s a little bit of both of them in all of us,” Jackson said.
“We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films. It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from [original author J.R.R. Tolkien].”
Will that include a meeting with Aragon in the past, perhaps as Strider? That will definitely get people excited, and considering that The Hunt for Gollum is the first of two new Lord of the Rings films, the more people get behind what Warner Bros. describes as a “largely underused franchise,” the better. in the meantime, we can all look forward to Season 2 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which will premiere on August 29.
