Here’s a must-read post at tor.com, that talks about the other actors that Jackson considered for the part of Aragorn.
Indispensable from this post: the commentary of the writer, Emily Asher-Perrin:
Nicolas Cage is never anyone but Nicolas Cage. We all know this. He has an irrefutable Cage-ness. He’s great at extremes because that is clearly where he lives. His vocal delivery does not conform to other languages or accents—they must bend around him. He would have never blended in with the ensemble cast that Jackson ended up assembling. Suddenly, the king’s return would seem like the entire point of the LOTR trilogy. Frodo? Who’s that? What’s this Ring thing about?
All I can see is Cage.
It would have been the most distracting casting choice of the 21st century, and the 21st century had only just begun.
You really must click through to read the rest, admire the pictures, and consider the alternate-history LotR movies that might have existed.
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So there’s another bullet dodged in getting the LotR movies to be as good as they are. I’ve listened to enough of the Return of the King commentary to know about two narrowly-averted catastrophes from the scripts, so I suppose adding one from casting isn’t surprising.
[reads article]
…or rather, more than one. In addition to Cage as Aragon — probably the most egregious — Stuart Townshend [whom I don’t really know, but looks unpersuasive] was *actually cast* in the role. And much as I admire Sean Connery, casting him as Gandalf? No.
I agree with all points! I tried to imagine those other casting decisions and . . . just no.