Martin Freeman would have been a much better Frodo. Elijah isn’t even in the top 100 list of actors that I would cast as Frodo.
The LOTR movies succeeded despite him.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Elijah. I just feel that he was miscast in those films.
Damn, that’s a seriously unpopular one!
But, consider this.
It wasn’t so much Elijah by himself that made his Frodo great.
It was the chemistry and dynamic he had with other actors, especially Astin. The way they played off of each other made the movies great. It was synergy. Mind you, Astin killed it as Sam. Just a brilliant performance, and he could have carried anyone as Frodo the way Sam carried Frodo.
But the two of them? Possibly the most amazing duo performance I’ve ever seen. They made each other better, and the way they expressed the lines together was bloody art. I genuinely don’t think there are many actors that could have paired up as well as they did.
Are there other actors that could have done a better Frodo in other ways? I wouldn’t argue with anyone that said yes. There’s certainly plenty that could have done as well (though Wood does bring a delicate vulnerability to the role that’s hard to deny).
I’ve seen suggestions of alternative casting for every role, but I can’t think of any for Frodo and Sam that would have been so magical.
Thank you. I appreciate your perspective so much!
Huh. That’s true. I’ve never even thought to question Sam’s casting. Sean Astin is the emotional bedrock of the trilogy. Elemental.
Alright then, keep your opinions
This would be one of the best unpopular opinions posts Lemmy has had yet … if you had provided any reasons. Without reasons it’s just meh though.
Production began in October of 1999. I can’t find a definitive date for casting but I’m guessing it would have been '99 as well.
Martin Freeman would have been “acting” for all of 2 years with basically 1 short and a couple of minor TV appearances to his name.
Elijah Wood and Sean Astin each had been working for over a decade when cast, with dozens of credits each.
Not saying Martin couldn’t have done it (I think he would have nailed the role!), but it would have been a BOLD choice to cast a total newcomer to the lead of your $250M moonshot of a trilogy.
Plenty of movies cast newcomers for lead roles, but what are the chances Martin Freeman would be on anyone’s radar for the role?
I misread and now I want to see Morgan Freeman as Frodo
I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they’re gone.
Fuck you making me read with his voice lol
As I read that, the dictation voice in my head was all Morgan Freeman.
well… yes… its a direct quote from shawshank redemption that morgan freeman spoke in the film
Same, but we are probably just a few years away from getting an AI to make this change.
I know it can already be done, but I mean be done easily.
Strong disagree. Take my upvote.
Oh I see, you’ve mistaken this page for “wrong opinions”
This is for unpopular ones.
I disagree, but I do agree that the character of Frodo wasn’t what it could’ve been.
There’s a bit in the behind the scenes stuff where they’re recording that part at the very end, Frodo finishing the book and then admitting to Sam about his stab wound never really healing.
They do a take, and Elijah is delivering his lines in that absurdly slow, sleepy way that is both annoying during a watch but endlessly memeable afterwards. And then Peter Jackson is all like “ok let’s take it again but this time even slower”
So tldr I blame Jackson for depicting the character as so frustratingly wet.
Good point on your part. For my part, he has never been Frodo for me. Not after reading the book so many times since I was a tyke. I don’t think Elijah is a bad actor, at all, but he never fit Frodo, at least in my mind. Not in temperament nor in look.
Finally, a truly unpopular opinion (which I don’t share)
Martin Freeman wasn’t a good Bilbo, would have been even worse as Frodo, and a disgrace as Arthur Dent. He was good in Fargo though. And plays a good Watson.
However Martin Sheen would have been magnificent. Watch him in Good Omens - Bilbo to a tea!
Fyi you’re thinking of Michael Sheen, not Martin Sheen. I agree though, Michael Sheen would have probably been amazing as Bilbo
Blast! I was sure I’d typed Michael!
I quite liked him as Arthur Dent.
He’s the reason I can’t watch the movies. Something about his face is off putting. I don’t blame the guy, that’s just the face he’s got, but it makes me uncomfortable somehow.
I know he looked nothing like the cartoon.
They just took away all his good lines. Imagine movie Frodo laying down the law to Gollum:
In the last need, Sméagol, I should put on the Precious; and the Precious mastered you long ago. If I, wearing it, were to command you, you would obey, even if it were to leap from a precipice or to cast yourself into the fire. And such would be my command. So have a care, Sméagol!
I think if they had gone with the wise and courageous Frodo from the books then Elijah Wood would have been better at delivering this sort of line than Martin Freeman.
OH. Ohhh. Is that why Gollum cast himself into the fire? When was that line? Did that command just actually take effect?
No, I don’t think Frodo ever does tell him to jump.
More relevant is that Gollum swore an oath by the Ring not to harm Frodo, and Frodo warns him thay the Ring will hold him to his word cruelly. Then when Gollum does betray Frodo, Bam! Straight in the lava.
I believe it’s just intended to be foreshadowing of Gollum’s fate, not suggesting that Frodo actually used the ring on him.
I think Elijah Wood did a great Frodo, but one very different from the books. Now, the same PJ LOTR but with a middle-aged academic/retired-gardener/country-gentleman as Frodo… that would be interesting.
I actually agree with you 100 percent. I really did not like the way Elijah Wood played Frodo. His facial expressions any time he’s in pain or scared just ruin the scene for me.
