The Lord of the Rings is one of the most memorable film franchises with an incredible fan base. It is also considered to be a timeless classic that has some of the most iconic characters. This trilogy became the turning point for all the actors who were part of the film. Since then, all of them have ventured into various other projects and continue to prove their worth. Let us look at the accomplishments of the cast before and after The Lord of the Rings.
Orlando Bloom (Legolas)
Orlando Bloom was seen in an episode of Midsomer Murders and even played the role of Todd Blackburn in Black Hawk Down. The Lord of the Rings became a turning point in his life as it helped showcase his acting talent.
Bloom bagged many contracts after The Lord of the Rings franchise; he was seen in movies like The Pirates of the Caribbean, The Three Musketeers, and The Kingdom of Heaven. He even acted in the Netflix series Easy and The Carnival Row on Amazon Prime.
Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins)
Elijah Wood’s acting credits before The Lord of the Rings were Paradise, Radio Flyer, and Flipper. He took on the role of Frodo Baggins. In one of his interviews, Wood stated that he was thrilled to play the part.
Ever since the franchise, Wood has continued acting in films like Celeste and Jesse Forever and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He has also been part of films like Come to Daddy, The Last Witch Hunter, and Happy Feet. He also appeared in a show called Wilfred.
Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)
Cate Blanchett had already made her place in Hollywood for her notable performances in movies like The Gift and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Her role in Elizabeth captured international attention even landed her on the Oscar nomination list for the Best Actress category.
Post The Lord of the Rings, Blanchett became a well-known face in Hollywood. She was recently seen in Mrs.America, Hulu’s series, and Where’d You Go, Bernadette? She was also seen in movies like Blue Jasmine and The Aviator, for which she received two Academy Awards.
Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf the White)
Sir Ian McKellen was already one of the high-respected and well-known actors who had received the Golden Globe, Tony, and Olivier awards to his credit. His role as Gandalf, the White in The Lord of the Rings, was appreciated by all.
McKellen continued his acting career and acted in movies like Beauty and the Beast and The Da Vinci Code. He also worked in the X-Men franchise as Magneto and played the role of Gus the Theatre Cat in 2019 film Cats.
Miranda Otto (Eowyn)
Otto was already famous for being part of the cast in movies like What Lies Beneath, In the Winter Dark and Human Nature before she was cast as Eowyn in the second installment of the trilogy.
The roles kept coming for Otto even after she starred in the trilogy of the popular movie series. She bagged roles in Homeland, War of the Worlds, and Frankenstein. Recently, she was seen in the Netflix original The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Hugo Weaving (Elrond)
Hugo Weaving is a famous face in the Australian Television industry with series like Bloodline. He even featured in movies likes Queen of the Desert, The Adventures of Pricilla, and Proof before playing the role of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings.
Since then, Weaving has starred in various films and has also been a voice-over artist. He played the voice character for the Transformers franchise as Megatron and was also seen in Hacksaw Ridge and V for Vendetta.
Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck)
British actor Dominic Monaghan had already had some credits and was featured in films, TV series, music videos, and video games. He was seen with projects like Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and HostileWaters before he took on Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck in The Lord of the Rings.
Post the trilogy, he was seen in the TV Series Lost and movies like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and even hosted a program called Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan.
John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)
John Rhys-Davies is an actor and voice-over artist who was already seen in multiple films, including the Indian Jones franchise and The Living Daylights, before taking on the role of Gimli as well as voicing the character Treebeard from The Lord of the Rings.
His acting career took a turn for the better with films like Once Upon a Time, Aquaman, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. He will soon be voicing and acting the character of Graves in the video game Star Citizen.
Sean Bean (Boromir)
Before he played Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, Sean Bean had already established himself as an actor with films like Goldeneye, Patriot Games, and Black Beauty. He even worked in television series like Family Guy.
Post The Lord of the Rings, he was seen in the mega-hit television series Game of Thrones as Eddard “Ned” Stark. He was also seen recently in the 2020 released film Possessor and was the voice for the character Bill Goodfellow in the animated fantasy adventure film Wolfwalkers.
Billy Boyd (Peregrin “Pippin” Took)
Billy Boyd is a musician and Scottish actor who has been part of various film, television, and video games projects. His versatility and unique talent bagged him the role of Peregrin “Pippin” Took in The Lord of the Rings.
Billy continued acting and bagged contracts like Outlander, Grey’s Anatomy, The Flying Scotsman, Dorothy, The Witches of Oz. He will soon be seen in The Loud House Movie, Walking with Herb, and An Intrusion. He bagged the main role as Glen/Glenda on the television front in the upcoming Horror TV series Chucky.
David Wenham (Faramir)
Wenham’s resume looked solid even before he was cast in the second part of The Lord of the Rings as Faramir. This character was Boromir’s younger brother and Denethor II’s second son. He was seen in Moulin Rouge! (the 2001 version) and Seeing Red.
Post the trilogy, things got even better for Wenham. He bagged prestigious projects like 300, Van Helsing, and even Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Craig Parker (Haldir)
Craig Parker was seen in the TV shows like Shortland Street and Xena: Warrior Princess. He even acted in the movie A Soldier’s Sweetheart where he played a small role before, he played the part of Haldir in The Lord of the Rings.
Post the franchise, he continued to stay focused on his TV acting career and appeared in two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Reign, and Spartacus. He even acted in various web series Auckland Daze in 2012 and will soon be seen in Season 3 of Good Trouble as Yuri Elwin.
Sarah McLeod (Rosie Cotton)
McLeod was known to star in smaller television shows and films before she essayed the role of Rosie Cotton in The Lord of the Rings. These roles included A Twist in the Tale and Forgotten Silver.
She continued to receive roles even after the trilogy ended. However, she was last seen on a TV series called Auckland Daze, according to IMDB. On the 14th Season of America’s Next Top Model, she even sat in as a judge for a couple of episodes.
John Noble (Denethor II)
The viewers loved watching Noble play the tyrannical Denethor. And before he played this troublesome ruler, he acted in movies like The Monkey’s Mask and television series like Fringe as Walter Bishop.
He even made an appearance on ABC’s Rake just before he signed on to play roles in series like DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Sleepy Hollow, and Elementary. Currently, you can see him on Amazon Prime’s original series titled The Boys.
Marton Csokas (Lord Celeborn)
Csokas played Galadriel’s husband Celeborn in this trilogy. He was already an established actor who did projects in New Zealand and Australia – Broken English and Jack Brown Genius to name a few.
However, after he played Celeborn, he was offered several roles in television shows as well as films. You may have seen him in them too. Some of them included The Equalizer, Kingdom of Heaven, and Into the Badlands.
Bernard Hill (Théoden)
Hill has had a great acting stint even before he bagged the role of King Theoden in the trilogy. In the ’80s he was part of the television drama named Boys from the Blackstuff. You may even remember him as Captain Edward Smith in the iconic movie Titanic.
Even after that, he made appearances on television shows as well as movies like Wolf Hall, A Very Social Secretary and Unforgotten. His final major acting role was back in 2016, a British comedy-action film Golden Years.
Brad Dourif (Gríma Wormtongue)
This award-winning actor has so many acting credits to his name that it is impossible to list them all. The most notable ones are One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Child’s Play franchise, Dune, and Blue Velvet.
Things only got better for Dourif after he played Gríma Wormtongue in the trilogy. He made appearances in popular TV shows like Fringe and Psych and continued to lend his voice for Chucky. He also acted in various films. Wildling, American Dream, and Obsession were the last known ones.
Karl Urban (Eomer)
Before Urban played Eomer in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, he did not have many roles to his name. Ghost Ship, Xena: Warrior Princess and The Irrefutable Truth About Demons are some of the projects he worked on.
Things took a U-turn soon after. He began getting roles that became major box office successes. In the reboot of the Star Trek films, he played Leonard McCoy, and in Thor: Ragnarok he played Skurge. Currently, he is playing one of the lead characters in The Boys on Amazon Prime.
Harry Sinclair (Isildur)
Before he rose to fame as Isildur, this actor, director and writer was part of a musical theatre duo on The Front Lawn. He has even directed several short films. He had previously worked with The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson in a zombie comedy movie called Braindead for New Zealand viewers.
Sinclair reprised his role as Isildur for Lego The Lord of the Rings in 2012. However, prior to that, he directed the television series 90210 regularly from 2009 to 2010.
Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee)
With movies like Rudy, Toys Soldiers, and The Goonies up his sleeve, Sean Austin had already established himself as a director, producer, and actor before he got the role of Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings franchise.
Post the trilogy, Sean Astin was seen in movies like No Good Nick, Stranger Things, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, and even made a guest-star appearance in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He will soon be seen as Jimmy in the 2021 film Hero Mode.
Bret McKenzie (Figwit)
McKenzie is an actor, comedian, producer, and musician in New Zealand. His character Figwit was usually played by an extra. However, thanks to the fan community, he eventually gained recognition for that role. He even appeared as Lindir in the film The Hobbit.
Post the trilogy, he was a music supervisor and songwriter for The Muppets and also lent his voice for one of the episodes on The Simpsons. He is currently writing songs for three feature films that are yet to announce their release dates.
Peter Leo McKenzie (Elendil)
This McKenzie is Bret’s father who is also an actor and played Elendil in the first installment of The Lord of the Rings. This character was father to Anárion and Isildur, the first High King of Arnor and Gondor and last lord of Andúnië.
It seems like director Peter Jackson likes to cast the actors he has already worked with because McKenzie was also seen in his film King Kong. He was also seen as Dr. Allen in 2009’s It’s Complicated.
Andy Serkis (Gollum)
Andy Serkis was already a famous British actor, director, and producer. He has acted in movies like Loop and Pandemonium. His iconic role of the Gollum in The Lord of the Rings was appreciated and showcased the actor’s versatility.
The actor’s career took off after the trilogy, and he bagged multiple movie franchises like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He was not only seen in The Batman but also directed its sequel Venom.
John Bach (Madril)
Bach may have played Madril, the Gondorian Ranger, but did you know that he was also a body double for Christopher Lee as Saruman in 2014? This was because Lee was unable to fly to New Zealand because he was working on The Hobbit.
Since the trilogy, Bach worked in several New Zealand TV series. He also played Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor in the Netflix series Roman Empire. However, his role was only written for the first season.
Liv Tyler (Arwen)
Before starring in TheLord of the Rings, Liv Tyler was already a well-known name. She was seen in movies like Armageddon and Empire Records. Apart from acting, Tyler is also a famous former model, singer, and producer.
Post the franchise, Tyler was seen in movies like Jamie Marks is Dead, The Incredible Hulk, Ad Astra, The Leftovers, and Jersey Girl. She is was last seen in the popular TV-Drama Series 9-1-1: Lone Star as Michelle Blake.
Alistair Browning (Damrod)
Apart from his character as Damrod, Browning has had an impressive resume. He has been part of popular TV series and movies like Xena: Warrior Princess, Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Young Hercules, Duggan, Rain, and Vertical Limit.
Post the trilogy, the roles kept coming. His last biggest role was as Judge Mathovic in American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story (2016). Sadly, he lost the battle of fighting cancer and succumbed to it in 2019.
Ian Holm (Bilbo Baggins)
Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert was already an established theatre, television, and film actor before The Lord of the Rings. He was seen in movies like Jesus of Nazareth, Incognito, and The Fifth Element. He was even nominated in various prestigious awards and won many.
Post The Lord of the Rings; Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert continued acting in films like The Aviator and The Hobbit film as Bilbo Baggins. He passed away at the age of 88 in June 2020.
Ian Huges (Irolas)
Hughes played Irolas in the third part of the movie series. This talented actor, who is also a director and a writer, is well-known for his role in Hercules: The Journeys as Loki (1998).
Since the trilogy, he has been part of several TV series. The most popular one is in the Power Rangers series. Currently, he is still directing the drama series Shortland Street, since 2015.
