David Bowie was considered to play Elrond in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings

[NewJeffCT]

Interesting, but it was nixed the studios it seems

It’s long been rumored that the late rock star David Bowie was originally up for a part in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies. Dominic Monaghan, who played the hobbit Merry, once said he saw Bowie at the film’s casting offices. But obviously, it didn’t work out. We’re pretty sure we would have noticed him.

So what happened? Speaking at New York Comic Con about their upcoming movie The Mortal Instruments, Lord of the Rings writers Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh cleared up the mystery. “I don’t think the studio were that keen at that point, so we never did meet with him,” Walsh said.

https://winteriscoming.net/2018/10/12/david-bowie-running-play-elrond-lord-rings/?utm_campaign=WiC+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email

[bigbrother05]

1. Bowie would have been great

It's too bad the movies suffered at the box office without him

[CincyDem]

2. Two words: The Hunger.

Bowie would have been great. He was amazing in The Hunger - vampire story with Catherine Deneuve and Sarandon. I know she's persona non grata here for a whole lot of good reasons but the movie is old enough that I'm sure you can pick it up places where she won't see a penny.

He was sooooooooo good.

[Aristus]

3. I wonder if he might not have made Elrond a little sinister.

Hugo Weaving did a fairly good job in the role. But he came across as grouchy and inconvenienced. Tolkien describes Elrond as being "as kind as summer".

I saw a little humor in Elrond's role, but very little kindness. I'm not sure David Bowie would have been better.

[Wounded Bear]

4. Bowie had the "look"...

But I'm not sure he had the acting chops.

Of course one thing has to do with how he felt about the stories. Rumor was that they intentionally sought out people who were solid LotR fans, because only fans could get through the grueling process of filming that long of a saga. Note the few abortive attempts to make films that never seemed to make it through the first book or so and then fell off.

Jackson had great timing for the project, the world was ready for it, but he also had a cast that all cared deeply about the story. I wonder if Bowie was maybe not a big fan of the story, and thus didn't make that "cut."