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Looking closer at the Lord of the Rings trilogy books and movies, The Hobbit, and everything else in J. R. R. Tolkien's beloved universe.

Film Trivia

Some of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/top-50-movie-moments-of-all-time/lotterman?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best scenes in movies</a> are the ones that aren&#39;t even in the script - and there are plenty of them in The Lord of the Rings movies. Few film franchises are as expansive and vast as Peter Jackson&#39;s film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien&#39;s classic books, so there&#39;s plenty of behind-the-scenes trivia to learn about these groundbreaking films (and even more if you include <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-hobbit-behind-the-scenes/jack-morgan" target="_blank">The Hobbit&nbsp;trilogy</a>). What cool facts should you know about the production of LOTR? Let&#39;s find out!

Often, it&#39;s the little things that make a movie not just memorable, but unforgettable. Whether onscreen, or behind the camera, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-wardrobe-secrets/joey-kochick" target="_blank">the making of the LOTR films</a> changed movies and Hollywood for good and there are all kinds of fun BTS facts to know about The Lord of the Rings trilogy. For instance, did you know that while filming The Lord of the Rings new hobbit feet were created every single day (ears too!) because the&nbsp;material they were made from was too fragile to survive more than a few hours in filming conditions? Or that Viggo Mortensen wasn&#39;t initially cast as Aragorn - another actor was cast and even filmed for a few days!&nbsp;

Whether you want to one up your friends in your next geeky conversation or win at your next trivia night, this Lord of the Rings trivia facts list is for you. Vote up the&nbsp;LOTR trivia facts you find most interesting!&nbsp;

Gollum

The best characters from The Lord of the Rings universe including all book and movie versions. These are all the best Lord of the Rings&nbsp;main characters (and minor ones as well), here for you to vote on and add to. Some of the best characters in literature and cinema have come from the adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien&#39;s books, and now you can vote on them.

The best LOTR characters are a mix of heroic warriors, tragic heroes, and classic villains all brought together in the struggle that ensues as good seeks to triumph over evil. Whether you&#39;re a fan of the J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings&nbsp;books, or a new fan of Peter Jackson&#39;s Lord of the Rings trilogy or the newer The Hobbit films, this is the place to voice your opinion on who you think the greatest Lord of the Rings characters are -- be they human, dwarf, elf, <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-hobbits/eric-vega" target="_blank">or hobbit. Especially hobbit.</a>

Make sure to vote up your favorite Lord of the Rings characters, and add any of the greatest LOTR characters that we might have missed. From your favorite famous character from Lord of the Rings, to the more minor, but still great characters (some of which have awesome names), vote up&nbsp;all the best on this LOTR character list.

And if you&#39;re a fan of Tolkien&#39;s style of writing, make sure to check out the rest of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-fantasy-authors?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best fantasy writers</a>.

It&#39;s hard to believe it&#39;s been more than a decade since we watched Gandalf and Frodo sail off into the Great Sea together (if you&#39;re not familiar with Middle Earth geography read <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/everything-to-know-to-understand-lord-of-the-rings/zack-howe" target="_blank">this</a>), but that milestone brings up an important question:&nbsp;Where are Lord of the Rings actors now? In all likelihood, the&nbsp;cast of Lord of the Rings&nbsp;probably don&#39;t need to be doing anything at all, with their finances almost certainly set for life, but of course most of them have remained in the limelight&nbsp;to varying degrees.

After being such a huge part of cinematic history, as LOTR&nbsp;popularized fantasy and adaptations like nothing before (even if some people had <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-book-readers-hate-about-lord-of-the-rings-movie/stephanroget" target="_blank">problems with the movies&#39; loyalty to the books</a>), it&#39;s difficult to imagine any of the actors from that beloved trilogy struggling&nbsp;to find work. Fortunately most of them haven&#39;t, but&nbsp;there is&nbsp;quite a discrepancy in the varied levels of success amongst the alum.

Here&#39;s a look at the Lord of the Rings cast then and now. Be warned, there&#39;s a spoiler for Stranger Things 2 in Sean Astin&#39;s&nbsp;entry.

LOTR

On the surface, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/23/14055580/lord-of-the-rings-trilogy-movies-peter-jackson-15th-anniversary" target="_blank">The Lord of the Rings</a> is one of the most successful film trilogies of all time. With Peter Jackson at the reigns and a fiercely devoted fan base, the project&nbsp;grossed <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/02/11/the-hobbit-trilogy-grossed-almost-3-billion-and-no-one-cared/#3c7763114838" target="_blank">just under $3 billion</a> and took home 17 Academy Awards. But what went on during shooting on the LOTR set? These behind the scenes Lord of the Rings photos will give you a sneak peek behind the camera at the cast and crew in action, and lots of hobbits just having fun.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is known for the incredibly close friendships that formed during filming between the cast members and the crew. This gallery of LOTR set photos is a compilation of amazing, and&nbsp;frankly, adorable behind-the-scenes moments captured on the set of The Lord of the Rings films.

Movie sets are magical places, where people work insanely hard to bring stories to life, and that was definitely true for these films. Creating the world of Middle Earth and brining the LOTR characters to life was no small feat. Check out these&nbsp;pics from The&nbsp;Lord of the Rings to see the cast joking around, getting into makeup, rehearsing battle scenes, and watching footage. And don&#39;t forget to vote for the coolest and most interesting behind-the-scenes pictures from The&nbsp;Lord of the Rings.

Early on in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf tells Bilbo, “There are many magic rings in this world... and none of them should be used lightly.&quot; If Gandalf is to be believed, then Middle-earth is riddled with rings, yet only a select few are detailed in Tolkien’s extensive body of work.Along with a few notable &quot;lesser&quot; rings, the series focuses primarily on the 20 Rings of Power. These 20 rings were divided up, with three going to the elves, seven to the dwarves, nine to the world of men, and one to the Dark Lord Sauron.Not all&nbsp;the&nbsp;rings&nbsp;from The Lord&nbsp;of&nbsp;the Rings&nbsp;are as volatile as the One Ring To Rule Them All.&nbsp;While some&nbsp;rings&nbsp;were made to be used as weapons (when wielded properly,&nbsp;of course),&nbsp;others, like the elven rings, were created with preservation and protection in mind.Let’s take a closer look at every ring from The Lord of the Rings,&nbsp;so that the distinctions between each can be thoroughly understood.&nbsp;

Tolkien Universe

Hobbits are curious creatures. They spend most of their time sleeping, eating, and enjoying the simpler comforts. It&#39;s not often that a hobbit gets into mischief, but it&#39;s been known to happen from time to time. Every once in a while, a stranger will arrive in the Shire looking for a companion on some great adventure. Most hobbits would shut the door in their face, but some are more adventurous than they may first appear.&nbsp;

It goes without saying that some hobbits are much handier than others. Not content just to sit at home tucking into multiple breakfasts, these handy hobbits jump at the chance to help an ally on a quest. Some are perfect helpers, cooking and cleaning to their heart&#39;s content. Others are proven warriors, able to slay any foe who is foolish enough to underestimate them. The best of them possess an unshakeable loyalty. These are the hobbits that you would want at your side when darkness threatens the world.&nbsp;

When Peter Jackson adapted J.R.R. Tolkein&#39;s classic novels into&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;and&nbsp;Hobbit&nbsp;franchises, he took the wit and wisdom of the author and created some <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-lord-of-the-rings-fellowship-of-the-ring-quotes/movie-and-tv-quotes" target="_blank">fantastic&nbsp;dialogue</a>. Among that dialogue are some incredibly clever&nbsp;insults and funny one-liners bantered about by some great <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/why-gandalf-powers-not-used/ashley-reign" target="_blank">characters including Gandalf</a>, Samwise, and others.&nbsp;

You may not realize just how many times one character insulted another in&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;films, but it happened often. Granted, there are a few from the books that didn&#39;t make it to the movies, but there&#39;s&nbsp;a few of those included in here anyway,&nbsp;seeing as they are pure gold. Whether you are a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-fan-art/jakebaumgart" target="_blank">fan of the films</a> or the books, you will likely snicker with glee as you read some of these amazing insults from&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings.

See some of your favorite quotes? Vote up the ones you think are best, and vote down any you don&#39;t find funny or clever.

Everyone goes into a film adaptation of a novel expecting some divergence. For the most&nbsp;part, director Peter Jackson was true to Tolkien&#39;s beloved tale and expansive universe&nbsp;when he made the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/everything-to-know-to-understand-lord-of-the-rings/zack-howe" target="_blank">Lord of the Rings</a>&nbsp;trilogy. Even so,&nbsp;there were things left out of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-trivia-facts/coy-jandreau" target="_blank">Lord of the Rings</a> films, and&nbsp;a few of the lost details are rather massive.

While some devout readers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-book-readers-hate-about-lord-of-the-rings-movie/stephanroget" target="_blank">hate the LOTR movies</a> for these changes, a number of the creative choices Jackson and co-writers&nbsp;Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens&nbsp;made are understandable. But some revisions make the story more convoluted, leaving fans to wonder what went into those decisions. Most people were probably okay without the ever-singing Tom Bombadil, but the final battle at the Shire was more sorely missed. With more than nine hours of screen time, it&#39;s amazing how many important details Jackson&#39;s&nbsp;LOTR&nbsp;trilogy is missing - and knowing the full story leads to a better appreciation of Tolkien&#39;s genius.

Mistakes & Plot Holes

While the quest to destroy Middle Earth&#39;s most evil&nbsp;ring may be an&nbsp;epic one, there are indeed a few Lord of the Rings plot holes you just can&#39;t ignore. Some of them, such as the whole eagle question, are well known to fans of the LOTR trilogy, while others aren&#39;t quite so obvious.

For diehard fans of J.R.R. Tolkien&#39;s&nbsp;The Silmarillion,&nbsp;some of these issues <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-moments-left-out-of-the-movies/zack-howe" target="_blank">have fairly reasonable answers behind them</a>, such as why Gandalf doesn&#39;t use his magic more. Others have made it their personal hobby to answer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/gandalf-fan-theories/grayson-titan" target="_blank">questions about everyone&#39;s favorite gray wizard</a>, yet there are some remaining plot holes that seem to have no obvious solution.

Which ones are the most puzzling? You decide. Vote for the ones that are the most likely to keep you up at night. However, be forewarned, you&#39;re about to get a whole slew of&nbsp;LOTR plot holes that you&#39;ll never be able to unsee again.&nbsp;

Tattoos

JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe enormous enough that there's an endless supply of tattoos fans can get to show their love of the most epic fantasy tale ever told. The world of Middle Earth is also ripe with badass images worthy of ink. Orcs, Dragons, Dwarves, Nazgul, Ents, the Balrog! It's a veritable who's who of fantasy glory.Treasured books or films are often the best way to go with tattoos, since tatts are extremely personal and every shade of permanent. Lord of the Rings stands as a masterpiece of both literature and film, so it's a natural choice for ink inspiration. Whether you're into the books or the movies, the odds are you're a lifelong fan, so you won't be embarrassed flashing a Gollum tattoo decades down the line.We've rounded up the best tattoos inspired by Lord of the Rings in one place! Whether they're from The Hobbit or Return of the King, these are true works of art inspired by one of the greatest pieces of literature every written! Vote up your favorites below!

There are few fans more passionate and more opinionated than those that are fans of a book series that has been turned into a movie franchise. It should be no surprise, then, that the list of what book readers hate about <a href="http://www.ranker.com/tags/the-lord-of-the-rings" target="_blank">The Lord of the Rings</a>, the film franchise, is long. While <a href="http://www.ranker.com/review/peter-jackson/1786265" target="_blank">Peter Jackson</a>’s trilogy generally earned rave reviews for its faithful yet cinematic adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s novels, there are some members&nbsp;of the fanbase that take serious umbrage with some of the creative changes made in the process.Some of the things Tolkien purists complain about can include characters that were left out, story arcs that were altered, or events that they don’t feel were given justice. The works of JRR Tolkien are absolutely massive in their scope, so it was never a possibility that Peter Jackson would adapt absolutely everything. To most, he did an admirable job, but some think he could have done a slightly better job of adapting their favorite series. Check out the issues&nbsp;Tolkien purists have with the films and vote up the ones that resonate with you.&nbsp;

Out of all of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-fantasy-book-series/ranker-books" target="_blank">great fantasy novels</a> in English literature, Lord of the Rings is perhaps the most well-known and popular. The enduring success of the series doesn&rsquo;t just come down to the great story told within the novels, but benefits from the vast mythology Tolkien managed to build up. The&nbsp;incredible universe he created opens up the possibility for plenty of fan theories about the Lord of the Rings.

After all, the few pieces of writing he published set in the world of Middle-earth were barely enough to scratch the surface in terms of the overall history of the narrative. Plenty of questions were left completely unanswered, leaving their cinematic adaptations with a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/biggest-lord-of-the-rings-plot-holes/ashley-reign" target="_blank">few lingering plot holes</a>. On top of that,&nbsp;Tolkien was known to purposely include unsolved mysteries to keep his readers guessing, not the least of which is about&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/why-gandalf-powers-not-used/ashley-reign" target="_blank">Gandalf&#39;s powers</a>.&nbsp;

This means that fans have had to come up with their own Lord of the Rings theories to try to fix some of the plot holes, and explain the parts the Tolkien left open to interpretation.

Best Characters

Hobbits are from the fantasy books of J.R.R. Tolkien, particularly The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-hobbits/eric-vega" target="_blank">In the world of Middle-Earth, Hobbits are a humanoid race that is noticeably shorter than the race of Men</a>. They range in height from 2 to 4 feet, are typically shy and are covered in curly hair, including on their feet. (They are occasionally called &quot;halflings&quot; or &quot;Little People&quot; throughout the works.)

Though they are often depicted as unadventurous, even lazy, Hobbits are frequently called upon in Tolkien&#39;s stories to carry out acts of spectacular bravery and selflessness.

Tolkien claimed credit for coining the term &quot;hobbit,&quot; though years later it was revealed that other writers had used the term - though with a different meaning - before he introduced it in &quot;The Hobbit&quot; in 1937. (The book&#39;s full title is &quot;The Hobbit, or There And Back Again.&quot;) This first Hobbit story has been adapted by director Peter Jackson into three films. He had previously featured hobbits in a three-part adaptation of LOTR books, in which hobbit characters also feature prominently.

This list features all hobbits mentioned by name in Tolkien books and stories. In cases where a hobbit&#39;s name changes at some point during the story, their former name appears in parenthesis.

Hobbit names! What are the hobbits&#39; names? This list has &#39;em, listed alphabetically.

Lord of the Rings is one of the most prolific and impressive feats in the history of filmmaking. Tolkien's books truly came to life at the hands of Peter Jackson and his impossibly talented cast and crew. But did you know you could visit the very sets where LOTR movie magic happened? You can! What a world! Below you'll find a&nbsp;comprehensive guide of the real life locations where the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed! Everything from the Shire to the Pillars of the Kings! From Mordor to Fanghorn Forest! From Bree to Rivendell! What a time to be alive!What are you waiting for? Set off on a journey to Middle Earth right away! These are the coolest Lord of the Rings filming locations, and you can visit them all in real life! Vote up the Lord of the Rings film sets you'd most like to travel to and someday soon maybe you'll be living it up in the Shire.

Fantasy

Aragorn

There are so many iconic and fantastic characters from Tolkien's created universe... and the best of them are hard to pit against each other because it's like apples to oranges. That said, I'm doing it anyway. I'm putting down all the characters I think are the coolest... that means this list isn't going to be EVERY character from Middle-Earth, only the cool ones. I'm going to open it up for you guys to add to, in case someone wants to add Tom Bombadil or Radagast.

Tolkien's Middle Earth is one of the richest fantasy worlds ever conceived; so rich that few are familiar with the entire mythos. The Silmarillion&nbsp;describes the history before The Lord of the Rings, and acts as an encyclopedic record of how the world of <a href="http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Arda" target="_blank">Arda </a>came to be.As it turns out, there are a lot of&nbsp;things that happened before The Hobbit. Tolkien's most well-known tales — those that have been brought to the screen — stick to covering events from the <a href="http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Third_Age" target="_blank">Third Age</a>, and only allude to the millennia of lore that lead up to the destruction of the One Ring.Some of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-characters-from-the-lord-of-the-rings-universe&nbsp;" target="_blank">greatest characters</a> Tolkien created aren't that well known. The general lack of knowledge regarding the extended LoTR&nbsp;universe&nbsp;has spawned some incorrect <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-fan-theories/nathan-gibson" target="_blank">fan theories</a>, and has left a lot of room for confusion among casual fans, even&nbsp;those who have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/what-book-readers-hate-about-lord-of-the-rings-movie/stephanroget&nbsp;" target="_blank">read The Lord of the Rings</a>.Here are the most important&nbsp;things to know to&nbsp;understand The Lord of the Rings, the creation of the world known as Arda, and all the magical creatures that inhabit it.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Funny

The Lord of the Rings&nbsp;movie franchise has spawned countless other attempts at fantasy franchises. And as seen on the subreddit <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/lotrmemes" target="_blank">r/lotrmemes</a>, it&#39;s always inspired countless memes. Here are some of our favorites.

If you&#39;ve ever watched or read&nbsp;The Lord of the Rings, you might have found yourself asking, &quot;Why&nbsp;is Gandalf so weak?&quot; The Hobbits, Elves, and other mortals who embark on adventures with the legendary wizard&nbsp;find themselves in plenty of situations where it seems a little Gandalf power&nbsp;could save the day. As it turns out, there may be a really good reason why Gandalf doesn&#39;t appear to use magic as often as&nbsp;he could.&nbsp;

While wizards&nbsp;in the traditional sense are able to use their magic pretty much any way they want, Gandalf&#39;s backstory is a little different. To understand it, you need to know that the divine hierarchy of Middle-earth begins&nbsp;with <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Eru_Il%C3%BAvatar" target="_blank">Eru</a>, who is the God&nbsp;and creator of <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Arda" target="_blank">Arda</a>, the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lord-of-the-rings-moments-left-out-of-the-movies/zack-howe" target="_blank">LOTR world</a>. Beneath Eru, you have the <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Valar" target="_blank">Valar</a>, who act as rulers of Arda. <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Maiar" target="_blank">The&nbsp;Maiar</a>, spirits&nbsp;as old as time,&nbsp;serve&nbsp;the Valar, and Gandalf is&nbsp;one of the Maiar selected by the Valar to descend to Middle-earth in the form of an Istar or wizard.&nbsp;Tolkien explains this in&nbsp;<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5t4vfhasRVcC&amp;pg=PT433&amp;lpg=PT433&amp;dq=#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" target="_blank">Unfinished Tales</a>:

<blockquote>
Emissaries they were from Lords of the West, the Valar... whereas now their emissaries were forbidden to reveal themselves in forms of majesty, or to seek to rule the wills of Men and Elves by open display of power, but coming in shapes weak and humble were bidden to advise and persuade Men and Elves to good, and to seek to unite in love and understanding all those whom Sauron, should he come again, would endeavor to dominate and corrupt.
</blockquote>

Tolkien makes it clear that Gandalf and the other Istari aren&#39;t really wizards of their own accord but divine, angelic beings&nbsp;on a mission. Their job isn&#39;t to go around performing miraculous feats of magic, but to help those who seek to oppose evil.&nbsp;That said, of the five Istari who were sent down, not everyone remains true to their cause.&nbsp;Gandalf does, however, which is why he sticks far closer to his companions from Middle-earth&nbsp;than Saruman, who uses his magic for evil.&nbsp;

Behind The Scenes

Since the 1960s, wannabe wizards and hobbits have been whipping up their own&nbsp;robes and frock coats to play in the world of The&nbsp;Lord of the Rings. But in the early 2000s, one very special group of talented seamstresses, embroiderers, dyers, cutters, and designers made that world real, and not just on screen.&nbsp;

Costume designer Ngila Dickson has offered extensive behind-the-scenes stories on&nbsp;the&nbsp;Lord of the Rings&nbsp;wardrobe secrets that brought thousands of costumes - and an entire fantasy world - to life.

Peter Jackson&#39;s &#39;Lord of the Rings&#39; trilogy stands as one of the most-loved fantasy movie franchises of all time (not counting those pesky &#39;Hobbit&#39; movies). Fans watch and rewatch the movies and are still spotting new details like the Eye of Sauron gazes upon the One Ring. Here are some of our favorites details.&nbsp;

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The Lord of the Rings film trilogy cast list. This list of the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy actors’ names (actors in the movie The Lord of the Rings film trilogy) contains photos of the cast members when available. This fact-based cast roster includes any The Lord of the Rings film trilogy actresses and all other actors from the film. The Lord of the Rings film trilogy cast members have done many other films so be sure to check out the filmographies and individual pages of the stars of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. This list of who was in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy can be sorted by any column, but is currently alphabetical and includes photos of who starred in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy when available. This castmember list includes all major roles and many bit parts for actors in this movie. You can use the actors in this list to create a new one, just like this one, to start your own. (15 Items)

The Lord Of The Rings Film Trilogy Cast List: Actors and Actresses from The Lord Of The Rings Film Trilogy

Full Cast of The Lord Of The Rings Film Trilogy Actors/Actresses

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Ian McKellen

Sir Ian Murray McKellen  (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction.
He is the recipient of six Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BIF Award, two Saturn Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, and two Critics' Choice Awards. He has also received nominations for two Academy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards and four BAFTAs.
He achieved worldwide fame for his film roles, including the titular King in Richard III (1995), James Whale in Gods and Monsters (1998), Magneto in the X-Men films, and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
The BBC states that his "performances have guaranteed him a place in the canon of English stage and film actors". A recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK, McKellen is regarded as a British cultural icon. He started his professional career in 1961 at the Belgrade Theatre as a member of their highly regarded repertory company. In 1965, McKellen made his first West End appearance. In 1969, he was invited to join the Prospect Theatre Company to play the lead parts in Shakespeare's Richard II and Marlowe's Edward II, and he firmly established himself as one of the country's foremost classical actors. In the 1970s, McKellen became a stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Great Britain.
McKellen was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1979 Birthday Honours, was knighted in the 1991 New Year Honours for services to the performing arts, and made a Companion of Honour for services to drama and to equality in the 2008 New Year Honours. He has been openly gay since 1988, and continues to be a champion for LGBT social movements worldwide. He was awarded Freedom of the City of London in October 2014.

Ian Holm

Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert  (September 12, 1931 - June 19th, 2020), known as Ian Holm, was an English actor known for his stage work and many film roles.  He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear.  He won the 1981 BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role as athletics trainer Sam Mussabini in Chariots of Fire, for which he was also nominated for an Academy Award. His other well-known film roles include Ash in Alien, Father Vito Cornelius in The Fifth Element, and the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film series.

Elijah Wood

Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor, film producer, and DJ. He portrayed Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012).
Wood made his film debut in 1989 with a small part in Back to the Future Part II. He went on to achieve recognition as a child actor with roles in Avalon (1990), Paradise (1991), Radio Flyer, Forever Young (both 1992), The Adventures of Huck Finn and The Good Son (both 1993). As a teenager, he starred in films such as North, The War (both 1994), Flipper (1996), The Ice Storm (1997), Deep Impact and The Faculty (both 1998). Following the success of Lord of the Rings, Wood has appeared in a wide range of films, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Sin City, Green Street, Everything Is Illuminated (all 2005), Paris, je t'aime, Bobby (both 2006), Celeste and Jesse Forever, Maniac (both 2012), Grand Piano (2013), The Last Witch Hunter (2015), The Trust (2016), and I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017).
Wood's voice work includes the role of Mumble in Happy Feet (2006) and its sequel; the title character in 9 (2009); and Spyro in the Legend of Spyro video game trilogy (2006–2008). In addition, he provided the voice of Beck on Disney XD's Tron: Uprising (2012–2013), and Wirt in the Cartoon Network miniseries Over the Garden Wall (2014). From 2011–2014, Wood played the role of Ryan Newman on the FX television series Wilfred, for which he received a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor. From 2016–17, he starred as Todd Brotzman on the BBC America series Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
Wood has his own record label, Simian Records, which he founded in 2005. In 2010, he founded the production company SpectreVision, which specializes in producing horror films.

Viggo Mortensen

Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. (; Danish: [viːko ˈmɒːtn̩sn̩]; born October 20, 1958) is a Danish-American actor, author, musician, photographer, poet, and painter. Born in New York to a Danish father and American mother, he was a resident of Venezuela and Argentina during his childhood. He is the recipient of various accolades including a Screen Actors Guild Award and has been nominated for three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.
Mortensen made his film debut in a small role in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness starring Harrison Ford and has appeared in several notable films since, including The Indian Runner (1991), Carlito's Way (1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Daylight (1996), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), G.I. Jane (1997), Psycho (1998), A Perfect Murder (1998), A Walk on the Moon (1999), and 28 Days (2000).
Mortensen received international attention in the early 2000s with his role as Aragorn in the epic fantasy adventure trilogy The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003). In 2005, Mortensen won critical acclaim for David Cronenberg's crime thriller A History of Violence. Two years later, another Cronenberg film, Eastern Promises (2007), earned him further critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. A third teaming with Cronenberg in A Dangerous Method (2011) resulted in a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Other well-received films include Appaloosa (2008) and Far from Men (2014). Further Academy Award nominations came for his leading roles in Captain Fantastic (2016) and Green Book (2018).
Aside from acting, Mortensen's other artistic pursuits include fine arts, photography, poetry, and music. In 2002, he founded the Perceval Press to publish the works of little-known artists and authors.

Sean Bean

Shaun Mark Bean (born 17 April 1959), credited professionally as Sean Bean (), is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of Romeo and Juliet in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire accent, he first found mainstream success for his portrayal of Richard Sharpe in the ITV series Sharpe.
Further roles followed, including Patriot Games (1992), GoldenEye (1995), Ronin (1998), The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), Equilibrium (2002), National Treasure (2004), Odysseus in Troy (2004), North Country (2005), The Island (2005), Silent Hill (2006), Black Death (2010), Jupiter Ascending (2015) and The Martian (2015).
Other TV roles include the BBC anthology series Accused, Game of Thrones and the ITV historical drama series Henry VIII. As a voice actor, Bean has been featured in the video games The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Sid Meier's Civilization VI, and the drama The Canterbury Tales, among several others.

Hugo Weaving

Hugo Wallace Weaving (born 4 April 1960) is an English-Australian film and stage actor. He is best known for playing Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy (1999–2003), Elrond in The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) film trilogies, V in V for Vendetta (2006), and Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
Weaving's first television role was in the 1984 Australian television series Bodyline, where he portrayed English cricket captain Douglas Jardine. In film, he first rose to prominence for his performance as Martin in the Australian drama Proof (1991). Weaving played Anthony "Tick" Belrose/Mitzi Del Bra in the comedy-drama The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994); and multiple roles in the science fiction film Cloud Atlas (2012). His roles as a voice actor include the roles as Rex the male sheepdog in Babe (1995), Noah the Leading Elder Emperor Penguin in Happy Feet (2006) and Happy Feet Two (2011) and as Megatron in the first three installments of the Transformers film series (2007-2011).
Weaving's awards for acting include a Satellite Award, MTV Movie Award and six Australian Film Institute Awards.

Bernard Hill

Bernard Hill (born 17 December 1944) is an English film, stage and television actor. He is known for playing Yosser Hughes, the troubled "hard man" whose life is falling apart in Alan Bleasdale's groundbreaking 1980s TV drama Boys from the Blackstuff and, more recently, as the Duke of Norfolk in the BBC adaptation of Dame Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. He is also known for roles in blockbuster films, including Captain Edward Smith in Titanic, King Théoden in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the Clint Eastwood film True Crime.



David Wenham

David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in movies, television series and theatre productions. He is known in Hollywood for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Carl in Van Helsing, Dilios in 300 and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire,  Al Parker in Top of the Lake, and Lieutenant John Scarfield in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. He is known in his native Australia for his role as Diver Dan in SeaChange.

Marton Csokas

Marton Paul Csokas (; born 30 June 1966) is a New Zealand actor who has appeared in films and on television. His notable roles include Yorgi in XXX (2002), Guy de Lusignan in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Trevor Goodchild in Æon Flux (2005), Hora in Romulus, My Father (2007), Nico in Dead Europe (2012), Jack Barts in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), Lieutenant Barnes in Pawn (2013), Nicolai Itchenko in The Equalizer (2014), and Quinn in the U.S. television series Into the Badlands.

Miranda Otto

Miranda Otto (born 16 December 1967) is an Australian actress. Otto is a daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto, and half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. She began her acting career at age 18 in 1986, and has appeared in a variety of independent and major studio films. Otto made her major film debut in Emma's War, in which she played a teenager who moves to Australia's bush country during World War II.After a decade of critically acclaimed roles in Australian films, Otto gained Hollywood's attention during the 1990s after appearing in supporting roles in the films The Thin Red Line and What Lies Beneath. She played Éowyn in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film series. She stars as Zelda Spellman in the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.  Otto was also in the Netflix thriller The Silence.

Karl Urban

Karl-Heinz Urban (born 7 June 1972) is a New Zealand actor. His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and TV series such as Xena: Warrior Princess. His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship. Since then, he has appeared in many high-profile movies, including the second and third installments of The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the role of Éomer. He has also portrayed Leonard McCoy in the Star Trek reboot film series, Vaako in the Riddick film series, and Judge Dredd in Dredd. Since 2019, he has starred in Amazon's web television series The Boys.

Billy Boyd

Billy Boyd (born 28 August 1968) is a Scottish actor and musician. He played Peregrin "Pippin" Took in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003), Barret Bonden in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) and Glen in Seed of Chucky.

Lawrence Makoare

Lawrence Makoare (born 20 March 1968) is a New Zealand Māori actor.

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy cast list. This list of the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy actors’ names (actors in the movie The Lord of the Rings ...