It’s been rumoured for years that David Bowie had auditioned for a role in Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings, and now it has been confirmed by Dominic Monaghan, who recalled seeing the legendary musician during his own audition for the role of Merry.
I was at the Hubbard’s, which is a pretty notorious casting agency office in London, doing an audition for Lord of the Rings, and when it ended I went over and talked to John Hubbard, who was running the audition, and he said, ‘Hey, it went really well. You should wait around for five or 10 mins. We’ll give you some feedback’,” Monaghan told The Huffington Post. “I thought, ‘Oh, OK, cool, and I sat in the reception office. As I was reading a magazine waiting, David Bowie came in and signed his little list and went in. I’m assuming he read for Gandalf. I can’t think of anything else he would’ve read for. He may have read for something else, but I’m a huge David Bowie fan, and I’m lucky enough to know his son. Just seeing him in person was pretty special to me.”
Rumours suggest that Bowie was in fact up for the role of Elrond, a part which ultimately went to Hugo Weaving, with Jackson previously revealing that he wanted to avoid casting famous stars as any of the iconic characters from J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece.
Originally published January 30, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
