LOTR's Elijah Wood Addresses Potential Frodo Return In Hunt For Gollum

Summary Elijah Wood says it would be "awesome" to reprise his role as Frodo in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.

Andy Serkis' upcoming film could be set during the events of The Fellowship of the Rings, allowing for original Lord of the Rings actors to reprise their roles.

The amount of time that's passed between Peter Jackson's orignal trilogy and Serkis' film means bringing back original actors would come with some key challenges.

Elijah Wood reveals whether he would be open to appearing in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Adapting the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson's first Lord of the Rings movie was released in 2001, introducing audiences to Wood's Frodo, following the character as he embarks on an epic quest to destroy the One Ring. After two sequels, three Hobbit movies, and a Prime Video series, the world of Middle-earth is now set to return in director Andy Serkis' The Hunt for Gollum.

In a recent interview with JoBlo, Wood reveals that he would be open to reprising his role as Frodo in The Hunt for Gollum. While it doesn't sound like anything is official given the very early state of Serkis' upcoming film, the actor shares an enthusiastic response about returning to the world of Middle-earth. Check out his comment below:

“It would be pretty incredible. I have to say, any return to New Zealand to work with those individuals within the context of that world would be…jumping back into a world that’s so beloved and means so much to me. So yeah, it would be awesome.”

Should Original Lord Of The Rings Actors Return For The Hunt For Gollum?

Why It Would Come With Some Challenges

While no official story information has been revealed about The Hunt for Gollum just yet, the film's title suggests the film will take place during the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien reveals in his novel that there's a long period of time after Frodo is given the Ring (but before he meets Aragorn) where Aragorn and Gandalf hunt Gollum to prevent news of their plan making its way to Sauron. Taking place at this point in the Lord of the Rings timeline, then, would open the door for a handful of familiar characters to appear.

Related Andy Serkis' Gollum Return Risks Hurting The Original Lord Of The Rings Trilogy's Legacy Andy Serkis’ return to the Lord of the Rings franchise is an exciting development, but The Hunt for Gollum risks hurting the trilogy’s legacy.

It would certainly be exciting to see original members of The Lord of the Rings' cast return, but such returns also come with some potential problems. The most obvious problem is simply that it's now been over twenty years since many of these actors last appeared as their characters, and they've obviously aged and look different. Viggo Mortensen, for example, was in his early 40s when he first appeared as Aragorn, and he's now 65 years old. Gandalf actor Ian McKellen is now 85.

When asked about whether he would return as Aragorn for The Hunt for Gollum, Mortensen recently revealed that he would be open to it as long as the story is "right for...the age I am now."

De-aging could certainly help some of these actors look closer to how they appeared in the original trilogy, but this technology can be prohibitively expensive and isn't always convincing. If original actors return and aren't de-aged, however, this wouldn't track from a continuity perspective. It remains to be seen whether audiences will be seeing any familiar actors in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, but Wood is evidently up for it if the production comes calling.

Source: JoBlo