Adrien Brody turned down a role in Lord of the Rings – and regrets it

Adrien Brody in Detachment — (Image credit: Tribeca Film)

Adrien Brody has revealed that he was offered a role in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – and he expressed some regret at turning it down.

"I, somehow, didn’t grasp it," Brody told GQ in an interview about his career, speaking about being approached for 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring, the first movie in the fantasy trilogy from director Peter Jackson. "I don’t know what part I would have been right for, but it was some Hobbit-like character. I was looking for something else."

Instead, Brody went on to star in another movie from Jackson – King Kong, which was released in 2005. He played screenwriter Jack Driscoll alongside Jack Black, Naomi Watts, Colin Hanks, and Jamie Bell.

The actor added: "I remember going to see Lord of the Rings in the theater with an ex-girlfriend. And she turned to me and said, 'You passed on Lord of the Rings?!' I remember feeling so stupid. But I don’t think I would have gotten the role of Jack in Peter’s [King Kong]. I don’t think that would have translated."

Since then, Brody has gone on to star in movies like The Grand Budapest Hotel and Midnight in Paris, as well shows including Peaky Blinders and the latest season of Succession.

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.