Gandalf
Man I still can't believe he turned down Gandalf, LOTR and the Hobbits would have been a great closing to a great career
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MovieChat Forums > Sean Connery Discussion > Gandalf
Yes but honestly I dont think he would have done the hobbit films it just would have been another paycheck for him.
Lose the Game!!!!!!!
Maybe Connery would have gotten the Hobbit movies made sooner
shareI could've seen him as Dumbledore, too
shareIf the rumours of him having the early stages of dementia are true, he probably turned the role down because he didn't know if he could commit to the entire series of films.
forever a
What a set of movies to retire on that would have been! I doubt he'd of returned for The Hobbit though, he enjoyed his retirement. 🙂
shareI was always pleased he turned down the role, to be honest. Connery’s Gandalf would have been too dominant, too much of a ‘star turn’ as opposed to McKellen’s subtler approach. And we would have had a Gandalf with Connery’s accent, which I’m not sure would have worked. ‘A wiSHard iSH never late, Frodo BagginSH, nor iSH he early. He arriveSH preSHiSHly when he meanSH to.”
shareI would have cast Tom Baker as Gandalf and Christopher Plummer as Sauron, if they had asked me... but they didn't.
shareNow that is casting I could have supported!
Although I loved McKellen and Lee in the roles, Baker and Plummer would certainly have been wonderful.
Baker usually plays a version of himself and I don't see a Baker type in Tolkien. Maybe another Tom -- Bombadil -- would come closest. But probably Tolkien wasn't too fond of this type.
shareI don't agree... I feel Gandalf requires a more quirky and playful approach. It's Saruman that requires a Shakespearean actor like Plummer... Saruman was a silver-tongued orator, after all. Most powerful wizards don't hang around in Hobbiton and smoke pipes... Gandalf had a quirky side. Baker could be quite a powerful and forceful character actor if the role called for it - as his performance as Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra showed. You don't want all Royal Shakespeare Society all the time though... you need the quirk, too. Gandalf has an interesting duality for me.
shareSome quirkiness, but not to the Tom Baker level. He's more given to anger. Think about his rebukes to Pippin when he dropped the rock in Moria or when he peeped at the palantir, or when on the bridge he told them to fly.
shareBaker was capable of doing both, is what I'm saying. McKellan was more on the Grand Wizard end of things, I don't think he would have gotten the same playful level of Baker. You're right, Baker would need to be reigned in if he started getting to twee, but I think a good director could have gotten something truly extraordinary out of him.
I think Baker would have handled the "You Shall Not Pass!" line brilliantly... again, check out his Rasputin performance.
He's difficult to rein in though. When he played Dr. Who he used to sit on the fourth floor at the BBC and throw any script he didn't like out the window.
If you know personality theory, Gandalf would be an INTJ and Tom Baker/Dr. Who/Rasputin more of an ENFP.
lol!
sharethe contract was 30 million and 15 percent of world wide profits. He would have almost made half a billion dollars if he took that role. But he said he didnt understand the script and was having to much fun in retirement to do it. he was rich as fuck already and enjoying his life so u cant blame him for not taking the role. RIP to the legend
shareHe wasn't retired yet back in 1999/2000.
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