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The Return of the King - 10 years on

How has the original Fellowship cast fared in the decade post 'The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King'? Let's find out.

Can you believe it's been 10 whole years to the day that 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' was first released into cinemas across the world?

The stars of 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' couldn't believe it either, as you can find out as they reminisce in our exclusive video above.

[Cumberbatch reveals 'Star Trek'/'The Hobbit' link]

The concluding part of Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy was a big hit with critics and fans alike as it went on to win eleven Oscars at the 2004 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

It also grossed £686 million at the global box office and it still holds the record of being the seventh highest-grossing film of all time.

['The Hobbit' tops US box office']

Peter Jackson, of course, would return to the world of Middle-earth (via 'King Kong', 'Tintin' and 'The Lovely Bones') to make 'The Hobbit' trilogy, but what became of the film's heroes – the original 'Fellowship of the Ring'?

Did their careers survive the trip to Mount Doom or did they end up trapped in stasis like the fallen warriors of the Dead Marshes, yearning for glories past?

Time to find out!



Elijah Wood – Frodo
Elijah has spent most of his post-Rings career distancing himself from the ring-bearing Hobbit of Bag End. He taken on a variety of un-Frodo-like roles such as a cockney hooligan in 'Green Street', a serial killer in 'Maniac', and a cannibal in 'Sin City' with uneven results.



Sir Ian McKellen – Gandalf
Sir Ian's stock has continued to rise post-Rings, both on screen, on stage, and on TV. He's appeared in multiple X-Men movies alongside his BFF Sir Patrick Stewart, fronted numerous plays across the world (including one pantomime), he even found time to appear in 10 episodes of 'Coronation Street' along the way too.



Viggo Mortensen – Aragorn
Viggo may not be prolific, but he knows how to pick his roles. His trio of films with David Cronenberg - 'A History of Violence', 'Eastern Promises', and 'A Dangerous Method' - all picked up numerous best actor nods for the star, but his biggest hit was the unforgiving post-apocalyptic 'The Road'.



Sean Astin – Samwise Gamgee
The former child star has has continued to work steadily in television ('24'), films ('50 First Dates'), and lately as a voice actor in Nickelodeon's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' animated series.

[Sean Astin joins 'Cabin Fever' sequel]

Interestingly, Astin also served as campaign manager for Democrat Dan Adler in a local Californian election, but they only managed to secure 300 votes and lost the election. He now hosts a political podcast 'Vox Populi' with help from the crowd-funding site Kickstarter.



John Rhys-Davies – Gimli
The Welsh actor was virtually unrecognizable beneath his beard and prosthetics, but he has continued to work steadily in film, although not quite in the same caliber of 'Rings'.

His credits include 'The Legend of Sasquatch', Uwe Boll's 'In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale', and 'Anaconda 3: Offspring', none of which (as you can guess from their titles) were Oscar-contenders.



Billy Boyd – Peregrin "Pippin" Took
The Scottish actor's biggest role post-'Rings' was in the leaky Russell Crowe vehicle 'Master and Commander: Far Side of the World', but he has continued to work in British indie films and recently toured with the stage version of 'Sunshine on Leith', the musical based on the music of The Proclaimers.



Dominic Monaghan – Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck
The last Hobbit of the original Fab Four is probably just as fondly remembered as Charlie from hit TV show 'Lost' as he is 'Lord of the Rings', but his film career has never really taken off since 'Return of the King'. His most high-profile part was as Bolt in the critically maligned 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'.



Orlando Bloom – Legolas
Although he returns as Legolas for 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug', Bloom has never had much cause to look back as his career went stratospheric post-'Rings'.

[Bloom makes appearance at 'Hobbit' preview event]

The actor headlined several blockbusters including Ridley Scott's 'Kingdom of Heaven', 'The Three Musketeers', and of course three of the 'Pirate of the Caribbean' films alongside Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley.



Sean Bean – Boromir
The journeyman actor from Sheffield continues to be one of the most in-demand actors (for characters with Yorkshire accents) in the game.

[Why is Sean Bean on a bike, being chased by a dinosaur?]

A horror and fantasy stalwart on the big screen and small, his role in HBO's TV series 'Game of Thrones' was short yet memorable, but it was playing the murder-accused transvestite Simon/Tracie in BBC One drama 'Accused' that would recently bag the actor an International Emmy and BAFTA nomination.

'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' is in cinemas now. Find out what to expect from the third and final 'Hobbit' film from the stars below.