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What Happened To The Lord Of The Rings Cast?

It has been 14 long years since the Fellowship first formed and over a decade since the One Ring was destroyed in Mount Doom. How have the cast of ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ trilogy fared in a post-Tolkien world? We tracked them down…

Elijah Wood – Frodo Baggins

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Perhaps conscious he was gifted the role most likely to typecast him (à la Mark Hamill), Elijah Wood has done a pretty good job of kicking against his Hobbity image. He’s played a serial killer not once but twice, first as cannibal Kevin in 'Sin City’, then in the stomach-churning remake of 'Maniac’, although his role as a football hooligan in 'Green Street’ was less than warmly received. 'Happy Feet’ voiceover paycheques meant he could continue to indulge in interesting indie projects (seek out last year’s excellent thriller 'Grand Piano’ if you can) but he returned to fantasy this year opposite Vin Diesel in 'The Last Witch Hunter’. Not bad, Mr. Frodo.

Sean Astin – Samwise Gamgee

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Goonies were good enough for Peter Jackson, who cast Astin as Frodo’s ever-smiling travel companion Samwise. Astin himself had quite the journey post-Rings trilogy, but like a descent of Mount Doom, it’s been mostly downhill. Aside from a few small roles in Adam Sandler projects ('50 First Dates’, 'Click’), Astin has struggled to recapture the epicness that defined his Tolkien adventures; these days his co-stars are the calibre of Vinnie Jones and not Viggo Mortenesen. He’s got a good sideline going in voiceover work, however: he voiced Raphael in the 'Ninja Turtles’ TV animation for three years and plays Shazam in the 'Justice League’ cartoons. We’ll say this: he’s never short of work.

Dominic Monaghan - Merry

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Monaghan was still hot enough from 'The Return Of The King’ to warrant his casting in ABC’s mega-bucks fantasy series 'Lost’, and the fan-favourite role of Charlie made him a global star. 2009’s 'FlashForward’ didn’t quite capture audiences’ imaginations in the same way, but the same year he co-starred as Bolt in 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine’. Perhaps his greatest achievement post-Rings was dating Evangeline Lilly until 2007, who would eventually take Tolkien tips from him when she played Tauriel in 'The Hobbit’ trilogy. Next on the cards? A possible Merry/Pippin reunion in a new road movie with Billy Boyd called 'Mac & Martin Take America’.

Billy Boyd - Pippin

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The wee Glaswegian Hobbit has found it harder than most to move on from Mount Doom. He’s since starred in an 'Oz’ movie (not that one), a recent adaptation of 'Macbeth’ (no, not that one) and a Danny Dyer movie that made headlines for all the wrong reasons (yes, that one: 'Pimp’ had an opening weekend of just £205). Irvine Welsh’s 'Ecstasy’ was a fun diversion from the direct-to-DVD stuff that Boyd, 47, usually produces, but it didn’t recapture that 'Trainspotting’ magic at the box office. That said, he did contribute to a billion-dollar movie last year: he wrote and performed rather lovely song, 'The Last Goodbye’, which played over the end credits in 'The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies’.

Sir Ian McKellen - Gandalf

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There’s no sign of McKellen, 76, slowing down yet. As 'The Lord Of The Rings’ trilogy was winding down, the 'X-Men’ series was just warming up; 14 years after he first played the role of Magneto, he went full metal one last time in last year’s 'Days Of Future Past’. 'The Hobbit’ trilogy has kept Sir Ian busy, but he has appeared in the odd non-blockbuster: movies like 'Emile’ and 'Mr. Holmes’ reminded us he had more shades to him than just hero and villain (for a real treat, check him out in ITV sitcom 'Vicious’, opposite Derek Jacobi). Next is the role of Cogsworth in the live-action 'Beauty & The Beast’ remake.

Viggo Mortensen - Aragorn

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You sense that Viggo had a lifetime’s supply of blockbuster suffrage throughout his time as Aragorn (“I’m the one who said yes to these movies, and now I’m having to pay the price for it” he says) so he has shied away from high profile roles ever since. Mortensen has favoured quiet and thoughtful movies like 'Good’, 'The Road’ and 'The Two Faces Of January’, only surfacing in the mainstream every time David Cronenberg writes him another powerhouse role: 'A History Of Violence’ was bloody and brilliant (and bloody brilliant), 'Eastern Promises’ got him nude and nominated by Oscar and 'A Dangerous Method’ paired his Freud with Michael Fassbender’s Jung in an intellectual sandwich we’re sure many women would like to chew on. Rumours suggest his next role will be in Neil Marshall’s Dracula movie, 'The Last Voyage Of Demeter’.

Jonathan Rhys-Davies - Gimli

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Only one of the following Jonathan Rhys-Davies movie titles is fictional – can you tell which one? 'Apocalypse Pompeii’! 'Killing Jesus’! '100 Degres Below Zero’! 'Medium Raw: Night Of The Wolf’! 'Anacondas: Trail Of Blood’! 'Kiss Me Deadly’! 'Chupacabra Terror’! Never Say Never Mind: The Swedish Bikini Team’! 'Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go’! Say what you like about Rhys-Davies’ post-Rings output, but you can’t accuse him of subtlety. Now 71 years young, the actor looks back on his time as Gimli fondly and still voices the character in related 'Lord Of The Rings’ videogames. Up next is heist thriller 'The Blue Mauritius’ with 'Hollyoaks’ actor Ricky Whittle. PS. We lied: none were fake.

Orlando Bloom - Legolas

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Like Ian McKellen, the Rings trilogy was just a warm-up for bigger and better things: the 'Pirates Of The Caribbean’ trilogy made more gold at the box office than even Smaug could handle. Perhaps two blockbuster trilogies were enough for Bloom, who has wound down his career in the last few years; he became a father in 2011 courtesy of Aussie model Miranda Kerr, then threw a punch at Justin Bieber last year for making a crack about his ex, instantly seeing his popularity spike even higher than his Legolas days. Elvish returned to the building when Leggy came back for the 'Hobbit’ trilogy, despite not appearing in Tolkien’s tale, and Bloom clearly missed the sea air as he’ll return as Will Turner in the fifth 'Pirates’ movie, 'Dead Men Tell No Tales’, in 2017.

Sean Bean - Boromir

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Beano has done sterling work over the last decade forging a space for himself in character actor circles. The Sheffielder, who always seem to play characters who hail from Sheffield – even when they’re half-man half-bee hybrids as in 'Jupiter Ascending’ – has racked up a number of big time supporting roles: there was 'Mirror Mirror’ with Tarsem Singh, 'Flightplan’ opposite Jodie Joster and most recently 'The Martian’ with Ridley Scott. 'Game Of Thrones’ bought him a lot of cred after some wilderness years in Rental Hell (for a while, movies like 'Ca$h’ and 'Cleanskin’ seemed to be positioning him as the low-rent Liam Neeson from Sheffield) and he’ll next be seen in an Anne Rice adaptation about the young Jesus (don’t worry, he’s not playing Jesus).

Liv Tyler - Arwen

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Tyler doesn’t have quite the same exhausting workrate as your Beans or your Rhys-Davies – in fact she’s made just 11 movies in the years since the 'Lord Of The Rings’. Her role as Betty Ross in Marvel’s 'The Incredible Hulk’ was not one that required a multi-picture deal (no post-credits stings for her) but she remained in the comic-book arena in 2010’s crime-fighting comedy 'Super’ and explored sci-fi territory in farce 'Space Station 76’ last year. Her best work, however, was in HBO series 'The Leftovers’ as the newest member of a chain-smoking, white-linened cult called the Guilty Remnant. Season 2 airs in the US this month.

Cate Blanchett - Galadriel

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When Aussie actress Cate Blanchett joined the cast of 'The Lord Of The Rings’, few knew what an awards season staple she’d soon become - you suspect Peter Jackson would have to dig deeper in his pockets if he were hiring her nowadays. Since her days as Galadriel, ethereal Royal Elf, Blanchett has scored four Oscar nominations and two wins, gave birth to three children (and adopted one) and even found time to play the villain in the fourth 'Indiana Jones’ movie we’re all pretending didn’t exist. She picking up more Oscar buzz for her role opposite Rooney Mara in Todd Haynes’ romantic drama Carol; don’t be surprised if her salary is even bigger this time next year.

Andy Serkis - Gollum

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Who knew Gollum would be the 'Lord Of The Rings’ alumni who went on to be the most successful of the group? When you have a worldwide box office total of £2.6 billion to your name, you can stuff your One Ring thanks very much. Serkis stamped his authority on the performance capture industry with his own company, The Imaginarium, where he’s personally provided characters for the likes of the 'Apes’ movies (for which there was a strong campaign that he be recognised for an Oscar) and 'Godzilla’ among others. Now a director after filming second unit for Peter Jackson, he’ll film 'Jungle Book: Origins’ for release in 2017, but will appear in person this December as Supreme Leader Snoke in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens’. JJ Abrams said of Serkis in 'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’: “I think that’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen”.

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Watch an exclusive deleted scene from ‘The Hobbit: The Battle Of Five Armies’ below:

Image credits: Impawards.com/ Rex Features/ Press Association/ thenypost.files.wordpress.com/ New Line Cinemas