How Viggo Mortensen reacted to Jamie Dornan's Aragorn casting in The Hunt for Gollum

Director Andy Serkis shared Viggo Mortensen's reaction to Jamie Dornan taking over as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.

In Short

• Andy Serkis shared Viggo Mortensen's reaction to his Aragorn replacement
• Jamie Dornan is set to portray Aragorn in The Hunt for Gollum
• The Hunt for Gollum is expected to release in December 2027

A day may come when a Lord of the Rings casting choice upsets former star Viggo Mortensen, but, according to Andy Serkis, that day is not now. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum director said that Mortensen is "thrilled" about Jamie Dornan being recast as Aragorn, also known as Strider.

In an interview with Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, Serkis said, "We are thrilled that Jamie's doing it. I mean, we're, you know, we're absolutely thrilled. And, by the way, so is Viggo." When asked about Mortensen's decision not to reprise the role, Serkis declined to go into detail and said he wanted to save that discussion for "further down the line".

"I really, really don't want to go into it right now because I do want to save that for, you know, further down the line. I'm gonna save all the discussion about casting," he added.

Dornan's casting was previously revealed at CinemaCon during Warner Bros.' panel, with the film set to explore a new story within Middle-earth. Serkis had earlier teased the casting in an interview with ScreenRant ahead of the 2026 convention, saying, "Let's just say we are recasting the role, and we are on the way to finding someone."

Alongside Dornan's casting and Serkis returning as Smagol, Warner Bros also revealed that Ian McKellen will return as Gandalf, while Kate Winslet will play Marigol, Leo Woodall will play Halvard, Lee Pace will play Thranduil, and Elijah Wood will return as Frodo.

Wood, in an earlier interview with The Sunday Times had expressed his views about portraying Frodo Baggins in the original trilogy. He said, "I certainly wouldn’t want anybody else to play Frodo as long as I’m alive and able."

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum brings back the core creative trio of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens.

While the film was originally slated for a 2026 debut, the release date for the movie has now been pushed to December 17, 2027.

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