It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Elijah Wood in the role of Frodo Baggins, but in a new interview, Southpaw actor Jake Gyllenhaal has revealed how he auditioned for (and lost) the part of the heroic hobbit.
Stopping by Jimmy Fallon’s late night show, the 35-year-old said he even went so far as to audition in front of director Peter Jackson – but things didn’t go exactly as planned.
Jake revealed he made the mistake of reading out his lines in his own American accent, not realising that the part would require him to speak in a British accent instead. After giving it his best shot, Jake said he turned to see Peter with his head in his hands.
“He turned to me, he’s like, ‘You are the worst actor that I have ever seen,’” Jake recalled.
Of course, as we all know, the part eventually went to another blue-eyed, dark-haired actor – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Jake’s career didn’t suffer too badly either, as he went on to star in several acclaimed films including Brokeback Mountain, Zodiac and Nightcrawler – but we can’t help but wonder how different the Lord of the Rings films would have been with Jake as Frodo!
Watch the interview in the video player above
Jake had host Jimmy Fallon captivated as he recalled his horror audition story.
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