Christopher Plummer Regrets Turning Down Gandalf In The Lord Of The Rings

03/26/2015 05:36 pm EDT

Before Sir Ian McKellen ("X-Men") landed the role of Gandalf in Peter Jackson's The Lord Of The Rings film series, the role had been offered to several actors, like Sean Connery ("The Rock") and Christopher Plummer ("The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"). While chatting on Conan, Plummer expressed regret for passing on the Middle-Earth role.

"I don't know why I turned it down," Plummer said. "I thought 3 or 4 years in New Zealand... I thought there were other countries I would like to visit before I croak. It was a marvelous part and I loved The Lord Of The Rings, I grew up on it actually. It is a great, great, great book and then it became a great film. And then Ian played it. Ian McKellen, who is absolutely marvelous in it. And he couldn't have been warmer, which I might not have brought to it. I might have been a little cold and imperialist. He was warm."

He added jokingly, "I hate the son of a bitch."   

Listen to Plummer's comments in the video below.

Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Battle Of Five Armies will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray March 24th.

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.