Jake Gyllenhaal Remembers How He Bombed His Lord Of The Rings Audition

Elijah Wood gave a memorable performance as Frodo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but he wasn’t the only one up for the part.

During an appearance on Jimmy Fallon, Jake Gyllenhaal was asked about his worst audition, and one that came up was his blown chance auditioning for Director Peter Jackson.

“So I went in, and I remember going into this room, and I remember there was a lot of stage direction, so there were no lines, like we didn’t have any lines to say really, it was just really finding the ring, and you go and you’re supposed to open the thing, and there’s a ring there, and then it rhymed with something else. Ding and there’s a ring there. And I remember I didn’t really do it because I didn’t really understand because there were no lines, so I just kind of walked up and sort of opened it up and was like was that good?”

Evidently Jackson was not impressed, as he put his hand to his face disapprovingly. Unfortunately for Jake, it didn’t end there, as no one told him he was supposed to have an accent beforehand, so when he went in without one, Jackson said “You are the worst actor that I have ever seen. Did anyone tell you’re supposed to have an accent?” Jake replied no, which prompted Jackson to suggest “well fire your agents.”

Maybe the worst actor ever charge was a bit much from Jackson, but Gyllenhaal seems to be doing just fine.