The Lord of the Rings’ Viggo Mortensen’s Replacement Reportedly Cast for New Movie

Lord of the Rings fans will be headed back to Middle Earth in 2027 with The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum and it’s already shaping up to be an exciting movie. The first live-action film set in Middle Earth since The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Hunt for Gollum will take place before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. Andy Serkis is directing as well as returning as Gollum and Sir Ian McKellen has previously teased what fans can expect from Gandalf in this new film as well. Now, however, we’re getting some significant casting news with the replacement for Viggo Mortensen’s Strider reportedly found.

According to a report by Daniel Richtman (via Fellowship of Fans), Leo Woodall has been cast as Aragorn/Strider in the upcoming film. Woodall is best known for his role in season two of HBO’s The White Lotus and, more recently Netflix’s Vladmir, which debuted on the streamer March 5th. Per the report, the studio has not yet confirmed Woodall’s casting, but it would be in line with previous reports that The Hunt for Gollum would be looking to cast a younger actor in the Aragorn role.

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What Do We Know About The Hunt for Gollum?

Right now, there are still a lot of questions about what we can expect from The Hunt for Gollum. A previously leaked synopsis indicated that the film see Gandalf send Aragorn — still known as Strider at the time — on a journey to track down a younger Smeagol well before he is consumed by The One Ring and turns into the tortured Gollum. With Smeagol searching for the Ring and the Ring being of significant importance, knowing where the ring is and specifically knowing where Smeagol is could mean a major shift in the balance of power.

Given the premise and general time setting of The Hunt for Gollum, casting a younger actor as Aragorn/Strider makes sense, though Woodall will certainly have some big expectations to live up to. Mortensen’s performance of the character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy is nothing short of iconic, with the actor receiving great critical acclaim for his work. His performance is widely considered to be one of the best movie characters of all time and firmly established the actor as a major film star.

If reports of Woodall’s casting proves to be accurate, this would mark the first major casting we’ve gotten for The Hunt for Gollum. While we know that Serkis and McKellen are both officially confirmed to return, not much else has been revealed in terms of who we can expect to see on screen. Elijah Wood has previously hinted at a return as Frodo, but nothing has yet to be confirmed, though as we get closer to reported production start on the film, more news should be forthcoming.

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