10 Mind Blowing Facts You Never Knew About The Lord Of The Rings

5. Christopher Lee Was The KING Of Nerds

Peter Jackson Lord Of The Rings
Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Not only was the irreplaceable Christopher Lee a Lord Of The Rings superfan, he was known for signing himself up for roles in movies that adapted works he loved, when a man of his renown could have any role he wanted.

One of the most famous examples of this was when he auditioned for Rankin Bass' adaptation of The Last Unicorn as the story's main antagonist. He reportedly walked right up to the Rankin Bass story team with his own personal copy of the book, inside which was highlighted all the parts that he refused to allow them to cut out.

But what you may not realize is that playing Saruman Of Many Colors was his plan the entire time. Like, his entire career was leading up to that moment for him. To the point where he even took up a role in The New Adventures Of Robin Hood just to show anyone watching that he could play a wizard.

When you dedicate your entire filmography to a meticulous long game culminating in you getting to be in this one single movie adaptation of a book you loved as a kid, that's how you know that you are the undisputed KING of nerds.

Contributor
Contributor

John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?