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

Nowadays, the idea of anyone other than Ian McKellen playing Gandalf is utterly ludicrous. It was without question one of the all time best casting decisions in a movie FILLED with all time great casting decisions. But believe it or not, he wasn't Peter Jackson's first choice.

The one and only Sean Connery was originally slated to play Gandalf, which would have definitely been a good choice on its own. Sean Connery is, after all, one of the greatest actors of his time, so there's no doubt in my mind that he could have made it work.

However, there were complications. Despite being offered a whopping 15% of the film's box office returns - a total of 400 million dollars, more than any other actor has ever made for a single role - Sean Connery hadn't ever read the books, and didn't understand the script.

So he ended up turning down what would've been the most lucrative acting deal in film history, and probably for the best. If the guy who had no problem dressing up in a giant teddy bear costume in 1998's The Avengers believed he couldn't make it work as Gandalf, you should probably look elsewhere.