13 Movie Villains You Didn't Know Almost Played The Hero

12. Christopher Lee Was Almost Gandalf Before He Was Saruman

Type-casting isn't always such a bad thing: Christopher Lee after all has made a career out of playing villains, and the range in his CV is as startling as the revelation of how many films the 91 year old actor has actually been involved in. He also boasts almost unprecedented geek credentials having starred in two of the greatest movie franchises of all time in Star Wars and The Lord Of The Rings.

And though Lee's Saruman was badly abused by the run-time restraints of the final LOTR, his dark wizard remains a triumphant performance, and one which might not have happened if the actor, and the character's creator had had their own way.

Lee met JRR Tolkien before his death, and having been very vocal in his desire to play Gandalf in any forthcoming adaptation, he received the author's blessing to play the wizard. Eventually, Peter Jackson made the film a reality, and though Lee auditioned for Gandalf, he was apparently deemed too old to play the character and was instead cast on the other side of the dark/light divide.