20 Actors That Were Almost Cast In The Lord Of The Rings

5. Patrick McGoohan - Gandalf

Patrick McGoohan turned down plenty of iconic roles during his long and distinguished career; he said no to playing Simon Templar in television hit The Saint, declined to take over as James Bond in Live And Let Die after originally being offered the part for Dr. No, rejected an offer to play Dumbledore in Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone and, finally, was Peter Jackson's first choice for the role of Gandalf, which he was unable to accept due to his declining health. By the time the casting process for The Lord Of The Rings had started, McGoohan was virtually retired from acting anyway; his memorable performance in Braveheart was his first big-screen role in ten years, and supporting roles in The Phantom and A Time To Kill in 1996 were his final feature credits, bar a voice role in 2002's Treasure Planet. Jackson must have known there was virtually no chance of McGoohan relocating for New Zealand for an 18 month location shoot, but his enigmatic and authoritative screen presence would have been an undoubtedly great fit for the character.