Re-Casting The Lord Of The Rings Movies If They Came Out Today

Before Ian McKellen became embroiled in the battle for best senior citizen, along with Patrick Stewart and George R. R. Martin, he was mostly a traditional theatre actor.

This classical training served McKellen well for his term as the good old Gandalf, lending him an eloquence and wit that are now inseparable from the character. If the LOTR films were made today, what's to say Amazon tv execs wouldn't look for that same theatre experience?

You may not have heard of him, but Simon Russell Beale is one the greatest theatre actors working to date, having performed for decades with such troupes as even the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company. La di da indeed.

While he may not lend himself to suaveness, Beale more than makes up for it in wit and intelligence, and would be a great fit for a more mischievous Gandalf. He's also acted with Irons before, playing the Falstaff to Iron's Henry IV, so the pair already have the wise upstart/haughty superior relationship that made that first Wizard on Wizard encounter so memorable.

Maybe, with an actor so dedicated to the written word, they'll even get the line right. It's "You CANNOT pass," not "You SHALL NOT pass." Honestly.