Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee | |
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Lifetime | May 27, 1922 |
Portrayed | Saruman in: |
Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings | |
IMDb | Profile |
Christopher Frank Carandini Lee portrayed Saruman in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films. Lee has a long history with J.R.R. Tolkien's fiction; he is one of the few living actors that knew Tolkien personally and makes it a habit to read his books once a year, which he has done for the past five decades [1]. He had originally tried out for the part of Gandalf, but it was later areed that he would be more suited as Saruman. During the filming of the trilogy, Lee often acted as a consultant on the material.
Lee has also performed with the Tolkien Ensemble on their CDs At Dawn in Rivendell and Leaving Rivendell. He sang the role of Treebeard, as well as reciting numerous other poems.
He has expressed interest in reprising his role in Guillermo del Toro's The Hobbit and its sequel, should Saruman be included in them[2].
Quotes
- "The greatest inventor of language and legend in my lifetime."
- ― Christopher Lee on J.R.R. Tolkien
- "It's just going to be...I'm trying to think of the right word - without making it sound like the usual fashionable superlative. I think it will create film history. I think it's going to have the biggest impact, on screen, of anything of the last 40 or 50 years"
- ― Christopher Lee, SFX Magazine June #65
- "Saruman is number one. Saruman is, very definetly, the most brilliant, the most powerful, with the greatest intellect and the greatest knowledge. Gandalf...well he's number two. But Saruman's whole character becomes perverted and distorted and he lusts for power and gradually, as it very often does, the old famous quote 'power corrupts and absoloute power corrupts absoloutely'."
- ― Christopher Lee, Fox's Quest for the Ring
Appearances
- 2007 - The Children of Húrin Audiobook - Narrator
- 2006 - EA's The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king - Saruman
- 2006 - EA's The Battle for Middle-earth II - Saruman
- 2005 - At Dawn in Rivendell - Treebeard
- 2004 - EA's The Battle for Middle-earth - Saruman
- 2004 - EA's The Third Age - Saruman
- 2003 - Peter Jackson's The Return of the King - Saruman (extended edition)
- 2003 - EA's The Return of the King - Saruman (archive footage)
- 2003 - Beyond the Movie: The Return of the King - Himself
- 2003 - J.R.R. Tolkien: Origins of Middle-earth - Himself
- 2002 - Peter Jackson's The Two Towers - Saruman
- 2002 - EA's The Two Towers - Saruman
- 2001 - Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring - Saruman
- 2001 - Beyond the Movie: The Fellowship of the Ring - Himself
- 2001 - Quest for the Ring - Himself
- 2001 - A Passage to Middle-earth - Himself
Awards
- 2002 - PFCS Award, Best Acting Ensemble, Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring
- 2003 - OFCS Award, Best Ensemble, Peter Jackson's The Two Towers
- 2003 - PFCS Award, Best Acting Ensemble, Peter Jackson's The Two Towers