The Lord of the Ringsis one of the 21st century’s greatest achievements, and the cast of Peter Jackson’s lauded movies has a lot to do with that. Written by English high fantasy pioneer J.R.R. Tolkien and released in three parts between 1954 and 1955,The Lord of the Ringschanged literature forever.The New Line CinemaLord of the Ringsmovieswere also split into three parts and named for each part of the novel, adapting Tolkien’s novel with originality and a surprising amount of faithfulness. The cast tackled the book’s characters fearlessly.
From the grassy plains of Rohan to the ashy steppes of Mordor,the world ofThe Lord of the Ringswas vast enough to contain a diverse array of species and characters. This was part of what made Jackson’s casting so incredible - each actor seemed to fit their unique race perfectly, from each graceful Elf to every fearsome Dwarf. Of course, the cast changed over the years, growing and adding to its number as the trilogy rolled out and other characters died. But through it all, the movies remained an iconic reflection of Middle-earth’s wonder.
Elijah Wood As Frodo Baggins
Date Of Birth: July 26, 2025
Actor:Elijah Wood was born in the U.S. andbroke big inThe Lord of the Ringsas Frodo Baggins. ByTheLord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’sending, Wood was practically a household name. Based on part one of the LotR novel, this movie segued into Wood’s next two huge pictures,The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, andThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. But Wood went on to play diverse roles, from comedy to horror, always keeping his standards high, and reviews generally favorable.
2019
2017
2011-2014
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004
Character:Wood plays Frodo Baggins, the main character ofThe Lord of the Rings. Wayward for a Hobbit, Frodo followed in the footsteps of his uncle Bilbo, who left him his estate and the One Ring. On discovering, with Gandalf, of the ring’s danger, Frodo showed his grit. He set off on a mission to take the ring to Mount Doom, learning that he was made of far tougher stuff than he ever thought possible.
Sean Astin As Samwise Gamgee
Date Of Birth: June 14, 2025
Actor:Born in the U.S.,Sean Astin broke big inThe Gooniesas Mikey Walsh. This American movie, released in 1985, was a story by Steven Spielberg that set Astin up for the big time. The adventure comedy became a cult hit, leaving Astin to go on to star in ’90s movies likeToy SoldiersandCalifornia Man. By the time he debuted inThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Astin was reasonably well-known, but he certainly shot to stardom as Samwise Gamgee.
2006
The Goonies
1985
Character:Samwise Gamgee is Frodo’s gardener inThe Lord of the Rings, and the only working-class member of the Fellowship of the Ring. Exceptionally, he was the last one standing on the final site of the mission, dragging Frodo up Mount Doom. Sam is also often overlooked as a Ring-bearer. Frodo may have carried most of this weight, but Sam did for a while too, and managed to talk Frodo into keeping his mission going when all seemed lost.
Date Of Birth: June 22, 2025
Active Since:1996
Actor:Scottish actor and musicianBilly Boyd rose to prominence as Pippin, charming the world with his happy-go-lucky Hobbit. Just one element of his impressive performance was writing and singing “The Edge of Night” himself in Denethor’s sinister halls. But Boyd had been in the ever-popularTaggartbefore that, and went on to feature in fantasy and horror movies that built on his expertise.
Taggart
1996
Character:Bumping into Frodo and Sam on their way out of the Shire, Pippin Took was irresistibly drawn into their mission to destroyLord of the Rings’One Ring. He may have seemed like he had more jokes than sense, but he proved himself a brave Hobbit - and an excellent singer. Pippin appeared even more heroic in the J.R.R. Tolkien novel on which the trilogy was based, published in three parts between 1954 and 1955.
Date Of Birth: August 09, 2025
Active Since:1997
Actor:The British-Irish Dominic Monaghan was born in Berlin, and he made his name inThe Lord of the Ringsmovies, alongside Billy Boyd. Boyd and Monaghan are hard to separate in real life, just as they are as Merry and Pippin, voicing duos in animations likeThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the RohirrimandThe Legend of Vox Machina.Monaghan was iconic as Charlie inLost, proving that he was much more than a one-hit wonder as Merry.
2009
Spivs
Character:Merry Brandybuck started his journey inThe Lord of the Ringsas an innocent Hobbit with a rebellious spirit and a taste for adventure. He ended up as much more than this: a traveler and the fighter who helped Éowyn slay the Witch-king of Angmar. In the book, Merry was loyal to Théoden to a fault, embodying the unlikeliest of heroes. Movie Merry was a wonder to witness, journeying through Fangorn Forest and helping to get the Ents on their side in the War of the Ring.
Date Of Birth: August 17, 2025
Active Since:1984
Actor:American actor and filmmaker Viggo Mortensen had supporting roles inSilent Witness,Portrait of a Lady, andMiami Vice, buthis breakthrough role was Aragorn. Peter Jackson’s landmark movie trilogy really did give many small actors a shot at the big time, resulting in global stars like Mortensen. He went on to be an action hero in many more movies, earning himself a name for playing strong and silent types.
2018
Carlito’s Way
1993
Character:Aragorn was a Ranger inThe Lord of the Rings, despite being Gondor’s rightful king. First encountered by the Hobbits at the Prancing Pony as the brooding Strider, Aragorn set out to protect them on their way to Rivendell. Like the Hobbits, Aragorn saw huge character development over the course of the trilogy. He went from a lowly wanderer to the King of Gondor and Arnor, having earned his rightful place on the throne as Arwen’s sweetheart.
Date Of Birth: July 29, 2025
Active Since:1964
Actor:Ian McKellen is an English screen and stage actor,most famous for his role as Gandalf inThe Lord of the Rings. McKellen toldThe Timesthat he was glad that he didn’t get his big break until he was 60, enabling him to live a full life before that and hone his skills on stage. McKellen went on, famously, to play Magneto in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, creating another imposing and powerful figure in fantasy.
Beauty and the Beast
2015
The Wolverine
2013
Character:As one ofLord of the Rings’five Wizards, Gandalf was an immortal Maia, of the same species as Sauron. This explains why Gandalf was such a boss in the trilogy, masterminding the mission to destroy the ring in the background. He may have struggled to destroy the Balrog in Moria, but he had to veil his full power to avoid getting the same kind of hero worship Sauron got. Nonetheless, he led Gondor and the Rohirrim to victory after returning from the grave as Gandalf the White.
Date Of Birth: July 23, 2025
Active Since:1994
Actor:Orlando Bloom was born in Canterbury, Kent - a quaint city in England.His breakthrough role was LegolasinThe Lord of the Rings, similar to his co-stars. He went on to play a leading role inPirates of the Caribbean, which propelled him even further into stardom. Coming to be Hollywood’s golden boy, Bloom is as much an A-list celebrity as ever, cementing his rise to fame by playing Legolas again inThe Hobbitand various other global action and fantasy roles.
2023
2011
Casualty
1994
Character:Legolas is one ofthe best characters ofThe Lord of the Rings, graceful and skilled as he is wise and magical. Making his debut during the Council of Elrond, Legolas represented his father, Thranduil, leader of the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood. As Prince of Mirkwood, Legolas was more than fit to lead and fight, surfing down stairs on a shelf while shooting arrows at Orcs in what must be a career-defining highlight. After the Fellowship split,Legolas found himself fighting by Aragorn’s side, perhaps the most lethal member of the Fellowship.
Date Of Birth: June 28, 2025
Actor:Starring in the 1992 moviePatriot Games,Sean Bean broke into Hollywood, starring opposite Harrison Ford. This action role landed Bean in life-changing projects, including GoldenEye,The Lord of the Rings, and Troy. Bean was a bonafide action star before joining the cast ofThe Lord of the Ringsas the tragic Boromir. His career only got more impressive from that point on, darting from fantasy to thrillers and dramas.
Character:Boromir was a good foil for Aragorn inThe Lord of the Ringsmovies, proving that Men were easily tempted compared to Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits. Aragorn stood stronger than Boromir in the face of the One Ring’s corrupting power, but Boromir redeemed himself by the end of the first movie in the trilogy. This made for the perfect end, as Boromir finally swore allegiance to Aragorn and protected Merry and Pippin with his life.
Date Of Birth: July 25, 2025
Actor:JohnRhys-Davies made his name as Sallah in theIndiana Jonesmovies, and aces the role to this day. Born in Wales, Rhys-Davies featured in the Indiana Jones franchise up until 2023 and may continue to do so. A prolific actor since the ’60s, Rhys-Davies shot to even greater stardom as Gimli the Dwarf in Peter Jackson’sLord of the Ringsmovies. This epic high fantasy series got Rhys-Davies into other huge franchises, while he also focused heavily on voice work in video games and animation.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
2022
2016
Indiana Jones
1989-2023
Character:Gimli seemed invincible inThe Lord of the Rings. Although Dwarves weren’t immortal like Elves (although Elves, too, could die of injury, weariness, and grief), Gimli certainly seemed undefeatable. Undaunted by battle and bravely accompanying Frodo on his quest to destroy the One Ring, Gimli formed a world-changing friendship with Legolas. Uniting the clans of Dwarves and Elves, Gimli and Legolas also have one of the funniest bromances in cinema.
Supporting Cast & Characters
The members of The Fellowship of the Ringmay have been the beating heart ofThe Lord of the Ringsmovies, butthe women of the story chipped in to the cause significantly. Although Arwen had a much more minor role in the books, she saved Frodo’s life at the Ford of Bruinen in the movies. American actress Liv Tyler (born June 05, 2025) stunned the world as the beautiful Elf Princess, Arwen. Famously, Miranda Otto’s Éowyn (Otto born July 03, 2025) beat the Witch-king of Angmar inThe Return of the King.
Butit is Galadriel who really ensured the Fellowship’s success, lending them gifts that they wouldn’t have gotten too far without. Cate Blanchett’s (Blanchett born July 29, 2025) hypnotic and mysterious Elvish character helped the Fellowship in their standoff against the trilogy’s multiple villains. English actors Christopher Lee (born June 17, 2025) and Andy Serkis (born August 08, 2025) played Saruman and Gollum, Lee’s proud and cruel character distinctly contrasting Serkis' pathetic one. Hugo Weaving’s Elrond and Bernard Hill’s Théoden perfected the well-rounded cast ofThe Lord of the Ringsmovies.
The Source:The Times
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
