Thread: Christopher Lee to return as Saruman
It appears that filming of the great Mr Lee will be done in the UK as he is now unable to travel long distances. Perhaps Mr Lee will film his role and then have his image digitally added in film. I imagine his role in some cases will be quite physical as the White Council scenes will undoubtedly contain some tough action scenes knowing PJ...
As with the fight between Saruman and Gandalf in TFOTR film faces can effectively be added to body doubles in costume.
I wish Mr Lee good health and luck and love in his now fading years. He is truely one of the greats of the last and this century! Its astonishing that he was appearing at the same time in two of the biggest fantasy film serries ever made as two of the most dangerous and well played characters (Saruman and Dukoo) ((spelling)) This alone would be impressive enough he also played a fabulous series of villains including Dracula in his youth!
Sir Lee is the only suitable actor to play the part of Saruman, but as brego already said, the man's very old.
But I still know that he will do the most perfect acting.
By the way, since we're talking about Sir Lee here, let it be mentioned that he's a very good narrator and has worked with a power metal band, Rhapsody of Fire for a long while, shame that the band kind of broke up, but he managed to work with them throughout the most of their career. The most notable songs, where you can hear his magnificent voice, are: The Mystic Prophecy of The Demon Knight, Unholy Warcry (Epic Edition) and Magic of Wizard's Dream, among many others.
Enjoy.
Sir Lee is incredible and his background amazing. His father a lieutenant won honors in two wars, and his mother was a countessa, fabulously beautiful and painted by many great artists. Their family name on mama's side went back to first century a.d. and the family crest was allowed by the then pope to be carried into the holy land.
Christopher Lee was also one of few who, along with some friends actually went to the pub that our professor Tolkien frequented and one time he was there. He regaled one and all for quite a while and Lee much enjoyed listening. So he had a great sense of what Tolkien would have liked and how he thought on some things.
Oh goodness yes, Sir Lee, forgive me calling him a mister I think he was also in the SAS at an early age, during WW2
Christopher Lee is also a cousin of Ian Fleming, who wrote the James Bond films; they were both in the wartime equivalent of the SAS; that is where Ian Fleming got the idea for James Bond.
Because Ian Fleming was his cousin, Christopher Lee always wanted to be in a Bond film; and he eventually got the chance as "Scaramanga" ....(was it ..."live & Let Die" ?)
How interesting, thanks for sharing this piece about Sir Christopher Alana and Leelee. A very humble man indeed.
I was so happy for him when he got knighted! And I was also really happy when he got the Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA! He looked rather old at that ceremony, and it made me worry very much for his health, but I saw a little clip of him in one of the Hobbit Production videos and there he looks his usual sinister Saruman-self. I am glad he is back.
I hope Mr. Lee will stay in a good health as long as possible. Such a good actor. And devoted Tolkien fan from what I read.
He has this amazing, charismatic voice, and a presence that lets you know he's a very important character in the story.
Even in his fading years, Christopher Lee is a fantastic actor. Perhaps he really IS Saruman... he doesn't look a day older than he did in the Dracula Movies.
Most likely we will see the white council discussing about attacking dol guldur.
I like how Saruman always criticized Gandalf for his love of the Half-ling’s weed but when he finally tried it he liked it and began to secretly smoke it until he had to stop for fear of being caught by Gandalf and embarrassed(from the unfinished tales). Seemed like they touched on that in the Hobbit Movie during the council but I cannot remember if it was in the book or just an ad on.
Nope, in the Hobbit movie it was about Radagast eating mushrooms. In LOTR Saruman talked about Gandalf and the halfings leaf
I was thinking about it the other day and I realized that it's such a great thing that sir Christopher Lee agreed to do another three movies for The Hobbit, despite his health condition and his age of course. I have so much respect for this man. I truly believe he feel privileged to be a part of Middle Earth somehow - he's an avid fan of Tolkien's works. I've heard in some interview that he has a tradition of reading "Lord of the Rings" once a year. For me it would be amazing to see his views on the topics we're discussing.