'Aragorn Will Always Be Viggo,' Says Jamie Dornan Ahead of His Turn as the Iconic Character in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum

Jamie Dornan will play a younger Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, but he’s aware of the magnitude of his role, and doesn’t see his take on the character as a replacement for Viggo Mortensen.

"There's pressure when you're trying to follow in those footsteps," Dornan told ScreenRant. "I've been asked to play a super-iconic role, and I'll do my best.

“But for me, Aragorn will always be just Viggo. His performance is one of my all-time favorites, and I feel honored to try to recapture at least some of the energy he originally brought to the character. There's no part of me that's trying to outdo him."

Northern Ireland actor Dornan is best known for his leading role in Fifty Shades of Grey. Viggo Mortensen has already gone on record to back the casting choice, saying he was “thrilled.”

The Hunt for Gollum takes place between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and follows Gandalf and Aragorn as they track Sméagol across Middle-earth to find out if a certain magical ring is Sauron's One Ring. The story is summarized in Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring novel, but the movie will build upon those short passages and flesh the journey out into a full story.

Dornan is joined by Leo Woodall (White Lotus, One Day), who will play a fellow Dúnedain Ranger called Halvard joining Strider on his mission. Lee Pace will also return to his Hobbit trilogy role as Thranduil the Elvenking.

Andy Serkis returns as Gollum and also directs the movie, while Sir Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood reprise their classic roles as Gandalf and Frodo respectively. Mortensen previously said he’d only return as Aragorn if he “was right for the character.”

The actor also previously spoke about how he “wasn’t crazy about” the digital de-ageing technology used in The Irishman, which could potentially be a reason he won’t don the cloak and hood again. Of course, we haven’t seen what technology The Hunt for Golem uses to make Elijah Wood and Sir Ian McKellen look younger than they did in the original trilogy yet, with set pictures only showing us a glimpse of Frodo’s back.

Filming began earlier this year, and was teased with photos of Serkis squatting in the motion capture volume, getting his Gollum on. Rather his knees than mine. Elsewhere, Peter Jackson has confirmed The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past is in the scriptwriting stage following cancellation rumors that emerged in the wake of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.

Photo by Aurore Marechal/Getty Images.