Sean Bean Finally Reveals the Lord of the Rings Role He Nearly Took

Here is a fun bit of Middle-earth what-if: Sean Bean says he was almost Aragorn. Yes, Boromir himself. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Bean casually dropped that he was in the mix for the ranger-turned-king before settling on Gondor’s most tragic son. It is one of those inside-baseball casting details that makes you pause and imagine a very different Lord of the Rings.

The almost-Aragorn story

Bean says early on there were conversations about him playing Aragorn, and producer Barrie Osborne was especially keen. But Bean had already locked in on Boromir, and then Viggo Mortensen arrived and, well, that was that. Bean is gracious about it now: he is proud of what he did with Boromir and thinks Mortensen nailed the role he did not take.

'There was talk about Aragorn at one point... then Viggo came along, and he made a magnificent Aragorn.'

That is a pretty big sliding-doors moment. Different vibe for the Fellowship, different energy opposite the hobbits, and probably a different career arc for Bean.

How that choice shaped Bean’s career

Bean’s Boromir effectively kicked off a long-running bit: he became the guy who dies. Not just in The Lord of the Rings and, later, Game of Thrones as Ned Stark, but over and over again: GoldenEye, Equilibrium, Silent Hill: Revelation, The Field, Don’t Say a Word, Black Death — if he shows up, start the clock. It even earned him the unofficial label of 'the actor who always dies.'

If he had played Aragorn — a leader, a survivor, an actual crowned king — it is not wild to think casting directors might have seen him differently for a decade or two. And for the record, Bean could have handled it: he has the gravitas, the steel, the 'I will walk into Mordor if I have to' presence. Still, hard to argue with how it turned out. Mortensen’s Aragorn became textbook fantasy-hero stuff, and Bean’s Boromir is unforgettable.

A quick refresher on the trilogy’s run

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) — 92% on Rotten Tomatoes; $868.3 million worldwide
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) — 95% on Rotten Tomatoes; $923 million worldwide
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) — 94% on Rotten Tomatoes; $1.1 billion worldwide

So, will Viggo return in The Hunt for Gollum?

With Andy Serkis spearheading The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, fans are understandably asking if Mortensen will put the sword and crown back on. He told GQ he is open, but only if it makes sense for the character and his age right now. No winks, no gimmicks — just a story that fits Tolkien’s world.

'I like playing that character... I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of the age I am now and so forth. It would be silly to do it otherwise.'

Translation: no confirmation, but the door is not closed. If the script lines up with Aragorn’s timeline and logic, he is in.

Where to watch

The Lord of the Rings films are streaming in the US on Max.

Curious how you feel about the almost-casting: would Sean Bean as Aragorn have changed everything, or did Middle-earth end up with the right king and the right fallen hero?