Cate Blanchett Pitched Peter Jackson on a Secret Second ‘Lord of the Rings’ Role
Zack Sharf
Cate Blanchett will forever live in the hearts of “Lord of the Rings” fans for starring as Galadriel in Peter Jackson‘s Oscar-winning movie trilogy, but if the actress had her way the royal Elf wouldn’t have been her only “Lord of the Rings” role. During a recent appearance on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, the actress said she loved working on “Lord of the Rings” so much that she pitched a secret cameo role to Jackson and his co-producer and co-writer Fran Walsh. Blanchett wanted to transform into a male dwarf, which would’ve fulfilled her wish of staying on set longer.
“For me it was super quick,” Blanchett said of working on “Lords of the Rings.” “There’s not too many chicks in the Tolkien universe. I loved it so much and I did say to Peter and Fran, they were doing a banquet scene with a whole lot of dwarves. I always wanted to play the bearded lady, so I asked them, ‘Could I be your hairy wife woman when you pan across the banquet table of dwarves?’ Of course I couldn’t because the timing shifted. But it takes them forever. For me, Galadriel it was just three weeks.”
Blanchett made her debut as Galadriel in 2001’s “The Fellowship of the Ring,” which remains her most sizable appearance in the franchise. Blanchett is one of the only actors to be included in every Jackson-directed “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” movie. The Oscar winner reprised Galadriel for brief scenes in “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King,” and she would do the same in all three “Hobbit” movies.
Had timing worked out and Blanchett been able to play a dwarf, it would not have been her first top secret role. Stanley Kubrick’s assistant Leon Vitali revealed last summer that Blanchett had a secret role in the director’s 1999 erotic epic “Eyes Wide Shut.” Blanchett voiced a character billed as the Mysterious Woman during the film’s orgy scene, but her voice role went uncredited.
Listen to Blanchett’s complete interview with Marc Maron over on the “WTF” podcast website. The actress currently stars in the limited series “Mrs. America,” now streaming on FX on Hulu.
