Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most iconic and influential blockbuster film experiences of the 21st century so far. The three-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous fantasy adventure immediately captured the attention of audiences around the world when it was released in the early 2000s.
Over the last 20 years, its reputation has only continued to grow. Many film franchises have attempted to replicate its success – including The Lord of the Rings itself with three Hobbit films and the Prime Video series The Rings of Power.
While there are many avenues in which the influence of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings can still be felt, one of the most notable impacts it had was the result of the incredible cast gathered for the films. While there were more than a few stars and recognizable faces in the cast – such as Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Hugo Weaving, and Ian Holm – there were also many actors that had yet to really break through to general audiences. With that in mind, here are eight actors for whom The Lord of the Rings served as their breakout moment:
8 Karl Urban
Karl Urban is a pretty recognizable face in science-fiction and fantasy filmmaking these days, and, in retrospect, his part in The Lord of the Rings fits perfectly alongside the rest of the iconic roles he has taken on over the years. He makes his debut in the second film as the Rohirrim hero Éomer, who plays a key supporting role in both The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
Prior to this role, Urban had acted in a handful of television series but had only been in a few small films from New Zealand. His debut Hollywood film came in 2002 with the low-budget thriller Ghost Ship. It was the role of Éomer that really established him in the industry though, and it paved the way for the career he has built in the decades since.
Karl Urban Has Joined Many Favorite Franchises and Series
Urban quickly followed the success of The Lord of the Rings with supporting roles in two major Hollywood blockbusters in 2004, The Chronicles of Riddick and The Bourne Supremacy. These movies, along with 2005’s Doom, established the New Zealand actor as a rising action star. He then went on to play the role of Leonard McCoy in 2009’s Star Trek and its sequels.
He also starred in films such as 2012’s Dredd, 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok and the upcoming Mortal Kombat sequel. Currently, he’s most well-known for playing the lead role of Billy Butcher in Prime Video’s hit series, The Boys.
7 Dominic Monaghan
One of the primary Hobbit characters in The Lord of the Rings is Meriadoc Brandybuck, one half of the lovable duo that is Pippin and Merry. In Jackson’s films, Merry is played by Dominic Monaghan, who was just at the beginning of his acting career when he was cast. Monaghan got the role after having acted in a few small television series in the late ‘90s, primarily as the co-lead in the series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. With his memorable part in The Lord of the Rings, Monaghan shot to stardom and has since become a staple of numerous fan-favorite series.
Monaghan Has Built a Solid Career Post-LOTR
In the immediate wake of The Lord of the Rings, Monaghan was cast in a handful of small films, though his biggest role was undoubtedly as Charlie Pace in the television sensation Lost. In that role, Monaghan was a key part of the show for several seasons, and it provided him with another iconic character to add to his repertoire.
Over the years since, he has featured in major blockbusters like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as well. Currently, he is performing on the stage in an adaptation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead along with his Lord of the Rings castmate Billy Boyd.
6 John Noble
This may be a surprising addition to this list as John Noble is such a great character actor in so many things that it would be easy to assume he had already built that reputation prior to being cast as the Steward Denethor in The Lord of the Rings.
That’s not exactly the case though, as Noble had primarily worked on the stage and on Australian television series, such as All Saints, prior to being cast in Jackson’s adaptation of the famous fantasy epic. As Denethor, he leaves an incredible impression on the audience, filling one of the most key roles in the story of the finale, The Return of the King.
Noble Continues to Work in Film, Television and More
After The Lord of the Rings, Noble quickly became well-known for both his supporting and starring roles. Most notably, he played one of the lead roles in the hit network series Fringe, which ran for five seasons and 100 total episodes. He has continued his work in television through other series like Sleepy Hollow, Elementary, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and even a brief stint with his Lord of the Rings co-star Karl Urban on The Boys.
He has also become a go-to voice actor in both film, television and video games, having provided the voices for characters in movies like The Last Airbender and Superman: Unbound as well as shows like Transformers: Prime and games like Batman: Arkham Knight.
5 Bret McKenzie
Bret McKenzie may be one of the lesser-known actors to be featured in The Lord of the Rings, as he was essentially just an extra in both The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King. After fans saw and fell in love with his character during his brief appearance in Rivendell in the first film, he was given the nickname "Figwit"– an acronym of “Frodo is Great, Who is That?”
As a result of this mini-phenomenon in the die-hard Lord of the Rings fan base, he was given a minor speaking role in the final film, The Return of the King. He also returned to the series with a minor role in the Hobbit films a decade later. It wasn’t until years later that McKenzie rose to international recognition.
Working on Flight of the Conchords and The Muppets
Years after The Lord of the Rings and the unexpected sensation that was Figwit, McKenzie would achieve global acclaim with his work as a writer. Along with Jemaine Clement, he was the co-writer, co-creator and co-star of the cult-classic comedy series Flight of the Conchords on HBO. From there, his musical talents entered the picture, as he began writing songs for many films and shows. Most famously, he wrote the music for 2011’s The Muppets, for which he won an Oscar for the song “Man or Muppet.”
4 Billy Boyd
The other half of the Pippin/Merry Hobbit duo, Billy Boyd rose to fame with his performance as Peregrin Took throughout all three Lord of the Rings films. Along with Monaghan’s Merry, Boyd provided much of the comedic relief to the films, while also selling much of the heart of the story on more than one occasion. Prior to The Fellowship of the Ring, the Scottish musician and performer had primarily worked on television and the stage. However, with The Lord of the Rings, he suddenly became a recognizable face and voice.
Boyd Balances Music, Horror and Shakespeare
Since the release of The Lord of the Rings, Boyd hasn’t been quite as active as some of his co-stars, as he has instead opted to pursue projects that he is particularly passionate about. This has led him down a number of different avenues. He has released several albums as the frontman of the band Beecake, in addition to contributing an original song, titled “The Last Goodbye,” to the soundtrack of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
He has also been a part of a handful of small horror films; he most notably voiced the doll Chucky’s children, Glen and Glenda, in the fifth Child’s Play film, Seed of Chucky. He has also done a fair amount of Shakespeare-related work, such as voicing Puck in 2005’s animated Midsummer Dream, and he is currently co-starring with Monaghan in a stage run of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
3 Andy Serkis
Of all the actors in The Lord of the Rings, Andy Serkis might be the one whose career was most changed by the success of the films. Prior to the films, Serkis did a lot of work on television, appearing in a number of different series such as Finney and Grushko, though his most notable work was as the lead character in the show Streetwise. He had also been featured in supporting roles in films like Prince of Jutland and Career Girls as well. When he was cast as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, the role was unlike any other he had taken on before, as the use of motion-capture technology for performances was still in its infancy in Hollywood.
Serkis’ Take on Gollum Was Iconic
Thanks to Serkis’ incredible performance in the role, the character of Gollum quickly became one of the most iconic aspects of the Lord of the Rings films. On top of that, it started a debate in Hollywood over where the line exists between digital effects and an actor’s performance when it comes to motion-capture roles – a debate that is still prevalent today to some degree.
After The Lord of the Rings, Serkis has had no shortage of work. He continued to embrace motion-capture technology through the titular role in Jackson’s King Kong,the evil Supreme Leader Snoke in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and, most notably, the lead role of Caesar in the new Planet of the Apes trilogy.
He has also played plenty of roles without motion-capture, including Alfred Pennyworth in 2022’s The Batman, Ulysses Klaue in 2018’s Black Panther and Kino Loy in the Star Wars series Andor. Serkis has also stepped behind the camera to direct a few films, including 2018’s Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle and 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
2 Elijah Wood
Potentially, the most important role to cast in the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy was the lead of Frodo Baggins, since so much of the story and its heart rests upon that character’s shoulders. After an extensive search, the role was ultimately given to Elijah Wood. He had appeared in quite a few films as a child actor, having made his debut in a minor role in Back to the Future Part II at just eight-years old.
Although he was a fairly well-known young actor throughout the ‘90s, having starred in films like Radio Flyer, The Adventures of Huck Finn and Deep Impact, the role of Frodo in The Lord of the Rings drastically altered the direction of his career and redefined the public’s perception of him as an actor.
Growing Beyond Frodo Baggins
After the success of The Lord of the Rings, Wood has expressed a fear of being typecast in the same kind of hero roles as Frodo Baggins. As such, he has actively pushed himself to take on stranger and more experimental projects that he may not seem to be an obvious choice for. This has resulted in Wood building an immensely varied career, as he has voiced animated characters like Mumble in Happy Feet and Spyro the Dragon in the Legend of Spyro video games, in addition to playing supporting roles in films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sin City and the upcoming remake of The Toxic Avenger.
He has also done a fair amount of television work, having starred in shows like Wilfred, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and the animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall. He has also done some impressive work as a producer through his company SpectreVision, which has been responsible for films like 2014’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, 2018’s Mandy, and 2019’s Daniel Isn’t Real.
1 Orlando Bloom
Finally, the last entry on this list is none other than Orlando Bloom, who famously portrayed the Elf character Legolas throughout all three Lord of the Rings movies, as well as the latter two films in the Hobbit film trilogy a decade later. Bloom was cast in the role only a couple of days after graduating from his performing arts college in 1999, making The Lord of the Rings one of his very first film experiences. He had previously played a small role in 1997’s Wilde, and he was also featured in 2001’s Black Hawk Down, though the latter was filmed after principal photography of The Lord of the Rings.
Bloom Became a Blockbuster Movie Star
Bloom quickly became one of the biggest breakout stars to come out of the success of The Lord of the Rings. Shortly after the release of The Fellowship of the Ring, Bloom was cast in his next major film, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was released the same year as The Return of the King.
With both major franchises, Bloom easily became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood that decade. He has also starred in films such as 2004’s Troy, 2011’s The Three Musketeers and last year’s Gran Turismo. In addition to some work on the stage, Bloom has also starred in a few television series, most notably Prime Video’s Carnival Row.
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