When Saruman actor Christopher Lee saw the conclusion of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, he had to realise that he was no longer in it at all – even though at least one scene was still being filmed with him. What happened there?
If you have “only” seen the regular theatrical versions of the Lord of the Rings films, then you last encountered the character of Saruman at the end of the second part, The Two Towers. After being defeated by Treebeard and his army of Ents, the wizard, imprisoned on the tower Orthanc, had to watch helplessly as his kingdom was destroyed.
But in J. R. R. Tolkien’s books, the story of Saruman goes even further, and Peter Jackson also filmed his “real” ending – but then reluctantly decided to remove it from the cinema version of the finished work, as in his eyes it would have destroyed the narrative rhythm. Saruman actor Christopher Lee (“Dracula”) was anything but thrilled when he learned of this.
THAT’S WHY CHRISTOPHER LEE WAS SO UPSET ABOUT HIS ABSENCE
“They showed us the films and when I saw the third one, I couldn’t believe my eyes,” the actor, who died in 2015, said during a talk at University College Dublin. “Because I wasn’t there!”
Lee was not primarily offended because he, of all people, was cut from the film – he was also a great fan of the novels of Tolkien, whom he had even met once in his youth. Therefore, faithfulness to the original was particularly important to him. For in the book, Saruman does not die on the tower, but later in the Shire, which he tries to enslave together with Gríma Serpent’s Tongue (who later stabs him in the back). In protest against what he perceived as an affront to Jackson’s decision, Lee boycotted the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
THIS IS HOW PETER JACKSON EXPLAINS SARUMAN’S ABSENCE FROM PART 3
Talking to the website Ain’t It Cool News, Jackson explained the reasons for the absence of Saruman himself. “The problem is that that scene was originally shot as it is in the book for ‘The Two Towers’,” says the director, who went on to make a second Middle Earth trilogy with the “Hobbit” films. “But the film couldn’t handle a seven-minute-plus ending after the Battle of Helm’s Deep, so we thought it would be a good idea to save that scene for the beginning of ‘The Return of the King’.”
But it never came to that: when sifting through the footage for ‘The Return of the King’, Jackson found that the confrontation with Saruman rather set the film (and therefore the audience) back. “We reluctantly decided to keep this footage for the DVD version only,” the New Zealand filmmaker explains further. “Our decision is based on the fact that for most people Saruman had already been defeated […] during the events in Helm’s Deep. That way we could go straight on and build the narrative tension of ‘The Return of the King’ where Sauron is the villain. “
THIS IS HOW PETER JACKSON EXPLAINS SARUMAN’S ABSENCE IN PART 3
Talking to the website Ain’t It Cool News, Jackson explained the reasoning behind the absence of Saruman himself. “The problem is that that scene was originally shot as it is in the book for ‘The Two Towers’,” says the director, who went on to make a second Middle Earth trilogy with the “Hobbit” films. “But the film couldn’t handle a seven-minute-plus ending after the Battle of Helm’s Deep, so we thought it would be a good idea to save that scene for the beginning of ‘The Return of the King’.”
But it never came to that: when sifting through the footage for ‘The Return of the King’, Jackson found that the confrontation with Saruman rather set the film (and therefore the audience) back. “We reluctantly decided to keep this footage for the DVD version only,” the New Zealand filmmaker explains further. “Our decision is based on the fact that for most people Saruman had already been defeated […] during the events in Helm’s Deep. That way we could go straight on and build the narrative tension of ‘The Return of the King’ where Sauron is the villain. “
