Claiming to be part of the early casting talks to portray Aragorn in the film trilogy, the 'Mission: Impossible 2' actor explains why he has no regret letting slip of the coveted part.

• Apr 22, 2020

AceShowbiz - Dougray Scott has no regrets about turning down the chance to play the role of Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

The actor reveals he met with director Peter Jackson for the part, which ultimately went to Viggo Mortensen, but was put of by the idea of spending so long time in New Zealand shooting three films.

"I'd just finished doing 'Mission: Impossible 2' and the idea of spending two years away in New Zealand, I just couldn't quite contemplate," the British actor tells NME.com.

The 54-year-old was never officially offered the role but admits he was part of the early casting talks.

"They didn't offer it to me, but they sent me the script to read, for sure," he adds. "Then I had to go meet him (Jackson) in New Zealand, but the idea of spending that amount of time away in New Zealand at that particular time, I didn't want to do."

The "My Week with Marilyn" star feels it all worked out for the best, noting he thought Mortensen was "great," adding, "I don't have regrets about anything."

Among the stars who also passed on the role were Nicolas Cage, Russell Crowe and Daniel Day-Lewis. Irish actor Stuart Townsend was initially picked to bring the character to life but he was re-cast during pre-production.

It's not the only major role Scott has missed out on. He was also a lock to play Wolverine in the first "X-Men" movie, but had to pass on the part when he was cast in the "Mission: Impossible" sequel.

Hugh Jackman went on to play the movie mutant in nine movies between 2000 and 2017.