He became the world’s most famous Goblin King thanks to Labyrinth, but David Bowie came closer than many probably knew to expanding his repertoire with one the biggest fantasy epics of all.
“I was at the Hubbard’s, which is a pretty notorious casting agency office in London, doing an audition for The Lord of the Rings, and when it ended I went over a talked to John Hubbard who was running the audition,” Dominic Monaghan — who played hobbit Merry in Peter Jackson’s trilogy — told The Huffington Post.
Having been told that his audition went well, Monaghan said he was asked to wait for feedback, so he sat in the reception office.
“As I was reading a magazine waiting, David Bowie came in and signed his little list and went in. I’m assuming he read for Gandalf. I can’t think of anything else he would’ve read for.”
Bowie’s rumored interest in joining The Lord of the Rings has been well documented since the first film was released, with the musician reportedly keen on playing Elrond, the elf lord of Rivendell. The role eventually went to Hugo Weaving, with Jackson at the time saying: “To have a famous, beloved character and a famous star colliding is slightly uncomfortable.”
