The Lord of the Rings-filmtrilogien er gået over i historien som en af de mest succesfulde filmfortællinger nogensinde, og det skyldes blandt andet en række stærke centrale skuespillerpræstationer, deriblandt fra Viggo Mortensen som Aragorn. Dog var det ikke hele tiden ham der skulle have portrætteret karakteren.
I den seneste episode af Howard Stern Show (via Hollywood Reporter) fortæller selveste Russell Crowe nemlig, at han fik tilbudt rollen som Aragorn.
Ydermere er det blevet bekræftet at New Line Cinema faktisk tilbød ham 10% af den første films overskud, skulle han takke ja, men efter et opkald med instruktør Peter Jackson sagde han nej tak.
"I didn't think Peter Jackson actually wanted me on the film. Because I think he was forced into talking to me, because there was a moment in time when everybody wanted me in everything. And he's a fellow New Zealander, and so I can hear his voice [suggesting he could detect Jackson's disinterest'. And it's like, I don't even think he knows what I've done. My instinct was that he had somebody else in mind, which turned out the be Viggo [Mortensen], and he should be able to hire the actor that he wants."
Det lyder dog som om at Crowe har taget det hele i stiv arm.