Casting of Elves

[stevehope]

It seems like a lot of others in the forum are dissatisfied with the casting choices for some of the elves. I have to say that neither Arwen nor Galadriel looked particularly ELVEN to me (I'm not sure if their features were too rounded, or what it was). For some reason I think Michelle Pfeiffer would have made a better Galadriel (just from an appearance standpoint; I'm not trying to cast any aspersions on Cate Blanchett or get into a discussion of PJ's decisions about the way the characters are represented). For Arwen, I don't know...For some reason I think of elves being blond. Did JRRT weigh in on this at all? I'm thinking someone like Cameron Diaz might have looked more like I imagined Arwen.

I actually thought Legolas and Elrond LOOKED fine, so maybe it's just the two elfmaidens I was disappointed in!

[Anamatar IV]

i think the only elven feature is the ears.

[Dûndorer]

i think that they were very good choices. there hair is perfect, there faces are flawless, and the way they speak is just amazing. you have to back up why you didnt like them. you cant just say, 'i dont like them, im not sure why. maybe there faces were to round, i dont know. arent they blonde hmmm.' so tell the reason and ill think about it.

[isilior]

Opinions will always differ. I believe in this case, it's a matter of opinion. I personally had second thoughts about Arwen, and I didn't really like Galadriel, but I have nothing against them because they did a nice job. No, they don't seem very Elvish (to me), but I think that's because they have underlying roles. Arwen's role was changed from the book to the movie so the movie could have a female lead, so that alters the way she appears. I haven't yet pinpointed my reasons on Galadriel, but I...suppose I just had a different image when I first read the book. I'm probably all wrong, but whatever...

[cho.chang]

Well, I think that Cate Blanchett is very beautiful actress and she looks always good, so I don´t know why she´s so unpretty in the movie...she looks so sleepy and:( And I thing Liv Tyler is the worst "antielf" they could choose...

[Wood Elf]

Personally, I thought all the elves were very cool. :)
Cate Blanchett IS Galadriel, and Liv as Arwen wansn't bad at all, she looked like an elf. I have no qualms at all, and Legolas...well..that needs no further explanation! :)

[Niniel]

I like Cate Blanchett very much as an Elf, she has a beautiful voice too. Liv T. is not a very good choice, but I think she did a good jobg. Hugo Weaving of course is completely miscast, but Orlando Bloom is exactly as I imagined an Elf to look like. So overall I think they did okay.

[L.O.T.R. Gal]

I thought Arwen was perfect. I couldn't picture her as a blond. And I thought that she looked so beautiful and elvish that it was magical. Galadrial, I don't know...........I just didn't like her at all. She was beautiful, and she was commanding, and she seemed wise, but she jsut seemed wrong to me. I know I am suppossed to give good reasons, but that's the best I can do. The LOTR is not exactly logical anyway, right? And I LOVED Legolas! I couldn't picture him in the book but suddenly there he was! He was PERFECT. THe hair the eyes the ears the features and his performance, I laughed I cried I felt like I was there. I WANTED to be there. Of course I always felt like that with the LOTR but that's another story and I am not making much sense. Sorry!

[Goldberry]

Arwen is supposed to have raven dark hair, so making her a blonde would have been counter to Tolkien's description in the book.

I thought some of the elves with no names were not elvish looking. The ones sitting around at the Council of Elrond, Haldir and his 2 companions. Elves are supposed to be very beautiful, but I didn't think Haldir and the unnamed elves fit that description. Actually, I didn't think Elrond did either.

[Rangerdave]

Its a shame that this movie wasn't done twenty years ago.
Catherine Denueve would have made the perfect Galadriel.
Sophie Marceau or Claudia Christian would have also made a good Arwen.

RD

[linweyn]

I´m agree, I think that Galadriel was fine, but sometimes she scarried me, and in the book appear that she was always pretty and magical but in the movie she seems like a witch!
and Live Tyler, WAS TERRIBLE!!!!! she is not a middle earth actress, she is not for that kind of movie.
:o :o :o :o :o :o

[Thorin]

Cate Blanchett played the part well, but she is still too homely to play the most beautiful Elf in ME....Liv was homely as well and with the horrible distortion of her character, that didn't add very well to my image of her....Legolas seemed alright. Hugo Weaving as Elrond....BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!


I still think Rebecca DeMornay from around 15 years ago would have made a pretty nice Galadriel. Morgan Fairchild from 20 years ago would have made a nice one too. They don't have the beauty now like they did back then....

[cho.chang]

That´s it!I think Sophie Marceau would be great as Arwen...she looked so pretty in Braveheart,exactly as an elve should look!!!

[tasar]

No she didn't. She looked like a French Princess. Liv Tyler looks much more elvish. And Galadriel IS a witch, so why shouldn't she look like one. Cate Blanchett was perfect.
Only thing I don't understand, is that why on Middle-Earth did PJ make Arwen's eyes blue. I understand of course that it's miss Tyler's natural color, but we DO have contact lenses and Arwen HAS grey eyes and blue IS NOT arwen-like at all!

[cho.chang]

Yes, but she´s much more beautiful than Tyler.And elves should look beautiful!!!It´s useless, you can tell me anything, but I think that Liv Tyler is horrible and I don´t like her at all!!!

[Legolas_lover12]

hugo weaving as elrond.......yuck, not a very good choice. i dodn't think he looked very elven at all. orli as legolas........now that is the perfect elf!! just what i expected him to be like. cate blanchett as galadriel, well, i guess she was supposed to be kinda scary and freaky, so she's ok. she does look elven after all. and i thought liv tyler was a great choice as arwen. i didn't notice the color of her eyes. i wasn't looking THAT closely at her..........:D

[Isilme]

Legolas: GOOOOOOOOOOOD :p
Elrond: I didn't like him, he's to well... Matrix
Galadriel: Why doesn't anyone like her?? She wasn't the strongest actress in the movie, but I think she did alright.
Arwen: I liked her.

[Talimon]

Actually Cate Blanchet was really good as Galadriel. It was just the freaky effects they put on her that kind of ruined that scene (I thought it wasn't horrible, but deffinitely not great). As an actress she's great. Legolas was obviously good, in terms of catching that cat-like attitude we get from Legolas in the book.

What I don't understand is why people hate Elrond. I thought Hugo did a superb job. He didn't always smile, but when he did it was very natural. And when you see the flashback to Isildur it makes him look very old. I loved his performance.

[tasar]

I liked Elrond too. I guess I haven't seen Matrix too many times as some here seem to have.
Actually, I liked all the elves. And I think that in the Rivendell scenes PJ could've shown a bit more elves. I mean, in the book it was like a big big elven-dwelling with lots of elves and they had big feasts EVERY night. But in the movie it seemed a little empty and deserted. PJ should've made a scene of that feast they had. With lots of elves.

[Isilme]

He was a really good as Elrond, don't get me wrong. But he was the only bad guy in the Matrix and I saw that 1 too many times.
The special effects on Galadriel were just to creepy.

[Legolas_lover12]

he did a good job as elrond. he just didn't look very elvish. that's all i'm saying. he looked old. i know, i know, he is 3,000 (maybe more, i'm not sure) yrs old. but still, i thought elves were supposed to look young. i mean, galadriel is at least that old (i think) and she looks very young..............

[Talimon]

I've been thinking about the Galadriel scene, and I actually think the special effect could have worked out if they had changed the colors a bit. They should have made it kind of antique brown, with bits of fire spurting off the edges. Hard to explain, but would have made her look really wonderful and terrible at the same time. She just looks terrible in the movie :).

[tasar]

Actually, the thing that bothered me, was that wind. Galadriel looked like a tornado. I would've made her more...like a witch. Not in the sense of ugliness of course, but in the sense of the connection with the nature that Galadriel had (IMO).

[Talimon]

Not a witch, no. I would have made her more of a queen, both terrible and wonderful. That's how Tolkien described her and I think that image, however captured, would be very powerful. The terrible aspect is captured in the movie (arguably), but there is nothing wonderful about her. She just looks freaky. That's why I think lighter colors would have been better.