‘Addams Family’ Actor John Astin Gave Up Auditioning For ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Because He ‘Didn’t Want To Spend About A Year And A Half On A Horse’

etcanada.com:

In an alternate universe, Gomez Addams might have been the Gandalf we all know and love. Speaking with The AV Club, 92-year-old actor John Astin, who starred as the iconic patriarch in the original “Addams Family” series, revealed he auditioned to play the “Lord of the Rings” wizard. READ MORE: Peter Jackson Reveals How He Would Have Cast The Beatles In A ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Film “I tested a few times for Gandalf,” he said. “The last test I did, they gave me something out of the second book, and I studied it and came up with what I thought was a good interpretation of it, but it wasn’t at all what Peter and Fran wanted.

Before testing for the part, Gomez had already worked with director Peter Jackson and screenwriter/producer Fran Walsh on their film “The Frighteners”. “I knew them well enough to say, ‘Hey, let me try to work on it and come back again.’ They would’ve been receptive to that,” he continued. “But I thought about it, and Sean was trying to get into the film, too, and I… well, to tell you the truth, I didn’t want to spend about a year and a half on a horse!

So I just let it be.” READ MORE: ‘Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power’ Teaser Gives First Look At Middle Earth Before The Fellowship The actor’s adoptive son Sean Astin would go on to land a role in the “Lord of the Rings” series, playing Frodo’s best friend Samwise Gamgee.