Source:Heather Newgen

November 9, 2009

Ever since Guillermo del Toro signed on to direct two movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit for producer Peter Jackson, there has been various casting rumors about who may or may not return to reprise their roles from Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

One of the cast members who seemed to be up in the air was Viggo Mortensen who played one of the most popular characters in the trilogy, the warrior Aragorn, a character who didn't actually appear in "The Hobbit" but was included in the supplemental appendices from "Lord of the Rings" that tied the two stories together.

Over a year ago, in fact shortly after del Toro signed on, Variety mentioned that Mortensen had been approached to return, but when ComingSoon.net spoke to Mortensen earlier today, he admitted that the filmmakers are currently more concerned with making the first movie, which would not include his character.

"I think they're just worried about shooting the first part of that movie which doesn't involve my character," Mortensen told us during an interview for his upcoming movie The Road. "My character is around at times--in the middle, but it would only be if they made a second movie or connecting movie that connected 'The Hobbit' to 'The Lord of the Rings' that I might appear, which would be great."

Mortensen did tell us that he would be interested in returning, but as we know, del Toro and Jackson are now planning on just splitting "The Hobbit" into two films and not making the second film a bridge between "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings."

Look for more with Mortensen and others before The Road opens on November 25.