Here are compulsed all the little "stories" that happened before, during, and after the Lord Of The Rings' filming. We have also filled these pages with little facts you may ignored until now. ;-)

The role of Aragorn was originally attributed to Stuart Townsend ("Shooting Fish", "All About Adam", Lestat in "The Queen Of The Damned", "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen"), but Peter Jackson's choice changed to Viggo Mortensen, older, a few days before started the footage of "The Fellowship Of The Ring". Stuart Townsend (born in 1972) was already training for the character for a couple of months. According to New Line, the abortion of the actor and Peter Jackson's project was due to "creative differences". Rumors flew about "actor-director chemistry" and about Townsend's diminutive lack of physical prowess...

That last-minute dissmissal stinged Stuart, who said : "Let's just say the filmmakers aren't my favorite people [...] Look, they recast the role with a guy who's 20 years older than I am and a completely different type. It's obvious they wanted something completely different for the role and made a mistake. So to say anything else…"

From Entertainement Weekly : "Two weeks ago I finally read an article where the filmmakers said, "We were totally wrong about Stuart and we accept that it was our fault," which was so nice because I did get shafted up the a--. I was there rehearsing and training for two months, then was fired the day before filming began. After that I was told they wouldn't pay me because I was in breach of contract due to not having worked long enough. I had been having a rough time with them, so I was almost relieved to be leaving until they told me I wouldn't be paid. I have no good feelings for those people in charge, I really don't. The director [Peter Jackson] wanted me and then apparently thought better of it because he really wanted someone 20 years older than me and completely different."

From The Irish Independent : "They fired me before filming even started because they said I wasn't working hard enough, which is totally ridiculous. I love to work, I'm a worker." [...] "It was only work, it was only an ego thing. I didn't get my heart broken and no-one died on me."

Elijah Wood confessed to Premiere magazine : "A couple of us were crying. If you can imagine, you spend two months with someone that you assume you’ll be spending the next year and a half with. We had formed a tight bond with this guy. Whether it was right or wrong, it was traumatizing."

Stuart Townsend was not the only one who has left the project. Producer Tim Sanders and  Visual Effects Supervisor Mark Stetson also left, by the end of the shoot. Peter Jackson comments : "You have hundreds of people who have to mesh. Sometimes it doesn't work out." [...] "When you have a production of this size, it's hard to make everybody gel. But on the whole it's been pretty harmonious."

In order to avoid a strict rating which could be disadvantageous to his trilogy, Peter Jackson chose to color in black the blood of the vilains and creatures (Orcs, Uruk-Hai, Goblins...) Visually, the most violent fighting scenes do not look too bloody and shall not bring upon them the anger of the censorship. Sly...

As soon as the LOTR project was announced, the name of Sean Connery was whispered by the fans for the role of Gandalf, the wizard. Besides, the actor offered Peter Jackson to endorse the role, but Peter Jackson prefered to give it to Ian Mc Kellen, less famous. Bernad Hill was also considered for that part.

Christopher Lee is the only one who got the chance to meet the author of "The Lord Of The Rings", with whom he could have exchanged a few words. He's always been a fan and confessed that he bought the books when they first were published in 1954/55.

After he refused the offer of Miramax, which wanted "The Lord of The Rings" to be one and single movie, Peter Jackson showed his project to Fine Line and New Line Cinema. The short 3D film based on the trilogy that he presented them managed to convince them of the great potential of such a challenge. Peter Jackson is the only producer who filmed three movies at the same time. About that peculiar experience, he said : "Filming three films at once has never been done before, in addition to which the project features state-of-the-art special effects, so it was essential to plan everything down to the last detail. We owe Professor Tolkien and his legion of fans worldwide our very best efforts to make these films with the integrity they deserve."

Peter Jackson was about to embark on a remake of "King Kong" when he got the opportunity to bring "The Lord Of The Rings" to the big screen.

Rumors said that Ethan Hawke ("Dead Poets Society", "White Fang", "Gattaca") and Uma Thurman ("Dangerous Liaisons", "Pulp Fiction", "Batman & Robin") were considered for the roles of Faramir and Eowyn. But the actress Alison Doody ("Indiana Jones and The Last Cruisade") was first meant to play Eowyn. Because she got pregnant, Alison didn't get the part. Finally, David Wenham and Mirando Otto were chosen.

Sean Astin was forced to gain 30 pounds (15 kilos), and reach 195 pounds, before Peter Jackson hired him. Sean Astin's father, John Astin, auditioned for the role of Gandalf (as reported in the January 2005 issue of UK magazine Empire).

Elijah Wood sent a videotape to the producer where he dressed up in costume and read Frodo's monologues from J.R.R Tolkien's books. In an interview featuring in the LOTR Official Fan-Club magazine (October 2004), Peter Jackson said : "We had seen 200 or 300 young actors for Frodo, and then we put in Elijah Wood's tape that he had sent us and immediately we said, "He's got to be Frodo !" He just overwhelmed us and impressed everybody else so quickly and instantaneously that the decision was made at that point."

Orlando Bloom first auditioned for Faramir's part. In an interview featuring in the LOTR Official Fan-Club magazine (October 2004), Peter Jackson said : "Orlando came to it in a slightly different way. When John Hubbard suggested Orlando, it was actually for the Faramir role. The first audition we did with Orlando had him reading Faramir's lines. We thought, "Wow, he is fantastic! We do want to cast him." You don't tell people straight away because you have to go through a whole process, but we certainly said in our mind, "OK, Orlando is Faramir. We don't need to look for him anymore." Then we had trouble with the Legolas role, and he proved hard to find. We saw a lot of people for Legolas. We couldn't find anybody, and we got worried about it. At one point, we paused and we looked back at people we had met, and Orlando jumped out. We suddenly had this realization that Orlando's face was very Elven with his high cheekbones and sort of chiseled jaw line. Orlando, who we had thought was going to be Faramir, would be perfect for Legolas. We just suddenly decided, "Why don't we put him in the Legolas role because that is a bigger role and a really hard one since we are having trouble casting it because of the way Elves have to look."

Dominic Monaghan was first interested in the role of Frodo, and Christopher Lee in the role of Gandalf.

Excerpt of an interview with Christopher Lee : "Q : Have you ever desired to play Gandalf instead of Saruman ?
CL : Desidered ? I've dreamt it all my life. But now... I'm too old. When I read The Lord of the Rings I thought "Gandalf !". But then when I came to do it I realize I'm too old. To do all the physical things in the movie. Otherwise I know that Ian McKellen will be very good as Gandalf."

David Bowie was reputedly keen on playing Elrond, but the role was given to Hugo Weaving.

Kylie Minogue auditioned for the part of Galadriel, told Elijah Wood at the Graham Norton show (March 2004). But she was too small to play an Elf and Peter Jackson gave the role to Cate Blanchett, who at 5' 9" is nine inches taller.

Ian Somerhalder (Boone in the Tv series Lost - also starring Dominic Monaghan) auditioned for the role of Legolas (Séries Mag HS, France, August 2005) : Séries Mag : "It's been reported that you've auditionned for The Lord Of The Rings. Is it true or not ?" Ian Somerhalder : "That's very true ! Few people know that, but I auditionned for the role of Legolas. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. Orlando Bloom was stronger than me on this ! [laughs] When Dominic [Monaghan] tells me about the wonderful experience he's got on the set, I regret that I didn't get the role. But in this job, we can't win the first prize all the time..."

The week when LOTR was released, Wellington (the Capital of New Zealand) renamed itself Middle Earth and the Capital's Evening Post also Changed its name temporarily to Middle Earth.

It was forged by Jens Hansen. The design was based on the model of co-producer Rick Porras' own ring. 15 versions of the ring were created.

John Rhys-Davies (who plays Gimli) developed an allergic reaction to his make-up. The Hobbits cast asked Peter Jackson not to make them wear the Hobbit feet if they weren't gonna be shown in the shot. But the director kept on denying the request. Orlando Bloom broke a rib while riding a horse for a scene when Legolas bows. The Maori actor Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz) spent 10-and-a-half hours in make-up.

Richard Taylor, WETA's design supervisor said : "We set up a blacksmiths shop so that every single piece of armour would be initially produced in the techniques that the people in our own medieval times would have used. All of the swords were originally ground out of plate-sprung steel exactly as they were 500 years ago."

Costume designer Ngila Dickson said : "I added a lot of quirks, things to jar the eye. Their trouser legs and sleeves are too short, their buttons are too big and their collars are out of proportion. I even made their pockets higher than usual for example, so when they put their hands in their pockets it has a very distinctive, funny look to us."

WETA Workshop employed John Howe and Alan Lee, two of the renowned Lord Of The Rings books illustrators, on the set. About them, Richard Taylor says : "But their influence attuned our workshop designers that much more. The world's vision of Middle Earth is very directly driven by the illustrations that these two gentlemen have done for the past two decades. So John and Alan's task was about creating the environment of Middle-Earth - the architecture and the sets."

Peter Jackson offered the One Ring used in the LOTR movies to Elijah Wood as a gift when the shoot was finished. Elijah also kept his sword and one of 1,600 pairs of hobbit feet made for the films.

Orlando Bloom was given his clapboard, his elven bow and arrows after the final reshoots for The Return Of The King. He said to TeenHollywood.com : "I got my sword, bow and arrows and quiver. My last sequence was running into battle with Gimli and taking down some Orcs. But actually what made the cut was probably the olephant sequence. My bow actually broke two takes before my last take in the entire movie. The bow that I'd been using for the whole movie. It's been eighteen months. Two takes before last it's like [Makes eerie sound] It's coming to an end. I couldn't believe it, I was devastated. That particular bow, it was like, I mean, I nearly cried. I was like my bow, my bow !"

Brad Dourif has kept the teeth of Grima, which he has actually never used. He explained at the DragonCon 2003 : "Teeth I didn't use. I had these horrible teeth that they put in but I couldn't... I was having enough trouble (imitates talking with teeth). So they gave those to me and I kept them."

Liv Tyler got one of Arwen's dresses. She said : "I got a beautiful dress. I got the dress from this movie that’s kind of red and blue, like on the sleeves when I'm laying there dying."

Peter Jackson has kept Bag End, Bilbo's house, after the filming of the LOTR Trilogy. He has relocated it on the grounds of his sprawling property in Masterton, New Zealand. Jackson said : "I love Bag End. Sometimes you feel like you really are in that world. It's all made with round walls. It's amazing how comforting roundness is in a building."

Alan Lee is one of the human kings that receives a ring of power in The Fellowship Of The Ring. Peter Jackson appears at the belching peasant, outside the Prancing Pony Inn in Bree (Fellowship) and during Helm's Deep battle (The Two Towers). Read more cameos under 'Children in action' here !

Peter Jackson is the captain of the Corsairs of Umbar, Richard Taylor is a Corsair of Umbar, as well as Andrew Lesnie, Gino Acevedo (prosthetics supervisor) and Rick Porras (Return Of The King). Still in Return : Previsualisation Supervisor Christian Rivers as the Gondorian soldier in charge of the beacon, Bret McKenzie makes a reappearance as Figwit (one of Arwen's escorts), and Royd Tolkien, the author's grandson, plays a Gondorian soldier.

Howard Shore stands next to Legolas in the drinking game scene between Legolas and Gimli (additional sequence from The Return Of The King Extended Edition).