LOtR should be dealth with in the same 'casting' vein as something like Star Wars! A few big names and the rest, without exception, should be unknowns. Just raid the Royal Shakespear company and you'll have among the very best actors in the world at your finger tips!

IMHO there are a few parts that could benefit from a big name:

Gandalf: He's absolutely essential to the plot, but Sean Connary just does not cut the mustard! He can act but he is limited by one huge factor - his lack of accent ability! A performance like the one in The Untouchables may be what would be needed from him to pull of this roll, but nothing short of that! I believe a better choice would be someone like Derek Jacobi (I Claudius).

Aragorn: The most important character and may therfore warrant a big name, but not too big. Certainly not Cosnor who couldn't do a decent accent to save his life (don't get me wrong I love Cosnor as an actor, but he has the same Connary like problem). Mel Gibson could pull the part off, if he was not so damn short! But I believe Gabriel Byrnes would be fantasic. His ability is brilliant and he has the Charisma to do just about anything.

These are really the only two parts that I believe would benefit from a big or medium sized name playing them.

May be others, such as Saruman (Patrick Stewart) and Denethor (Anthony Hopkins, if he wasn't so small), but as for the rest - give the massed talent of the unknowns a chance! GL did it with Star Wars, which is lets admit it, not a particularly challengeing story to follow! And look at the success story that turned out to be!

But at the end of the day it is likely that LOtR WILL be populated with self-important jerks with only their wallets in their minds as they sign the contract for $20 million a piece! Which will of course ruin the whole project, with its $X hundred million salary cost.

Heres hopin the story is more important than the stars!

Padster