“My Agent Was Not Too Happy”: Cate Blanchett Nearly Returned For The Hobbit As A Different Character After Peter Jackson Accepted Her Specific Request

The Lord of the Rings star Cate Blanchett shares how she almost made a surprising cameo in The Hobbit

as a different character. Following the mᴀssive success of the three Lord of the Rings movies in the early 2000s, director Peter Jackson returned to J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle-earth in 2012 with the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Serving as the first installment of three that tell the story of Tolkien’s The Hobbit novel, the film features Martin Freeman in the lead role as Bilbo Baggins, with Blanchett returning briefly as Galadriel.

During a recent appearance on the Condé Nast Traveler YouTube channel, Blanchett and her Black Bag costar Michael Fᴀssbender discuss Blanchett’s time in Middle-earth. While reminiscing about filming one of the Lord of the Rings movies, Blanchett reveals that she asked Jackson to return as a bearded dwarf for a cameo, in addition to her planned return as Galadriel. The cameo ultimately didn’t come about, and Blanchett reveals that her agent wasn’t too pleased with her request. Check out the exchange between Blanchett and Fᴀssbender below:

Cate Blanchett: “I remember Viggo Mortensen and Pete, every Saturday, they would go out to battle the orcs. It was literally like they were gonna be playing rugby because they would have to shoot another sequence or a few frames of this battle, which would go on for, I think it was the third installment.

Michael Fᴀssbender: “Because you filmed all three of them at the same time. That’s intense.”

Blanchett: “It was intense. I mean, I never battled the orcs, I was an elf. I am an elf.”

Fᴀssbender: “Did you want to battle the orcs?”

Blanchett: “I did. I, actually, when they were doing The Hobbit, I said to Pete, ‘Look, I’ll just come back and I’ll be your hairy wife.’ He was going to be in a banquet sequence and I said, ‘I’ll come and play Galadriel for a few frames and then I’ll be one of the dwarves.’ But I wanted facial hair.”

Fᴀssbender: “What did he say?”

Blanchett: “He said yes. Of course he said yes.”

Fᴀssbender: “And you’re in it?”

Blanchett: “No, but then I had to go back. One of my kids…

Fᴀssbender: “You were like, ‘I was joking.’

Blanchett: “No, I wasn’t! I wasn’t. My agent was not too happy, but I think a hirsute woman is a great thing.”

What Blanchett’s Cameo Would Have Meant For The Hobbit

The Lord Of The Rings Franchise Features A Number Of Surprising Cameos


Cate Blanchett looking regal as Galadriel in The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey

If Blanchett had returned for a cameo as Jackson’s dwarven wife, it wouldn’t have been a franchise outlier. The three Lord of the Rings movies and The Hobbit trilogy have a handful of notable cameos. Jackson appears, for example, as Albert Dreary, a man eating a carrot, in the village of Bree in Fellowship of the Ring (2001), but he actually goes on to appear in every single one of his Middle-earth movies that followed in various other roles. He even reprises his role as Dreary for a brief sH๏τ in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013).

Other notable cameos across the six films include family members of the director and stars, including relatives of Gollum actor Andy Serkis and Aragorn actor Viggo Mortensen. Late night talk show host and notable Tolkien fan Stephen Colbert also appears briefly as a spy in The Desolation of Smaug. Most of these cameos won’t be noticeable to the average viewer, and it sounds like Blanchett’s wouldn’t have been either, due to the makeup and prosthetics she would have been wearing on her face.

Our Take On Blanchett’s Scrapped The Hobbit Cameo

How She Could Still Return To Middle-earth


Cate Blanchett as Galadriel pouring water out in The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring

Though an appearance from Blanchett as a hairy dwarf would have been a fun Easter egg in The Hobbit, audiences do thankfully get to see her back in action as Galadriel. The regal elf actually gets to participate in an action sequence in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), facing off briefly against Sauron at Gol Guldor in order to rescue Gandalf (Ian McKellen).

After The Hobbit trilogy concluded, It seemed like Blanchett’s time as Galadriel had come to an end, especially since a younger version of Galadriel leads Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power TV show. With the announcement of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, however, and the potential involvement of some original trilogy stars in this project, it’s possible Blanchett will get to return to Middle-earth once more. If not as Galadriel, it sounds like she could certainly make a fun cameo as a dwarf.

Andy Serkis will direct The Hunt for Gollum, with the film currently eying returns from McKellen and Mortensen. The movie was originally slated to release in 2026, but it’s now set for December 2027.

Source: Condé Nast Traveler

Related Posts

Upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio Movie Is An Even Bigger Deal After Major New Film Poll

Upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio Movie Is An Even Bigger Deal After Major New Film Poll

One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s next outing as a director starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is already a hugely anticipated movie of 2025. The hype has recently…

Transformers Just Confirmed A Harsh Reality About The .4 Billion Franchise After 18 Years

Transformers Just Confirmed A Harsh Reality About The $5.4 Billion Franchise After 18 Years

A shocking update about the Transformers franchise proves that the live-action movies are struggling to start a new era. After several successful animated shows were released in…

Jurᴀssic World Rebirth Overturning One Character’s Death Is A Huge Relief

Jurᴀssic World Rebirth Overturning One Character’s Death Is A Huge Relief

The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for Jurᴀssic World Rebirth Jurᴀssic World Rebirth nearly killed off one of its main characters, and it’s such a relief that…

Upcoming Lord Of The Rings Movie Will Turn The Franchise’s Biggest Heroes Into Villains

Upcoming Lord Of The Rings Movie Will Turn The Franchise’s Biggest Heroes Into Villains

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is the storied franchise’s next film, coming in after the very underwhelming theatrical release of The Lord of…

New Brad Pitt Movie Sets Huge Box Office Record After Just 10 Days

New Brad Pitt Movie Sets Huge Box Office Record After Just 10 Days

Brad Pitt’s newest movie, F1, is already setting records at the box office. The sports drama features Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a driver who returns to the…

Box Office: Jurᴀssic World Rebirth Stomps Past Projections With Record-Breaking Debut

Box Office: Jurᴀssic World Rebirth Stomps Past Projections With Record-Breaking Debut

Jurᴀssic World Rebirth has stomped past its original projections during its opening weekend. The new movie, which is the seventh installment in the Jurᴀssic franchise, was directed…