If you’ve been glued to HBO lately, you’ve probably seen the stars of The White Lotus everywhere. The show just cleaned up at the Emmys, and while we’re all waiting for Season 4 to hit the French Riviera, some of the cast members are already packing their bags for even bigger adventures. Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema are officially hunting for actors for the next Lord of the Rings movie, and it looks like they’re eyeing some familiar faces from our favorite vacation-gone-wrong show to head over to Middle-earth.
Leo Woodall is the top pick for young Aragorn
Word on the street is that Leo Woodall, the breakout guy from The White Lotus Season 2, is the first choice to play a young Aragorn in the new movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. No, the two actors aren’t actually related, but Woodall is basically in line to take over the sword from Viggo Mortensen.
Since Viggo isn’t coming back for this prequel, the filmmakers need someone who can pull off that “rugged ranger” look while wandering the woods. This story is all about Aragorn’s secret missions before he ever met Frodo at the Prancing Pony.
Andy Serkis is dusting off the spandex and stepping back into the director’s chair to give us the Gollum origin story we didn’t know we needed. While he’s the only lock so far, the rumor mill is spinning fast. Word is the studio is pulling out all the stops to get Sir Ian McKellen’s Gandalf back in the mix, with an Elijah Wood cameo potentially on the table.
It’s a total nostalgia play, aiming for that lightning-in-a-bottle feel of the original trilogy. Set between The Hobbit and Fellowship, the plot follows a gritty young Aragorn hunting Gollum in a high-stakes game of Middle-earth hide-and-seek. Production kicks off in New Zealand this May, with a December 17, 2027, release eyed. Keep your ears open—more casting news is bound to drop any day now.