• Welcome to The Tolkien Forum! Connect with fellow Tolkien enthusiasts and join a community that is over two decades old, and still going strong. We look forward to meeting you.  Register

Why is celebrimbor shown so old in the tv series?

Turin_Turambar

Mormegil
Joined
Mar 25, 2021
Messages
532
Why did they choose such an old actor for celebrimbor? Just like Galadriel, celebrimbor was born in Valinor. But why did they cast an old actor for Celebrimbor when Galadriel was so young? I would expect it appearance like Aragorn at most. I wish there was a face like celebrimbor in shadow of mordor game. Why do you think they chose such an old actor?
 
Just looking at appearances within the TV show Gil-galad and Celebrimbor both look like the older generation. And, since we know what happens to them, the reins will be passed to the younger generation Elrond/Galadriel.
 
Does anyone have a specific actor in mind who would provide the desired age and appearance for Celebrimbor?
 
I don't mind how Gil Galad looked in Fellowship of the RIng and ROP looks pretty similar:
Untitled-design-23.jpg

The actor, Mark Ferguson, was 39-40 when FOTR was filmed. So maybe decent continuity for them?
 
I don't mind how Gil Galad looked in Fellowship of the RIng and ROP looks pretty similar:
Untitled-design-23.jpg

The actor, Mark Ferguson, was 39-40 when FOTR was filmed. So maybe decent continuity for them?
You know, someone (who must remain nameless) and who is on totally different forum, when he saw the RoP Gil-Galad (right) wondered what Julius Caesar was doing in Middle Earth....😄
(And I have to admit that I totally lost it😂; if there was any thought in my mind at all about taking the RoP seriously, it totally evaporated with that one observation.)
 
It's like asking: Why crazy reach people are sometimes hungry, while ignoring millions of poor kids in the world. :)

Celebrimbor miscast in series is one of the least problems for me, because the series have much bigger issues, like, when 2 characters talk to each other, their sentences are just random blabbering.
 
Why do you think they chose such an old actor?
Presumably because they wanted to portray experience and wisdom and skill. Galadriel was going to be a flawed protagonist and it'd look weird if she was older than him (even though she is). I'm not a fan of the decision (or the show in general).
I don't mind how Gil Galad looked in Fellowship of the RIng and ROP looks pretty similar:
Untitled-design-23.jpg

The actor, Mark Ferguson, was 39-40 when FOTR was filmed. So maybe decent continuity for them?
One of two castings I liked (the other is Míriel).
 
Does anyone have a specific actor in mind who would provide the desired age and appearance for Celebrimbor?

So I mulled over this for a while, and I landed on Hugh Jackman, or actors similar to him in appearance.

He's already in his early-50s but is known for defying his age (thus his casting as immortal Wolverine). He has the dark, brooding handsomeness one might expect of a Noldorin lord. He's tall and powerful looking, with muscles that make him believable as a master blacksmith (so Celebrimbor isn't technically a blacksmith, but he DID help craft the the Doors of Durin). He would deliver the "older elf lord" gravitas they seem to want without visually making Celebrimbor a grandpa.

But really... there are dozens of talented actors falling in the "hot older man" category who would be an improvement over Charles Edwards. It's just so, so baffling.
 
The first actor who came to mind was Chris Hemsworth—a muscular guy, not too old, with dark hair, and has some experience with comedy. Granted, the "comedy" aspect is unnecessary and relates more to my personal headcanons. That said, we do know he had a rather Dwarvish disposition, and Dúrin's folk are known to be occasionally bumbling yet noble. If it were possible to make a character ancient yet occasionally exhibiting the sort of humor Gimli does in The Lord of the Rings or even Thorin and Company do in The Hobbit I would be fine with that (although we must be able to take Celebrimbor as a serious and tragic character when necessary.

That said, about Charles Edwards, I didn't mind his age overmuch. Yes, it was a bit disappointing, and it would have been worse, I think, if they had kept his dynamic with Galadriel intact, which I wish they had done. So yes, I think he should be younger, but the reason I think that is so important is because Galadriel should be older than him when she argues with him about trusting Annatar, and that was entirely cut from the show. However, as it is, Edwards still captured the rather hubristic character in the book, in my opinion. So, his age bothered me more than Peter Jackson's Théoden or maybe even Thorin, but less than the age of Peter Jackson's Pippin. My biggest gripe is that we spent so little time with him, and I felt mildly shortchanged that, when they could have adapted his friendship with Narvi, they made up a friendship between Elrond and Dúrin IV. Celebrimbor is my favorite member of the House of Fëanor and possibly my favorite Elf in the Second Age, so I was disappointed with how little we got.
 

Today's events

Similar threads

Back
Top