Hollywood star Jamie Dornan says he feels the pressure of stepping into the role of Aragorn, originally played by Viggo Mortensen in The Lord Of The Rings film trilogy, but considers the character inseparable from the actor's performance. Dornan will play Strider, another name for Aragorn, in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, an upcoming prequel directed by Andy Serkis.

 

Mortensen originated the character in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), followed by The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). "There's pressure when you're trying to follow in those footsteps," Dornan told French magazine L'Officiel, adding that he had been asked to play a "super-iconic role" and would do his best. "But for me, Aragorn will always be just Viggo. His performance is one of my all-time favorites, and I feel honoured to try to recapture at least some of the energy he originally brought to the character. There's no part of me that's trying to outdo him," he said. n