Jamie Dornan On “Pressure” Of Taking Over Aragorn Role In ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’, Not “Trying To Outdo” Viggo Mortensen

As Jamie Dornan visits Middle-earth for his next role, he’s not attempting to fill Viggo Mortensen‘s boots for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.

The Golden Globe nominee, who takes on the role of Aragorn for the upcoming Andy Serkis-helmed prequel, opened up about the “pressure” of playing the J.R.R. Tolkien character, explaining that for him, the role “will always be just Viggo” after Mortensen originated him in 2001’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

“There’s pressure when you’re trying to follow in those footsteps,” he admitted to L’Officiel. “I’ve been asked to play a super-iconic role, and I’ll do my best.”

Dorman continued, “But for me, Aragorn will always be just Viggo. His performance is one of my all-time favorites, and I feel honored 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.”

At CinemaCon in April, Warner Bros. announced that Dorman will play Strider (an alias for Aragorn) in the movie, which is set for a Dec. 17, 2027 release. The announcement also included Leo Woodall’s casting as Halvard.

A return to New Line’s Middle-earth franchise, which is based on the works of Tolkien, The Hunt for Gollum follows Aragorn’s perilous quest to capture Gollum before the creature can reveal the Ring’s location to Sauron. The story, much of it developed from Tolkien’s footnotes, is set between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring.

Serkis, who is directing, will reprise his role of Gollum, with Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen returning as Frodo and Gandalf. Lee Pace is also back as Thranduil. Deadline previously reported that Kate Winslet will be joining the film in the role of Marigol.