The producer of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Philippa Boyens, has announced that they will bring back the late Christopher Lee to voice the wizard Saruman in the new animated film. Christopher Lee passed away in 2015.
This movie is set about 200 years before the events of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, the animation will tell the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary King of Rohan, voiced by Brian Cox from Succession. Helm faces a conflict with Wulf, the leader of the Dunlendings, voiced by Luke Pasqualino.
In an interview with TheOneRing, Boyens explained how they managed to use Lee’s voice. They got permission from his late wife, Gitte.
“When we reached out to Gitte, Lady Lee, who’s sadly no longer with us, she said what Peter Jackson felt, which was that Sir Christopher would have wanted this,” Boyens said.
She added that they went through Lee’s recordings. They found a line from The Hobbit, “Are you in need of assistance, my lady?” and used it as a basis for the new recording.
Boyens mentioned, “We checked how many takes he did of that line and found a way to change it up a little. Our talented team made it work. It’s based on an authentic performance by Christopher Lee.”
She acknowledged that some people might say others could imitate Lee’s voice, but she believes using his original voice was the best choice. “I’m so glad we used his own voice, and it’s fantastic,” she concluded.
It’s still unclear what role Saruman will have in the animated film, but from Boyens’ comments, it seems likely he will appear in a small cameo.
Lim/SR