Posted in: Movies, New Line Cinema | Tagged: cate blanchett, Galadriel, lord of the rings, The Hobbitt

Lord of the Rings: Cate Blanchett Pitched Her Own Secret Cameo

Published Thu, 14 May 2020 10:45:10 -0500

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most beloved trilogies in cinema. Actress Cate Blanchett, who played the wise and powerful elf Galadriel, enjoyed her time on the set so much, she pitched her own cameo to director Peter Jackson and co-producer/co-writer Fran Walsh. Appearing on Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast, the two-time Oscar winner revealed it only took three weeks to film her role. With her scenes shot, she told Jackson and Walsh she also wanted to play a male dwarf. "For me, it was super quick," Blanchett said. "There's not too many chicks in the Tolkien universe. I loved it so much and I did say to Peter and Fran, they were doing a banquet scene with a whole lot of dwarves. I always wanted to play the bearded lady, so I asked them, 'Could I be your hairy wife woman when you pan across the banquet table of dwarves?' Of course, I couldn't because the timing shifted. But it takes them forever. For me, Galadriel it was just three weeks."

Cate Blanchett attends the premiere of the movie "Joker" during the 76th Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2019 in Venice, Italy. Editorial credit: Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock.com

Blanchett's Role in Lord of the Rings' and Hobbit Trilogies

Blanchett first played Galadriel in the first Lord of the Rings film, The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). She reprised the role for The Two Towers (2002), Return of the King (2003), and the Hobbit trilogy. Blanchett made a couple of uncredited cameos. In Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, her voice can be heard during the film's orgy scene. She was near unrecognizable as a forensic pathologist and Nicholas Angel's (Simon Pegg) girlfriend, Janine, in Hot Fuzz (2007). At a crime scene, Blanchett wore protective bio wear with hair covered in a cap, and her face mostly obscured in a surgical mask. They break up when he arrives to talk to her. Would Blanchett make a good dwarf? She currently stars on the FX on Hulu series Mrs. America.