Crowe came close to playing Aragorn

Russel Crowe almost starred as Aragorn in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy as the actor has revealed he decided to pass on the role after an awkward phone call with series director Peter Jackson. The Oscar winner admitted to Howard Stern on his radio programme that he was offered the role and 10 per cent of the backend grosses, which the host calculated would have been about $ 100 million. Viggo Mortensen eventually played the iconic role. (PTI)