Sometimes, filming movies can pose real dangers for actors. They suffer injuries on set or develop serious health conditions. Stars often have to take risks to keep working, and the cast of The Lord of the Rings experienced this firsthand.
Dominic Monaghan in The Lord of the Rings
The Lost star landed one of the key roles in the trilogy. Actor Dominic Monaghan played Merry, one of Frodo’s friends who joined him on his perilous journey.
In the very first film of the franchise, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, there was a scene filmed in a vast field where the hobbits hide from the Nazgûl hunting them. After several hours of shooting, Monaghan started feeling unwell.
At first, his eyes became swollen, and he couldn’t stop sneezing. Soon, he was unable to continue filming. It turned out that Monaghan suffered from hay fever — an intense allergy to the pollen of the plants growing in the field. Filming had to be stopped and only resumed once he had taken special medication. The situation nearly escalated to a severe allergic reaction known as angioedema.
Viggo Mortensen in The Lord of the Rings
This wasn’t the only problem the cast faced on set. The most injuries were sustained by Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn.
During filming, he nearly drowned, and at one point, a strong blow knocked out half of his tooth. In another scene, he even suffered a real knife wound. Additionally, in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, there is a moment where a frustrated Aragorn kicks a helmet near a campfire. Mortensen did this with such force that he broke two toes.
Overcome by sharp pain, the actor let out a cry and collapsed to his knees. The dramatic shot was kept in the final cut of the film because it fit the scene perfectly.
