Lord of the Rings: Spot Peter Jackson’s 4 Film Stars Hidden in ‘The War of the Rohirrim’!

WARNING – The following article contains minor spoilers about “The War of the Rohirrim,” as it discusses some of its cameo appearances. Please avoid reading further if you haven’t seen it yet.

A prequel to unite them. Not all, but enough to make fans of The Lord of the Rings happy to hear familiar voices (even if just for a line) in the original version of The War of the Rohirrim. This animated prequel, directed by Kenji Kamiyama, follows in the footsteps of Peter Jackson’s films.

Two of these cameos had been officially announced prior to the release, while the other two are revealed only on-screen, particularly during the end credits. If you didn’t recognize everyone, here they are.

Miranda Otto

This should come as no surprise, unless you are a viewer who was persuaded to watch the movie simply by its connection to The Lord of the Rings, avoiding all photos, trailers, and information. Seen in “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King,” Miranda Otto returns to voice Eowyn, who serves as the narrator of the story.

Otto was also featured through an image from Peter Jackson’s films at the beginning of The War of the Rohirrim’s trailer, indicating her involvement and bridging the gap between these films and Kamiyama’s work, while highlighting their shared universe. However, since the story takes place 183 years before Frodo’s adventures, Eowyn never appears on screen.

Christopher Lee

If you were keeping up with the project’s updates leading up to its release, you would have known. The inclusion of Saruman was revealed during New York Comic-Con and later confirmed by producer Philippa Boyens, who announced that the voice of Sir Christopher Lee, who passed away in June 2015, would be used.

The production team did not use artificial intelligence to recreate the wizard’s voice. “We delved into his recordings,” Boyens explained in an interview with TheOneRing. “I had to go back and listen not just to the dialogues he recorded, but also to moments he spoke to us during sessions.”

“And we found this line from The Hobbit: ‘Should you need assistance.’ We then checked how many takes he had done, if they were usable, if there was another version we could adapt and slightly alter… Our brilliant team managed it, but the vocal performance is authentic and based on that recording by Sir Christopher Lee.”

Billy Boyd & Dominic Monaghan

For those who missed the featurette released in November, which spoiled their presence, it’s a delightful surprise. However, you have to wait until the end credits to discover it, because Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan do not reprise their roles as Pippin and Merry, who were not alive during the events of the film, and it’s quite challenging to recognize them unless you are very familiar with their voices.

The actors voice the orcs Shank and Wrot, in a brief scene meant to weave the film’s smaller narrative into the larger lore, as their characters are seen picking up rings from the ground, pondering why Mordor seems obsessed with these objects.

The answer, of course, is Sauron, though he is not directly mentioned. This cameo, much like the involvement of Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, serves as an easter egg, enhancing this epic gift to fans of The Lord of the Rings.