Sean Bean Thinks His Lord Of The Rings Demise Stands Out As His Career-Best Character Death
Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy has become the stuff of cinema legend, and deservedly so. All involved put in an incredible amount of work to make the three massive films and reality, from those behind the camera to those in front of it. All these years later, the folks fortunate enough to star in the ambitious J.R.R. Tolkien adaptation remain synonymous with it, especially those who comprised the Fellowship of the Ring: a faction of men, Hobbits, an Elf, a Dwarf, and a wizard brought together to destroy the evil Sauron and his Ring of Power.
The bulk of the Fellowship made it through the entirety of the "Lord of the Rings" saga alive, but some weren't so lucky. The first to go was Gandalf the Grey (Sir Ian McKellen), who perished in a tense battle with the Balrog in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." However, he at least returned to Middle-earth as Gandalf the White in the following film, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." Meanwhile, the Fellowship's second casualty, the Gondor native Boromir (Sean Bean), wouldn't end up getting a second chance at life once he perished.
In "The Fellowship of the Ring," Boromir bravely sacrifices himself to save the Hobbits Merry Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin Took (Billy Boyd) — an on-screen death that Sean Bean regards as the best of his career.
Bean is proud of the presentation of Boromir's death
Throughout his Hollywood career, Sean Bean has become famous for playing characters that die shortly after their introductions. From "GoldenEye" to "Game of Thrones," the poor guy can't seem to catch a break at the movies or on television. Well aware of this trend, he has selected Boromir's death as his favorite for was portrayed. "I thought his death was very heroic and triumphant and poignant. It had pathos," Bean told Radio Times in 2019, explaining that the slowed frame rate, Howard Shore's instrumental score, and Boromir's fighting spirit combined to make it impactful.
At this point, with almost 30 on-screen deaths to his credit, Sean Bean has become one of the entertainment world's go-to actors for characters destined to meet their demise. Although, Bean himself has shared that he's had to actually reject certain roles because he's so tired of his characters dying. He told The Sun in 2019, "I've turned down stuff. I've said, 'They know my character's going to die because I'm in it!' I just had to cut that out and start surviving. Otherwise, it was all a bit predictable." Bean adds that it's not fulfilling to him to take roles of that nature, hence why he's not too keen on them these days.
While he may be more selective than before, one has to imagine that more Sean Bean deaths are on their way to screens big and small. For his sake, let's hope they're as powerful as Boromir's.