Jamie Dornan has admitted that he feels “pressure” in succeeding Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings .

Dornan will portray the iconic fantasy character, a close confidant of the wizard Gandalf, in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum , which is due in December 2027. The new movie is set before 2001’s The Fellowship Of The Ring , in which Mortensen made his debut as Aragorn.

“There’s pressure when you’re trying to follow in those footsteps. I’ve been asked to play a super-iconic role, and I’ll do my best,” Dornan told L’Officiel . “But for me, Aragorn will always be just Viggo. His performance is one of my all-time favourites, and I feel honoured to try to recapture at least some of the energy he originally brought to the character.…