Some of the many Lord of the Rings actors, in order of age at the start of filming (11 Oct 1999).
Filming went on until 22 Dec 2000, plus some pick-up sessions in later years up to 2004.
I comment that Frodo was 33 when he inherited the Ring, and 50 when he left the Shire to start his travels. Although hobbits live a bit longer than humans, and the Ring tends to slow the aging process, it was still a rather bizarre decision to cast an 18-year-old actor to play the part.
| Character | Actor | Birthday | Age |
| Frodo | Elijah Wood | 1981-01-28 | 18 |
| Arwen | Liv Tyler | 1977-07-01 | 22 |
| Legolas | Orlando Bloom | 1977-01-13 | 22 |
| Merry | Dominic Monaghan | 1976-12-08 | 22 |
| Éomer | Karl Urban | 1972-06-07 | 27 |
| Sam | Sean Astin | 1971-02-25 | 28 |
| Galadriel | Cate Blanchett | 1969-05-15 | 30 |
| Pippin | Billy Boyd | 1968-08-25 | 31 |
| Éowyn | Miranda Otto | 1967-12-15 | 31 |
| Celeborn | Marton Csokas | 1966-06-30 | 33 |
| Faramir | David Wenham | 1965-09-21 | 34 |
| Gollum | Andy Serkis | 1964-04-20 | 35 |
| Elrond | Hugo Weaving | 1960-04-04 | 39 |
| Boromir | Sean Bean | 1959-04-17 | 40 |
| Aragorn | Viggo Mortensen | 1958-10-20 | 40 |
| Wormtongue | Brad Dourif | 1950-03-18 | 49 |
| Denethor | John Noble | 1948-08-20 | 51 |
| Théoden | Bernard Hill | 1944-12-17 | 54 |
| Gimli | John Rhys-Davies | 1944-04-05 | 55 |
| Gandalf | Ian McKellen | 1939-05-25 | 60 |
| Bilbo | Ian Holm | 1931-09-12 | 68 |
| Saruman | Christopher Lee | 1922-05-27 | 77 |