'I will hunt you down': Robyn Malcolm receives death threat over Gandalf call
Outrageous Fortune actress Robyn Malcolm has received a death threat over her call to cast a woman as Gandalf in the Amazon TV series of Lord of The Rings.
Malcolm posted on Instagram urging people to "calm the hell down" after her comments last month.
But she's revealed that one fan had gone too far, threatening her life.
"To the person who responded online to my original post ""Gandalf?!"...... with .. "If you play Gandalf I will hunt you down and kill you" I have blocked and reported you," Malcolm said.
READ MORE
* Lord of The Rings TV series: What we know so far
* Lord of the Rings TV series: Government's secret talks with Amazon Studios
* Amazon's Lord of The Rings casts first actor to play new character called Tyra
* Lord of the Rings TV series: Casting call for 'Middle Earth' soldiers, villagers and villains
* The Lord Of The Rings is coming home, thank God (and the Government, probably)
"And to the posts on here and twitter peppered with verbal abuse and insult .... JESUS GUYS CALM THE HELL DOWN!
"It was a light-hearted post which came from an unsolicited question from the NZ media.
"The books are what they are, no matter what, and clearly are very precious to many of you. But they are fiction, fantasy and it's always important to have an open mind when you spend 5 Billion to, once again, reimagine these stories."
Malcolm reiterated her stance that the Lord of The Rings' creative team should think about what they're doing with the proposed $1 billion Amazon series.
"It's dangerous to protect rigid thinking on any artful endeavour, especially the screen arts.
"I totally enjoyed the intelligent, passionate and less abusive responses. I do understand that to some people mucking about with gender is an insult to the original work.
"LOTR devotees are incredibly passionate about the books. But when film reinterprets literature there should be room to crack everything open and examine all possibilities, either seriously or not.
"Smart discussion guys, passionate response or just have a laugh but not reactive abuse, bigotry, dumb insults and silly death threats. And always take heart that I have nothing to do with the show," Malcolm concluded.
Malcolm originally said it's time the perspective in the show was flipped, and should be less male-focussed than its film counterparts, in which Sir Ian McKellen played the wizard.
"Those old legends, those old mystical stories, they're so based within a patriarchal landscape," Malcolm told Stuff.
"Why not look at the magic of a matrilineal world where the magical powerhouses are women?"
Her top picks for the role of Gandalf were Kiwi actresses Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors) or Rachel House (Hunt for the Wilderpeople).
"You need actors who have got gravitas and a real lot of personal power and a bit of brilliant - and they'll take this in the absolute way that it's meant- witchy poo energy, which those two have got and I aspire to," Malcolm said.
She also said at the time that she wasn't concerned about "Tolkien purists out there who would violently disagree," pointing out that LoTR was first and foremost a fantasy.
"We've had female Hamlets," she said. "Why not?"
Pre-production in Auckland is already underway and filming is expected to start in the coming months.
Australian actress Markella Kavenagh (The Cry, Romper Stomper) was the first person to sign up for the series.
Stuff