Saruman than in their equivalent books, and he appears in several scenes that are not depicted in Tolkien's work. In the films, Saruman is depicted presenting himself outright as a servant of Sauron. Smith and Matthews suggest that Saruman's role is built up as a substitute for Sauron—the story's main antagonist—who never appears directly in the book. Jackson confirms this view in the commentary to the DVD. They also suggest that having secured veteran British horror actor Christopher Lee to play Saruman, it made sense to make greater use of his star status. Despite this increased role in the first two
Gríma Wormtongue Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings", Gríma Wormtongue was voiced by Michael Deacon (and his name is pronounced "Grime-a"). Paul Brooke played Gríma in BBC Radio's 1981 serialisation. In Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films, Gríma was played by Brad Dourif. According to Dourif, Jackson encouraged him to shave off his eyebrows so that the audience would immediately have a subliminal reaction of unease to the character. "The Scouring of the Shire" episode does not appear in the film version; the deaths of Saruman and Gríma were moved to an earlier scene, "The