Jake Gyllenhaal gave abysmal audition for the part of Frodo in Lord of the Rings

Elijah Wood bagged the role ahead of the Donnie Darko star

Jake Gyllenhaal has revealed that he gave a terrible audition for the part of Frodo in Lord of the Rings (Getty Images)

Jake Gyllenhaal is one of Hollywood's most respected young actors, winning acclaim for his roles in Donnie Darko and Brokeback Mountain.

But in a roundtable discussion with some of his fellow actors, he admitted giving a terrible audition for the role of Frodo in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"I remember auditioning for The Lord of the Rings and going in and not being told that I needed a British accent," he said.

"I really do remember Peter Jackson saying to me, 'You know that you have to do this in a British accent?' We heard back it was literally one of the worst auditions."

Elijah Wood went on to play Frodo in the multi-billion dollar film franchise.

Also in the Hollywood Reporter roundtable was Milk and Oldboy star Josh Brolin, who revealed his own nightmare experience.

"I did an audition for The Fly 2," he said. "I was living in New York at the time, and I went in there, and he's in a cocoon, transforming into a fly. So I walked in, and I started reading. You do the voice, and you're like, [choking sounds] you know, doing your thing.

"And I ended up on the floor, frothing at the mouth. I got back to my apartment, and there was already a message on my machine from my agent that said: 'What the f*** did you do in there? You scared them.' I said, 'Well, did I get it?' That was the worst audition I ever did."

Brolin learned that he had garnered a reputation for poor performances when trying to bag Hollywood roles.

"I literally started filming my own auditions. Meryl Poster at Miramax 10 years ago said, 'You and Benicio Del Toro were notoriously the worst auditioners we've ever seen.'"