Jake Gyllenhaal recalls the moment Peter Jackson told him he was the 'worst actor he'd ever seen'

The Southpaw actor was auditioning for the role of Frodo in The Lord of the Rings when it all went terribly downhill

Jake Gyllenhaal also missed out on the roles of Batman and Spider-Man (Getty Images)

Jake Gyllenhaal might have been Oscar nominated for his acclaimed performance in Brokeback Mountain, but the US actor has revealed that The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson harshly branded him the “worst actor he had ever seen” when he auditioned for a role in the fantasy trilogy.

The 35-year-old admitted the disaster while appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon earlier this week. His agents had been so “intensely” thrilled with the idea of him playing Frodo that they forgot to mention that Jackson wanted the Hobbit to have an English accent.

The first half of the audition involved Gyllenhaal miming finding the ring but his efforts only led Jackson to hang his head in shame. Once the dialogue began, it only got worse.

“He literally turned to me and said, ‘You are the worst actor that I have ever seen’,” Gyllenhaal recalled. “He said, ‘Did anyone tell you you were supposed to have an accent?’ I was like, ‘No!’ and he said, ‘Well, fire your agents’.”

Elijah Wood eventually bagged the role of Frodo, with Gyllenhaal also missing out on Batman to Christian Bale and Spider-Man to Tobey Maguire.