Peter Jackson Once Considered Hypnosis So He Could Experience Lord Of The Rings Fresh

Did you ever feel envious of someone who is about to watch something from your favorite fandom for the first time? Perhaps you've wondered what it's like for people who love a property so much that they make a film about it. They'll never get to know what it's like to see that project the way the rest of us do. They get to actually make said project, but it's not the same.

Peter Jackson wishes he could have seen "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy as a fan, despite being the one responsible for bringing the J.R.R. Tolkien classic to life for the rest of us, according to an interview with THR's Awards Chatter podcast. While he can certainly do that with the upcoming prequel series "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" on Prime Video, even that has a clear visual homage to what he put on the big screen. 

Jackson did consider using an interesting technique in order to experience "LOTR" like any of its fans. He didn't follow through with it, though even the idea is fascinating. 

Jackson told the podcast that he "seriously considered" hypnosis as a way to forget the work he'd done on "The Lord of the Rings." He said that he felt like he was "the unlucky person" who didn't get to experience it for the first time, fully completed. He explained:

"By the time there were screening[s] I was immersed in it for five or six years. It was such a loss for me not to be able to see them like everyone else. I actually did seriously considered going to some hypnotherapy guy to hypnotize me to make me forget about the films and the work I had done over the last six or seven years so I could sit and enjoy them."

He didn't go through with it but said he did speak to British mentalist Derren Brown, who thought it could be done. Jackson mentioned that he's looking forward to the new Prime Video series, which was going to send him scripts to read at one point, but never did. Maybe that's for the best. 

It's an interesting thought, being able to forget all the work he put into that trilogy. Of course, it would have been weird for him to walk around his house, see all the Oscars the films won, and wonder why they were there. I keep thinking about Jackson showing up on a Hobbiton tour in New Zealand, and being confused by why everyone was staring at him. That is not how hypnotism works (probably), but it does seem like a delightful "SNL" sketch in the making. 

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" will hit Prime Video on September 2, 2022.