Christopher Lee is one of England's greatest exports. There's Marmite, The Beatles, Doctor Who and Christopher Lee. As far as wide-reaching cultural impact, Lee is up there with colonialism. He's dazzled film fans for decades, and when he passed away at 93, it still somehow felt too young. His career stretched on for an unbelievable seventy years. That's longer than some historical empires. 

One of Lee's greatest gifts was the erudite gravity he brought to every scene. Surely, this was a studied actor, as prepared as he was gifted. It's no surprise to learn, then, that he was always on the hunt for new material. Lee was a fan of literature, and expanded his horizons beyond the constricting world of the stage and screen. You may be stunned to learn, however, that he foresaw a future iconic role nearly 30 years before ever setting foot on set.

Way back in '73, Christopher Lee was the subject of an all-Dracula edition of Cinefantastique. The magazine quotes Lee speaking about one of his favorite works of fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

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"It is pure fantasy at its most perfect," said Lee. "And this has always been my favorite kind of literature."

While Lee would go on to play Saruman in the eventual New Line Cinema adaptation, decades earlier he'd fancied playing a different character. He'd first eyed the role of Aragorn, who the magazine described as "the archetypal heroic figure of the piece." However, Cinefantastique prophetically noted that Lee would most likely play Sauron, the "satanic figure in Tolkien's Middle Earth." This is all a brilliant bit of foreshadowing, as Lee would actually play the white wizard, envious of and corrupted by Sauron's power.