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Long-time J.R.R. Tolkien fan Peter Jackson makes history with The Lord of the Rings, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. Released in 2001, the first film in the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including Best Director, and won four. The film also received the American Film Institute's prestigious Film Award and was nominated for 12 awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), winning awards for Best Film and garnering Jackson the David Lean Award for direction. In addition to four Golden Globe nominations, the film also received numerous distinctions and awards around the world.
Jackson previously received widespread acclaim for his 1994 feature Heavenly Creatures, which was awarded a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay. Written by Jackson and his collaborator, Fran Walsh, the film is based on an infamous New Zealand murder of the 1950s, and the story of two intelligent and imaginative young girls whose obsessive friendship leads them to murder one of their mothers.
Other film credits include The Frighteners starring Michael J. Fox, the adult puppet feature Meet the Feebles and Braindead, which Jackson co-wrote. Braindead played at festivals around the world winning 16 international science fiction awards including the prestigious Saturn. Jackson also co-directed the television documentary "Forgotten Silver" which also hit the film festival circuit.
Born in New Zealand on Halloween in 1961, Jackson began at an early age making movies with his parents' Super 8 camera. At seventeen he left school, and failing to get a job in the New Zealand film industry as he had hoped, started work as a photo-engraving apprentice. After purchasing a 16mm camera, Jackson began shooting a science fiction comedy short, which, three years later, had grown to a seventy-five minute feature called Bad Taste, funded entirely from his own wages. The New Zealand Film Commission eventually gave Jackson money to complete the film, which has become a cult classic.
| | production |
"The greatest feeling of success has been to watch all these bits and pieces of polystyrene and metal and wood become a world so real you believe these characters live there. We’ve painted Tolkien’s palette as much as possible across the film."
—Richard Taylor
Until now, Tolkien’s Middle-earth has existed only in the imaginations of readers and in the wondrously detailed yet limited illustrations for the novels. But in The Fellowship of The Ring, the hobbit holes of Hobbiton, the sylvan glades of the elf refuge Rivendell, the smoky innards of the Prancing Pony Inn and the networks of underground caverns in the Mines of Moria come physically, palpably to life.
Peter Jackson had one underlying precept for the visual design for The Lord of The Rings trilogy: a transporting brand of realism. But how do you realistically create a complete fantasy? Jackson knew that the answer would lie in an incredible amount of detail. So he immediately engaged the services of WETA Limited, New Zealand’s premier physical effects house, under the direction of supervisor Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger — and gave them a mission: to create Middle-earth’s physical reality, from the interiors of hobbit holes to the heights of Mount Doom, as if they believed with all their hearts and senses in its existence.
Taylor approached the project like a general going to war. He immediately employed a crew of over 120 technicians divided into six crucial departments:
WETA Digital, a separate arm, also took on the challenge of creating the groundbreaking computer-generated creatures and effects for The Lord of The Rings
But before WETA could get to work, the filmmakers needed to turn Tolkien’s vividly drawn descriptions into three-dimensional visions. They turned to the two men who knew Tolkien’s universe best: conceptual artists Alan Lee and John Howe, who illustrated the Harper Collins editions of The Lord of The Rings. Freed from that format, Lee and Howe sketched madly, producing seminal images of the cultures, creatures, buildings and landscapes that make Hobbiton, Rivendell, Mordor and more feel so alive.
Inspired by their own intimate love of Tolkien’s work, Lee and Howe
 produced hundreds of life-like sketches which later were metamorphosed into storyboards, then scale models of Middle-earth’s many landscapes and regions, and sometimes into full-scale sets under the aegis of production designer Grant Major. In addition to full-sized sets, the production widely used miniature sets — models so detailed and artistically rendered that the slightly larger ones became known as "bigatures." trilogy.
"As a conceptual artist, it is quite a mine field treading through Tolkien’s world, but you somehow have to trust your own judgment and your own vision. Tolkien’s descriptions are so beautiful and poetic, yet he has left plenty of room for us to make our own little explorations," said Alan Lee.
 Lee was especially excited by Peter Jackson’s mandate. "When he said he wanted to be as true to the spirit of the books as he could and try to create very, very real landscapes and as believable a world as possible, I knew I was the right person for the job," he said.
Says production designer Grant Major of Lee and Howe: "Their contribution to the project was absolutely fundamental. They gave us the Industrial Age look and feel of Middle-earth, and they brought the most intimate knowledge of Tolkien lore to their work."
Lee had always tried to make his illustrations believable, but now he and Howe had a new challenge: producing illustrations so rich they could be turned into miniatures, models and sets. He recalls the magic of seeing Hobbiton evolve from Tolkien’s charming descriptions to detailed sketches to life-like sets. "We had drawn so many sketches and had so many conversations and then there was the whole construction process," he recalls. "But, finally it became this absolutely real place where grass grew over the roofs and the chimneys were spouting smoke, and it was like a dream to see it come to life."
Lee also watched, as his sketches became miniature sets that seemed to take on a life of their own. The miniature production unit was guided by director of photography Alex Funke, who won an Oscar for his effects on Total Recall. Funke and team filmed an unprecedented 64 miniature sets, some of the most complex ever rendered. Among those seen in The Fellowship of The Ring are the "forest kingdom" of Lothlorien made up of tree-houses connected by walkways and lit with fairy lights and the land of the dwarves known as Khazad-Dum.
Many of the sets, big and small, were carved out of polystyrene, a material that can look like wood that has aged for thousands of years, as in the Prancing Pony Pub or the stone sculptures at the gates of MinasTirith. WETA made some remarkable innovations, using a polyurethane spraying machine developed for spraying rubber coatings on North Sea oil rigs.
"We were able to do in a week what might have taken months to build in a traditional manner," explains Richard Taylor. "With this machine, we could sculpt anything. We were making a hundred helmets in a day with this machine. It helped us to build many worlds."
Production designer Grant Major oversaw the creation of such life-sized exterior sets as the intricate and delicate Elvish kingdom of Rivendell, the grassy knolls of Hobbiton, and the underground interior realms of the mines of Moria. He, too, made realism and exquisite detail a priority — but with a fantastical twist, including hobbit-esque earthiness and Escher-like mazes throughout.
The sets for Rivendell, for example, were created to reflect the Elvish culture
 — which is highly artistic and intimately connected to the forest and nature. It appears as a place of deep serenity, with arching walkways spanning babbling streams and quiet wooden gazebos. "We used a leaf motif throughout the sets, and used a lot of hand-carved statues, pillars and door frames. Even the colors are right out of the forest," Major notes. "We even added Art Nouveau-style influences that reflect their elegant nature." Major also wanted to lend Rivendell "a sense of mystery," so he designed and built a series of 40-foot-tall towers that shimmer in the background of Rivendell, suggesting more than meets the eye.
Many of Major’s sets were built at Peter Jackson’s Three Foot Six Wellington Studios. This, for example, is where he created the Mines of Moria, where the Fellowship journeys in The Fellowship of The Ring. Gray granite walls were sprayed constantly by WETA technicians to appear as glistening, dripping, jewel-encrusted caves, a whole network of which spans beneath the dwarf land, Khazad-Dum.
One thing Major always had to consider in the design of his sets was durability. "You had thousands of people trampling through these sets, and sometimes people were hucking axes into the floor, so they had to be built to withstand a lot! Our sets had to withstand 60 pounds per square foot." Major worked hand-in-hand with WETA Digital, to make sure the sets would accommodate computer-generated images to be added in later.
Major even found himself becoming a fledgling gardener. To create Hobbiton, he had a large greens department team plant 5,000 cubic meters of vegetable and flower gardens a year before filming began. "We started the year before filming because we wanted the look of it to age naturally in the weather," explains Major. "We were always trying to make every set as real in time and place as could be imagined."
Everyone who entered Hobbiton was transported. Observes Ian McKellen, who plays the hobbit-helping wizard Gandalf: "Hobbiton really wasn’t a set at all. It was an actual open-air village with growing crops and flowers actually sprouting in gardens, birds singing, insects... Nothing was plastic or fake. It was just totally thrilling to enter another world like that."
| | Creatures |
Richard Taylor (Director of WETA Workshop and Creature, Miniature, Armour, Special Make-Up Effects Supervisor)
Tania Rodger (Dierctor of WETA Workshop)
Annette Wullens (Senior Production Manager)
Hannah Bianchini (Production Manager
Lisa Wildermoth (WETA On-set Coordinator)
"The contribution of Richard Taylor & Tania Rodger and their WETA Workshop has been essential in putting this film together. They truly understood my desire to make every inch of this production feel real. Right down to the pitted, greasy, dirty armor, WETA has gone the extra distance to get the details right."
— Peter Jackson
To get an idea of the sheer scope of creating Middle-earth, consider the following numbers:
- more than 900 suits of hand-made armor
- more than 2,000 rubber and safety weapons
- more than 100 special, hand-made weapons
- more than 20,000 individual household and everyday items handmade by artisans
- more than 1,600 pairs of prosthetic feet and ears, individually sized and shaped
WETA’s team oversaw it all in an effort not unlike mobilizing an army. Richard Taylor, head of WETA, became the general spurring his troops on to greater and greater creative achievement.
"I would say that we have been fanatical about this project," says Taylor. "We wanted to stay fanatically loyal to the written word of Tolkien. The people I hired are people who have an intense love of Tolkien, who bring a totally fresh, written word approach to design. The whole design for every little element of the entire trilogy has been figured out to the nth degree. The bottom line was this: Everything had to feel real."
In addition to the usual motion picture crew, WETA brought on board blacksmiths, leather-workers, sculptors and experts in medieval armor. A special foam latexing oven was running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to churn out hobbit ears and feet, Uruk-Hai arms and legs, among other prosthetics.
"The level of reality in WETA’s creations was such that you could pick up a sword that looked completely real and find out it was made of rubber. Their stuff looks that good," says Peter Jackson.
In addition to weapons and props, WETA brought to life some of Middle-earth’s most imaginative creatures, including the orcs, of whom no two are alike. WETA artisans created gray, wrinkled prosthetic skin suits — resembling elephant hide — and black armor resembling an insect’s exoskeleton to produce the orcs’ frightening, insect-meets-medieval knight appearance.
Each of the 200 orc heads made for the film was unique — an individually shaped mask made of latex foam silicone and implanted with yak hair woven strand by strand for different hair styles. WETA also forged blue-tinged prosthetic feet, with long, curving claws, to stick out from the orcs’ knee-high boots. The look was completed with layers of Middle-earth mud.
"I wanted the orcs to look like Roman soldiers," says Richard Taylor, "who live under an ethic of fear of their leaders."
Need some orc blood? WETA came to the rescue, producing a tar-like residue that could ooze from the battle wounds. On set in the large battle scenes, there were full time crew members whose job was to bloody up the troops.
The physical effects team of Steve Ingram, Richard Cordobes and Blair Foord also joined in the fun to mess with the natural environment, creating rain, snow, fire and wind storms with spray pipes and giant fans, as well as an enormous volume of mist, steam, fog and smoke through the use of special liquids. The team also created fake rivers and streams running through fake forests on soundstages.
Throughout, the WETA team had one "bible" they used as a constant source of reference: Tolkien’s original novels. "We would photocopy appropriate passages from the books and place them all around the workshops as the artists worked," explains Richard Taylor. "We were never without Tolkien’s spirit on the set."
The scale of every character from 3‘6" inch hobbits to the huge cave troll, had to also be taken into consideration by WETA and the costu me department. As Richard Taylor of WETA notes: "We had to create almost everything at least twice in different scales. The mathematics alone was a staggering challenge. But it was the only way to stay true to what Tolkien created in his imagination: a world of many different sizes."
| | Special Effects |
Libby Hazell (Visual Effects Production Manager)
Jim Rygiel (Visual Effects Supervisor)
Dean Wright (Visual Effects Producer)
Eileen Moran (WETA VFX Producer)
"My same philosophy applied to digital effects as to the overall design. I wanted the monsters to feel real right down to the dirt under the fingernails of a Cave Troll or the bloodshot, bulging eyes of Gollum."
— Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson and his team not only created a physical Middle-earth, they also designed an entirely digital universe for The Lord of The Rings trilogy. This staggeringly intensive, behind-the-scenes work was carried out by WETA Digital. The New Zealand based F/X company assembled a crack team of computer artists, key frame animators, modelers, digital paint artists, motion editors, compositors and software engineers, among others, to devote years of their lives to creating never-before-seen effects.
WETA Digital also invested in a historical first in live-action filmmaking: a massive database that has stored every single frame shot in the making of The Lord of The Rings in a digital library that can instantly access, analyze and cross-reference any single item appearing in the film. This means that every single element in the trilogy can be subject to digital manipulation, from landscapes to mood lighting to hobbits on horses.
But the real creative power of WETA Digital can best be experienced in some of the most evil and threatening of characters appearing in The Fellowship of The Ring. Creatures forged entirely through digital magic include Gollum, Treebeard, Balrog, and the eye of Sauron.
One of the most exciting creatures introduced in The Fellowship of The Ring
is Gollum, who was born a hobbit-like creature named Smeagol but transformed into something far more frightening through his own encounter with The Ring.
"I think that Gollum may be one of the most sophisticated digital creations seen yet," notes WETA’s Richard Taylor. "Throw out all your old ideas about what CG looks like because Gollum defies them."
Gollum was brought into existence through a combination of state-of-the-art computer animation and sophisticated motion-capture technology utilizing "fluid dynamics." Peter Jackson wanted to avoid a "computer-generated look," so instead the painstaking design lends to Gollum realistic joint movement based on actual organic muscle and bone, all seen rippling under his translucent, but flesh-like skin. The computer artists even wound up studying anatomy books to create a believable view inside Gollum’s skin.
"WETA developed vast amounts of code to create Gollum," notes Peter Jackson. "They developed new modeling codes, new skin codes, new muscle codes. He is amazingly life-like and we were able to give him a range of expressions from the evil of Gollum to the sympathy of Smeagol."
The filmmakers also brought in renowned character actor Andy Serkis to give Gollum a range of voices — from melancholy to menacing. According to Barrie M. Osborne, "It is imperative that Gollum is a real character. He is brought to screen as an animated character, but we need him to have an emotional range, a character torn between the power of The Ring. Andy Serkis has that range as an actor to do an amazing job, both in his vocal range, in his ability to pantomime Gollum on set, and also on the motion capture stage — so when animated he will become the most realistic animated creature ever on screen." Digital technicians worked closely with Serkis to capture his own uniquely created movement for the bony, lonely creature.
Audiences can look forward to seeing Gollum with the release of The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers.
| | Make up |
Peter King (Make-Up and Hair Designer)
Peter Owen (Make-Up and Hair Designer)
Peter King and Peter Owen work closely with Peter Jackson in creating each character's look. They carefully consider the color, style, shape, length and adornments for each wig as well as each character's makeup, from the pale and elegant Elves to the weatherbeaten Aragorn.
Every principal actor has a wig designed for their role. Wigs are carefully applied and are invisible to the human eye. Each wig must be washed, styled and cared for as one might treat their own hair.
In addition to the character's basic makeup, the make-up artists also add a variety of dirt, blood, scratches and gashes that the character would encounter during the difficulty of their journey. The makeup artists work closely with prosthetics artists to coordinate the adding of prosthetic features during the makeup process.
The size of the hair and makeup department swells depending on the extras working on the set each day. They are a very mobile team and move from location to location in buses especially designed to accommodate their needs and supplies.
| | Miniatures |
Alex Funke (Director of Photography)
Chuck Shuman (Director of Photography)
David Hardberger (Director of Photography)
The miniature production unit staffs a crew of twenty and is guided by Director of Photography, Alex Funke. All of the miniatures are housed and shot within an enormous 24,000 square foot warehouse stage.
To start the process, a scale miniature is built and ranges in size from a few centimeters to several meters, affectionately coined "bigatures". Each model is created to an astonishing level of perfection by an artist at the WETA workshop. The Miniatures crew then lights the model and replicates the environment captured when the live action was shot. Special cameras, cranes and structures are used so that technicians can move smoothly around the entire model creating huge sweeping crane type shots as well as delicate intricate movements.
To create the lava and volcanic eruptions featured on The Lord of the Ri ngs, artists use a series of pumps, hoses and liquid concoctions that, when combined with dramatic lighting, create a realistic environment.
| | Cast |
"The Lord of The Rings required a commitment from our cast to learn how to swordfight, horseback ride, canoe, learn Elvish, climb mountain peaks and at the same time bring the magic and magnetism of Tolkien’s characters to the screen. They were up to the task."
— Barrie M. Osborne, producer
 At the core of the story in The Lord of the Rings are the cultures that make up Middle-earth: Hobbits, Dwarves, Humans, Elves, Wizards, Trolls, Ents, Orcs, Ringwraiths and Uruk-Hai.
Each culture has its own rich way of life, its own customs, myths, ways of dress and even style of fighting. Each is fully developed in The Lord of the Rings, creating the essence of a living, breathing world just beyond our own history.
For example, Hobbits are gentle and close to nature, an almost child-like group who live off the land. With an average height of 3’6", the furry-footed creatures dwell deep in furnished holes on the sides of hills. They love the simple things in life: smoking pipes, eating, and, of course, storytelling. They live to around 100 years old, with the age of 33 marking the start of adulthood.
Elves, on the other hand, are noble, elegant, magical beings whose time is running out and who seem to possess a bittersweet sense that they are now about to pass into myth. Although they could be slain or die of grief, elves are immortal in that they are not subject to age or disease.
 Dwarves are short but very tough, with a strong, ancient sense of justice and an abiding love of all things beautiful. Small in stature, they live to be about 250 years old.
Wizards are supremely powerful but can use that power for good or for evil, depending on where their hearts lie.
Men in The Lord of the Rings are a fledgling race just coming into their own.
Other creatures are even more fantastical: the leaf-covered Ents try to protect their brethren, the trees; the misshapen Orcs fight for Saruman; and the sinister, black-cloaked Ringwraiths are neither living nor dead but cursed to live in the twilight world of Sauron.
To bring these remarkably diverse beings to life wo uld require a cast of true versatility — and also a cast willing to spend months in the deep heartland of New Zealand bringing life to a literary legend. It would require a group of actors who could carry their characters through three chapters of climactic changes.
In the first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring, the actors get a chance to introduce their characters and their individual quests. At the center of it all is the story’s 3’6" hero — Frodo Baggins, the shy but forthright hobbit who assumes the responsibility for destroying The Ring. Despite the help of the Fellowship, it is Frodo who must bear the burden of The Ring and resist its constant temptations of evil. For the actor to play Fro do, the filmmakers chose 20-year-old Elijah Wood for his energy, innocence and charisma.
"Elijah has a sincerity of purpose that just makes him a natural in the role," observes Barrie M. Osborne. "He is capable of taking the character through a real transformation, which begins with The Fellowship of the Ring."
 Wood describes Frodo as "a very curious adventurer. Frodo lives in a time when most of his fellow hobbits want to stay with their own kind, but Frodo is very different in that he wants to leave and see the rest of the world and all its wonders."
Which is exactly what he does in The Lord of the Rings. As Frodo begins his journey, Wood was struck by how much like a person, rather than a fantasy character, the hobbit began to seem. "He became alive for me," he admits. "The way we shot the movie, everything was so real that we all believed that Frodo and the others really existed in history. Once I had on my prosthetic ears and feet for the first time, I knew what it was to feel like a hobbit. It sounds bizarre, but it felt the same as playing a historical character, as if hobbits had actually once been alive."
One of Frodo’s closest allies in his plight to destroy The Ring is the old and powerful wizard Gandalf, who begins to demonstrate his full powers and purpose in The Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf is played by renowned screen and stage star Ian McKellen, who was thrilled to take on such a magical role.
"I see Gandalf as the archetypal wizard," says McKellen. "I think in the creation of Gandalf, Tolkien was playing with ideas about wizards from stories and fairy tales throughout time. Gandalf is related to Merlin, and maybe even Prospero, but he also is very much his own man."
"When the story hops up and the journey begins and great things are at stake, he makes a real contribution to The Fellowship," he continues. "He shows his stuff as a warrior." Showing off that stuff was a perfect match with McKellen’s own innate nobility. Notes producer Barrie M. Osborne: "Ian McKellen has the stature to make you truly believe in Gandalf’s power and wisdom."
 Frodo’s quest to destroy The Ring begins with his cousin, Bilbo Baggins, an aged hobbit with a history of bravery played by Ian Holm. Holm says that "Bilbo is not unlike me. He’s quite grumpy on the outside but basically he has a heart of gold. He is a little fellow who things seem to happen to — but when he’s put to the test, he comes up trumps more than most people."
A longtime fan of Tolkien’s novel, Holm likens playing such a renowned character to another character noted for its many interpretations. "I think playing Bilbo is a lot like playing Hamlet," he says. "I mean, this is my version of Bilbo, just as it would be my version of Hamlet. He’s an eternal character but as an actor you play it as you see it in front of you and trust in that."
Says Barrie M. Osborne of the choice of Holm: "He brings out all the nuances in Bilbo’s character — he gets the crustiness of the hobbit, but more importantly, he reveals what lies underneath."
Three hobbit friends also join Frodo on his journey: Sam, Merry and Pippin, played by Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd. Astin plays one of the trilogy’s most moving characters, the ordinary seeming Samwise Gamgee, who turns out to be the most extraordinary of friends to Frodo.
"Sean Astin is a wonderful choice for Sam because he brings a real joviality to the role, as well as an empathy for Sam’s struggles," says Osborne. "I think it’s also a real bonus that he and Elijah Wood are such good friends — that closeness really shows in the relationship that develops between their characters."
 Astin was drawn to a character that seems to define the best of hobbit-hood. "To me, he personifies decency, simplicity, honesty and loyalty, the ultimate hobbit," says Astin. "Most of all, he has an undying friendship with Frodo that is so strong, he’s willing to face the adventure of the unknown to help him."
Astin also sees Sam as a man of the land. "I look at him as this kind of pastoral figure, a farmer whose hands are always in the soil," he comments. "He’s not the most sophisticated being in the fellowship, but he makes up for it with his earnest steadiness."
Dominic Monaghan, a young British actor who comes to the fore in The Fellowship of the Ring, brings out the quick-witted cleverness and fun-loving spirit of the hobbit Merry, formally known as Meriadoc Brandybuck, another of Frodo’s closest friends. "Like most hobbits, Merry always looks on the bright side of life," says Monaghan, "but I don’t think even he realizes at first how brave he can actually be. As situations arise at the beginning of their journey, he starts to become pretty important."
Monaghan continues: "The main thing I wanted to get across in the beginning, with The Fellowship of the Ring, is that Merry is just this very sharp, sarcastic and funny boy who hasn’t grown up yet. But he’s about to go through incredible experiences and adventures that will change him into a new person."
For the comical hobbit Pippin, or Peregrin Took, the filmmakers chose rising Scottish actor Billy Boyd. Boyd was amused by his character’s "knack for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time" but also moved by Pippin’s transformation throughout the odyssey. "One thing about Pippin right from the beginning is that his whole life revolves around friendship," points out Boyd. "He loves his friends in the Shire more than anything."
But when Pippin embarks on the journey to destroy The Ring with Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship, he discovers a world unlike anything he’s ever imagined. "Suddenly, things turn very serious and dark for Pippin. He’s falling in marshes and meeting magical creatures and he’d rather be back at the pub chatting with the ladies!" admits Boyd. "But that’s what makes him so dynamic a character. He tunes into the fun and beautiful side of life, even in the middle of a war."
 Also joining the Fellowship is the man Boromir, a valiant warrior who lacks respect for The Ring’s devastating power. Boromir is portrayed by Sean Bean, who liked that the character "brings the human element into the Fellowship. Boromir has the human qualities of being honorable and brave but also having a very clear opinion about everything." "In the beginning," he continues, "he sees The Ring simply as a solution to the problems of his people. But he finds out that it isn’t quite so clear-cut, especially as he becomes susceptible to its powers."
Then there is Elrond, the elf of great powers who knows much about The Ring. Elrond is played by Hugo Weaving. Weaving adored playing such a wise yet wistful hero. "Elrond is so wise, so good, so noble and yet he also has, for a lack of a better word, a real humanity to him. There is a side of him that has been made desperate by the perpetual state of war. He has a real sense of how hard it is for people to get out from under evil," Weaving says.
The Fellowship is completed by an elf and a dwarf: Legolas, the sword-fighting son of an elf king, played by Orlando Bloom; and Gimli, the stout-hearted axe-man who comes to represent the Khazad, the dwarves of Middle-earth, played by John Rhys-Davies. The comic contrast between the boisterous dwarf and the elegant elf becomes a constant source of humor and delight. Orlando Bloom explains: "Elves see dwarves as these muddy creatures who steal from the earth without giving back. But Legolas and Gimli grow to respect one another’s differences. They learn to rely on each other in battle — and to laugh together."
 Rhys-Davies loved that The Fellowship of the Ring kicks off something many people haven’t experienced in a long-time — an epic, serial adventure. "I think today there is an enormous hunger for adventure and a dynamic life that can only be met in the imagination . . . or in movies like this one. Tolkien feeds that hunger, because in our hearts we want to be part of a heroic civilization like the elves, hobbits, dwarves and men of Middle-earth."
Facing off against the Fellowship is the evil Saruman, once the head of the Council of the Wise, who has since succumbed to the dark temptations of Sauron’s power. Saruman wants Frodo’s ring and is willing to use his specially bred Uruk-Hai — grotesque, war-like creatures -- to get it. Perhaps no one could embody Saruman better than that long-time master, Christopher Lee.
Lee had played many mythical creatures before but had never been involved with a project like The Lord of The Rings. "This is the outright creation of an entire world," he says. "It brings together history and languages and cultures and makes a dreamscape come true."
Although Saruman lived around 7,000 mythical years ago, Lee sees his dark reflection all over the place in the modern world. "To my way of thinking, the evil that exists today isn’t that different from what you see in Middle-earth. People will always crave power and Saruman wants Sauron’s power," he explains. "To me, he is not just the physical force of evil personified, he is also very real."
Another mysterious character introduced in The Lord of the Rings is Aragorn, a heroic man and warrior, played with trademark intensity by Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen got so into the role it was rumored he was living in the forest in Aragorn’s torn, mud-stained clothes! Says Peter Jackson: "Viggo embraced the character so completely it’s difficult to imagine the two being separate now."  Adds Barrie M. Osborne: "Viggo is the perfect actor to play a man who is struggling to redeem himself from his ancestry and his heritage. He’s incredibly dedicated. He’s the kind of an actor who one day had his tooth knocked out by a sword and actually asked if they could superglue it back on so he could finish the scene. He became Aragorn, and he brings a real power to the role."
Mortensen felt a strong personal connection to the project: "I’m Celtic and Scandinavian, so I was raised on the myths Tolkien used to inspire The Lord of The Rings," he says. "It’s part of my heritage." The actor was also intrigued by Aragorn’s primal, self-reliant brand of heroism. "He can survive in nature, live from it, read its signs and live happily, not needing anyone, not relying on anything but his own knowledge and discoveries," he observes. "But now he has to take on more responsibility, and it’s not clear where it will lead him."
Two of the major female characters in The Lord of The Rings are also introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring: the brave she-elf Arwen, who falls in love with Aragorn, played by the luminous Liv Tyler; and the powerful, soul-probing Elf Queen Galadriel, played by Academy Award nominee Cate Blanchett.
Tyler was drawn to Arwen, the immortal elven princess. "To me, Arwen brings a real touch of femininity to the tale of Middle-earth," says Tyler. "In the midst of a war, she has fallen in love, and become the backbone and motivation for Aragorn’s fight."
 Cate Blanchett was also drawn to her character’s fascinating strength. "I loved playing Galadriel because she is so iconic. She is the one in The Lord of the Rings who truly tests Frodo," says Blanchett. "I also think she has a profound message to give about taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions. And, Yes, I have to admit I have always wanted to have pointy ears!"
Blanchett was astonished by how completely the world of Middle-earth and its many cultures had been thought out by the filmmakers. "By the time I started working, there was such a strong and real-life sense of the various cultures, their histories and their hopes for the future," she notes. "It was really like becoming part of a whole different universe. I’ve never experienced anything like it before."
The entire cast underwent intensive training in ancient arts and languages for their roles. This included studying sword fighting with veteran sword master Bob Anderson; learning horsemanship with head wrangler Dave Johnson; and practicing the Elvish language with dialect and creative language coaches Andrew Jack and Roísin Carty.
Jack and Carty developed a unique accent and cadence for Elvish, based in part on Celtic, yet entirely unique in the world. In also training the actors in other dialects, they gave exercises during which the actors stood in front of a mirror, making curious noises and faces, learning to use their facial muscles in completely new ways. The result was that the actors each found their own accents spontaneously. Jack and Carty taught the actors as if they were learning a language from scratch, not just having them memorize script lines.
In addition to the technical training, every actor involved in The Lord of The Rings had to be in top physical condition — not just because the Fellowship scales mountains, fords streams and fights physically intense battles throughout the trilogy, but because they had to withstand the 274-day shooting schedule. Says Dominic Monaghan, who plays the hobbit Merry: "We all started fitness programs well before production began and we worked with physical trainers throughout. Not only was the shoot physically challenging, with huge leaps and big battles and stuff like that, but the hours alone required physical conditioning and fitness. Anybody out of shape wouldn’t have made it!"
Summarizes Peter Jackson: "For me the project really came to life when the cast came on board and brought their individual interpretations to the roles. They made it so much more realistic than I had ever imagined."
| | Peter Jackson Bring the Fantasy to life |
"I am interested in themes about friendship and self-sacrifice. This is a story of survival and courage, about a touching last stand that paved the way for the ascent of humankind."
— Peter Jackson
When J.R.R. Tolkien published the first volume of The Lord of The Rings, The London Sunday Times stated that the world would forever more be divided into two types of people: "those who have read The Lord of The Rings and those who are going to." The praise extended beyond mere reviews. The publishing world was taken by storm. Never before in contemporary times had an author dared to create an epic quest that rivaled the classic legends of Homer and Chaucer in scope, yet was utterly accessible to readers of all ages and nationalities. The book stoked hungry imaginations across the globe.
Tolkien’s Middle-earth struck a chord because it seemed at once to take readers into a fantastically magical realm far, far away, while remaining grounded in urgently real human themes. The book immediately developed a following that went beyond mere appreciation to obsessive devotion. In 1965, the paperback version came to America and was taken to heart, becoming a runaway best-seller. By the late 1960s, The Lord of The Rings was considered classic literature, a must-read for a new generation starting to believe in the notion of limitless imagination. It also became a counter-cultural symbol because of its prescient themes of environmental conscience and battles against the forces of corruption and war. The trilogy joined Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey as a literary icon of its time. Tolkien’s work also became the godfather of a new entertainment genre — fantasy — which led to a burgeoning, lucrative market in books, videos, role-playing games, computer games, comic books and motion pictures.
Another person influenced by Tolkien in his formative years was director Peter Jackson, who became known for his own ability to visually evoke the world of dreams, fantasies, and nightmares in such films as Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners. Jackson had long felt that The Lord of The Rings was ripe for its first complete cinematic telling, but he also knew that to do it justice would take perhaps the most ambitious production ever attempted in history. There was a chance, he felt, that visual effects technology had just about reached the point where it could tackle the legends and landscapes of which Tolkien dreamed — and do his brilliant imagination justice.
Jackson waited for someone else to take on the behemoth, but when no one dared, he decided to put his own burning passion behind bringing Tolkien’s modern myth to the screen. He began with his own ambitious quest: "I started with one goal: to take moviegoers into the fantastical world of Middle-earth in a way that is believable and powerful," he explains. "I wanted to take all the great moments from the books and use modern technology to give audiences nights at the movies unlike anything they’ve experienced before."
From the start, it was clearly a mammoth undertaking, but Jackson felt that if he was going to go for it, he had to give it everything and then some. "I’ve spent seven years of my life on this project so far," he notes, "pouring my heart into every single aspect of it. But I think that’s the least we owe to Tolkien and the legions of fans around the globe. They deserve our very best efforts."
Jackson began by working on a trilogy of screenplays with fellow writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, a process that in itself took three years. For the first installment, The Fellowship of The Ring, they paid particular attention to Tolkien’s many vivid descriptions of characters and places, hoping to build a viscerally true and vibrant world that would pull audiences into the adventure as participants — and draw them into the suspense of waiting to see what happens next.
"From the beginning I didn’t want to make your standar d fantasy film," comments Jackson. "I wanted something that felt much, much more real. Tolkien writes in a way that makes everything come alive and we wanted to set that realistic feeling of an ancient world-come-to-life right away with the first film, then continue to build it as the story unravels. We constantly referred to the book, not just in writing the screenplay, but also throughout the production. Every time we shot a scene, I reread that part of the book right before, as did the cast. It was always worth it, always inspiring."
"That being said," Jackson adds, "it has been equally important to us that the films amaze, surprise and delight people who have never read the books or know anything about hobbits, dwarves and elves. Tolkien’s world holds an appeal for anyone who comes ready to experience something special."
Jackson knew he could not translate every single line of Tolkien’s epic trilogy into imagery, and that certain changes to the beloved novel would need to be made, but he committed himself to remaining faithful to how he had responded to Tolkien’s work as one enchanted reader.
He explains: "When there was a question about how to proceed, I would just shut my eyes and imagine the characters in my head, the same way a million readers around the world have shut their eyes and seen these books come alive as personal movies in their heads. From doing that, I felt I already knew the characters and the scenes before we started shooting."
The more the screenwriters read Tolkien, the more nuances it seemed they discovered about the characters, the lands and adventures which they traverse. "The more time you spend in Tolkien’s world," says Philippa Boyens, "the more complex it grows. It was all there for us, but the scope was tremendous."
Within that scope, Jackson wanted to bring front and center Tolkien’s themes of good versus evil, nature versus machines, and friendship versus the forces of corruption. "All the major themes are introduced in The Fellowship of The Ring," he notes. "The most obvious one is good versus evil but this story is also about how friendship endures and overcomes even in a world of tremendous upheaval and change. We really tried to make these themes part of the fabric of the first film."
"What we are trying to do, as we adapt ‘The Lord of The Rings’ into a film medium is honor these themes; and whilst you can never be totally faithful to a book, especially a book over 1,000 pages, we have tried to incorporate the things that Tolkien cared about when he wrote the book, and make them the fabric of the films."
For Boyens, the key to adapting Tolkien was imagining the characters and their individual quests as being those of real beings who actually once lived on earth, albeit 7,000 years ago in a world of talking trees, powerful elves and fading magic. "Each character in Tolkien has a wonderful personal story and a wonderful journey to go on," she says. "We looked at each one individually and tried to bring their personal growth to the fore."
The completed screenplays took even Tolkien fans by surprise. "They had brought to these characters so much warmth and emotion that you really identify not only with the tale but with the personalities in it," states producer Barrie M. Osborne, who previously broke new ground with the special-effects thriller The Matrix. "It reminded me of the Godfather saga in that there were so many different characters you could identify with. Some fall while others become heroic."
Jackson also embraced another decision in the early days of the trilogy’s development: to shoot all three films at once, something which had never been done in filmmaking history. "I felt that in order to do the tale’s epic nature justice, we had to shoot it as one big story because that’s what it is. It’s three movies that will take you through three very unique experiences but it all adds up to one unforgettable story," he explains. "I look forward to the day when audiences can sit down and watch all three films in a row, because it is one big story and adventure."
Jackson’s decision resulted in a record-breaking commitment of time, resources and manpower for a single massive production shoot. The logistics might have been staggering to many, but the notion was thrilling to Jackson. "As a director, it has given me an enormous canvas on which to try all sorts of things. The story has so much variety to it. In each installment there is intimate, heart-wrenching drama, huge battle scenes, intense special effects, sudden changes for the characters, every emotion in the realm. It was a continual challenge for me and hopefully will be an enduring delight for audiences," he says.
In the end, there were those who thought Peter Jackson might have been closer to the project than was "humanly" possible. "The cast often referred to me as a hobbit," admits Jackson. "I’m sure it’s a joke but to tell the truth, the hobbit lifestyle -- good food and a comfy chair in front of a fire -- sounds pretty good to me! Especially after making three movies at once." | | Cast Interview |
And so it has come to pass… Just as Frodo Baggins completed an epic journey, Elijah Wood concluded a monumental marathon of another sort.
They have become inseparable in many ways, the Ring Bearer and the Actor. Both experienced arduous travels and taxing tasks during their sojourn into Middle-earth, and both the character and the man have come out forever changed.
Here Wood reflects on the achievements of Peter Jackson's trilogy, his personal and professional growth, and the many lessons learned.
There seems to be universal agreement that The Return of the King is the best film of the trilogy. What do you think makes it so good?
It's the end of the journey, where the characters are faced with the ultimate sacrifices, the ultimate opposition. And time is running out for Frodo and for everyone else, so there's a real sense of urgency with this film.
The film also exacts a heavy toll on the characters, emotionally as well as physically.
It's pretty extreme what the characters have to go through, and ultimately what they lose. Frodo is essentially giving away his soul to save Middle-earth. As much as the world is saved and so much is gained, so much is lost as well. You have to give of yourself to succeed, and that's what the movie is about.
Can you talk about Frodo's internal battles? And what do you see as his defining moment in The Return of the King?
The Ring sort of strips him of who he is. He doesn't remember the Shire, he doesn't remember where he's come from, he doesn't remember really who he is. He's physically robbed of any soul, of any heart, of any ability to go on. The defining moment would probably be on the side of Mount Doom, when he completely fails. He falls to the ground. And it's not as if he's giving up. He really doesn't have a choice, The Ring completely takes over.
How did you work with Peter Jackson to prepare for Frodo's emotional moments?
We talked a lot about Frodo's sort of addiction to The Ring, how that would affect him, and very specific moments about that deterioration, and how the darkness ends up coming out in him as well. We would sit down and have a good chat before we would start filming those particular scenes.
Can you talk about Frodo and Sam's friendship? It seems to be a linchpin of the third film.
Yeah, it's critical because The Ring is starting to have much more of an affect on Frodo, and Sam ends up becoming Frodo's strength when Frodo has no strength. Sam really becomes quite a hero in this film. It's his courage and his strength that pulls Frodo through and saves the day.
What can be learned about friendship from Sam and Frodo?
That no person can complete a task on their own. They cannot do it without the help of their friends. And that's not only true for Frodo and Sam. As they head up the mountaintop to destroy this ring, Aragorn and Gimli and Legolas and Gandalf are charging The Black Gate to draw Sauron's eye away and give them an opportunity. That's real friendship, real teamwork. There's something so beautiful about risking your life for the good of everyone.
Why are these films so meaningful, and why will they continue to live on?
I think there are themes in these stories that are timeless, that everyone can relate to. It's a classic good versus evil tale, and anything that embodies those particular extremes you can relate that to any world event or any personal event. Obviously there's quite a lot of strife in our world today, and certainly you can make comparisons.
Frodo has changed at the end of this journey, has Elijah changed as well?
Absolutely. I started this when I was 18, when normally I would be going to college. Instead, I went to Middle-earth and lived out Frodo's journey for four years. It's been the most incredible life experience, and I'm so grateful for that.
What will you take with you from this experience?
I think the most important thing I'll take away is the friendships I've made. Being in New Zealand for that length of time with these people was such a joy. It was difficult -- six- day weeks and 15-hour days -- and completely exhausting, but the friendships got us through. I will be friends with these people forever. The Fellowship will always exist. So in some ways the journey will never end for us, which is beautiful.
What did you do once the movie was finally finished?
I went into hibernation. I don't think I actually woke up for, like, five months. |
 No matter how high Orlando Bloom's star rises in the future, he will always remember Legolas. That's partly because Bloom has enjoyed universal acclaim for his turn as the elegant Elf archer. But mostly it's because The Lord of the Rings marks his first film performance.
Here, the London-trained actor discusses the evolution of Legolas, his character's surprising relationship with Gimli and his own delight at being part of cinematic history -- on the first try.
No character is unchanged by the course of events in Middle-earth. How does Legolas evolve?
Elves are pretty high status. I mean, they wouldn't normally interact with other species. So what you see in the first movie is a reserved kind of character, somebody who is kind of figuring out what's going on as the Fellowship embarks on its journey. In the second film, he becomes much more sensitive in terms of his emotion, and the way he interacts with Gimli or with Aragorn.
What about in the third film, how does he evolve?
The closeness and the bond of the Fellowship has kind of humanized Legolas. When Gandalf dies in the first movie, or when Aragorn has been taken over the edge of the cliff in the second movie, he feels for the other characters. For elves, who are immortal, the idea of death is something they have never really understood. But in the third movie, what you see is an elf that has more compassion. He's much more accessible, less reserved.
One of the real treats in the films is the chemistry between Legolas and .
Gimli. Can you talk about that relationship?
Elves wouldn't normally have anything to do with dwarves; there's bad blood between them. But as Legolas evolves to understand that he's part of the world and the Fellowship, he and Gimli develop a closeness. You see a wry, dry humor appear. You get glimpses in the second movie, with the body count at Helm's Deep. And in the third film the way they interact is just funny. To see two completely opposite people  befriend each other and try to find common ground, I think that will amuse people.
What was it like spending so much time with Viggo Mortensen?
Viggo was like a mentor for me, without anything being spoken. I used to sit next to him on the make-up bus, and find myself just staring at him while he was having his make-up done and drawing in his book or writing his notes. I would find myself fascinated.
Did you do any Elf bonding with Liv Tyler?
When Liv first arrived, I'd been in New Zealand for a couple of months. I'd done all this research for the elves, and I know she'd done stuff, and we compared notes. It was a fun session, just sitting down and chatting about the elves while we were playing pool. I was really excited about expressing it all and she was really receptive. It was a special time.
How did you get on with the hobbits, and do you still keep in touch?
I got along incredibly well with all the hobbits, and I still do. I was just back in L.A. and I went surfing with Billy and Dom a few times. I saw Elijah, and we all went out for dinner one night. And I saw Sean Astin at some awards ceremony. Whenever we get together, it's as if nothing's changed, you know what I mean?
Is there any scene you did for The Return of the King that really stands out?
The Paths Of The Dead was a great scene to shoot. There was a really eerie quality to it. The fact we were walking into this cave of death to summon the dead to aid us, and the fact Aragorn is capable of that power, is kind of eerie. There was a real kind of energy about it.
The Lord of the Rings is actually the first film you ever worked on. Not a bad way to start your career, is it?
There was something incredibly special about working on The Lord Of The Rings. It felt like you were making something that was part of history. I was so lucky to have had my first experience working on this movie. I was blessed that I got to work very closely with the cast, the crew, the director, everyone involved in this project. It gave me a first experience that people just don't get it. |
Australian actress Miranda Otto carries a heavy load in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Otto's Eowyn is one of the strongest female characters in the epic, mentally and physically. Here, Otto discusses Eowyn's struggles and triumphs as well as her own adventures in swordplay.
The big action piece in The Return of the King is the Battle at Pelennor Fields. How does it compare to the battle at Helm's Deep in The Two Towers?
This battle's bigger. I believe it was 10,000 Uruk-Hai at Helm's Deep and this is going to be 200,000 new and improved Orcs at Pelennor Fields. The new Orcs are a bit taller and more scary. There are also huge amounts of horses and stuff that we hadn't really seen before. I've seen bits of it, and it's fantastic.
Eowyn wields a mean sword. How did you like all that training?
Oh, it was great fun. The guys on the stunt team are really fantastic. It's really funny, because for all the aggression they have to display on screen, they're actually really happy, good- natured people. When we were shooting, they just said to me, 'You know, it doesn't really look like you're slashing him there. You'll really have to hit him.' They had armor, but it still hurts. But they didn't seem to mind, evidently they laughed about it afterwards.
The fight scenes must have been tiring to film.
My costume weighed between eight and 10 kilos (22 lbs) with the chain mail and everything. It's really quite heavy and it really takes the energy out of you. It's like carrying around four heavy shopping bags while doing all this physical activity.
How much preparation did you do beforehand?
I started with a trainer for three weeks before I went to New Zealand just to get some fitness. And then I came to New Zealand three weeks before shooting to work with the stunt guys on choreographing the fight and the basic moves, and to work on horse riding.
In some ways, Eowyn is Tolkien's most realized character. How did you approach her?
I went back to the books continually and photocopied every page she was in. I cut it all out, every line of dialogue or description or movement. Then I did another thing about how other people saw her or felt about her. I just wanted to know everything about how Tolkien perceived her.
 Obviously, Eowyn is a tough woman…
Yeah, but she's also a woman, if you know what I mean. Part of me really wanted to show that tough side, but it was important when there are so few female characters to see a femininity and a vulnerability as well.
How would you describe Eowyn's struggle in the third film?
She's had a lot of passion and words and talk and high ideals. Now she'll get to see what she's really made of. She's believed she's capable of certain things and should be valued equally as a man and should be allowed to go war. She also has to face unrequited love and the realization that part of her destiny isn't what she thought. But there are better things ahead for her.
Any extraordinary memories that you'll take away from The Lord of the Rings?
The first day I arrived at Edoras was really memorable. We had an hour and a half drive to the set, and we came over the hill to see the Golden Hall built in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by these white covered mountains, exactly as described in the book. To feel as an actor that you had so much to work with was really exciting. It was like being a child thinking about being a princess and having a palace and then you wake up one morning and there it is. |
In the eyes of respected Australian actor John Noble, the character of Denethor verges on Shakespearean. "He's King Lear," says the veteran of West End theater, British television and film. "He's incredibly tragic."
Indeed, Denethor makes for some of Tolkein's richest dramatic territory. Here, Noble discusses his preparations for the taxing role, the wonders of working on the Minas Tirith set and taking a fall-literally-for The Return of the King.
 Who is Denethor? What did you find in his character?
The main thing about Denethor is that he's a father, which is something I can relate to very strongly. The approach I took was he's a powerful father, a good man, but he's inexorably drawn to his own destruction because of his grief.
Can you amplify on that?
He's lost his son Boromir, and he almost lost his other son, Faramir. He's lost his wife. He wasn't the king of Gondor, only the steward…a caretaker. His city is under siege, his people are being slaughtered and he's powerless to do anything about it. It's an amazing character really, a great film character.
How desperate is the situation for Gondor?
By the time we get to the third film, it's probably the most important moment in their history. They're all but gone. The armies of Sauron will come back. They will defeat civilization, and Denethor can't see any way of stopping it. He can't cope.
How would you describe Gondor and the people who live there?
Gondor is the crowning glory of Middle-earth. The people are tall and their accent is the most cultured of all. They're the elite of Middle-earth.
What can you reveal about Minas Tirith?
It's astonishing, just beautiful. It's like traveling down the Rhine and looking at all those fabulous castles. Every set we went onto we were awestruck. I did a number of scenes in the burial chamber, and every detail--stuff that would never be seen by the camera--was perfect. The sculpture and the engraving was absolutely accurate to Tolkien.
What is Denethor's relationship with Boromir?
Boromir was Denethor's favorite son. He was a mirror of Denethor, a big, strong warrior. With the loss of Boromir, it was like Denethor had been killed himself.
Does he love Faramir?
Of course, but Faramir's more similar to Denethor's late wife, and I think he resents the fact she's not there anymore, and that reflects on his relationship with that son.
What's behind the friction between Denethor and Gandalf?
They probably could have been the best of friends, and at one time they were. But because Denethor is affected by the evil curse, he has a falling out with Gandalf. I still play it that there's enormous respect, but it's a very strong love-hate relationship. They go at each other [laughs].
How was it working with Peter Jackson?
He's very demanding, but in a complimentary way. I had one scene in the third film, and it called for every skill an actor can have. Emotional and physical, a big close-up on me. I did the first take, and he came out and said, "That was fantastic, let's do it again." And he said that 17 more times. I've never been so exhausted. I had to do a fall [in the scene], and I had a terrible big bruise all down my back. "That's great," he'd say, "let's do it again." [laughs] But I admire him for it. He's just looking for that option.
The dramatic elements really seem to carry the day in the final film of the trilogy.
Totally. I mean, it's magnificent characters. Certainly by setting it in Middle-earth, it gives you some liberty. But it's a universal story of great tragedy and great triumph. And you know, what? It's a story of hope, and that's what I love about it. The fact that people fight incredible adversity. And the gorgeous story of Frodo, the smallest and the weakest of all, carrying the flame and then doing what he has to do. It's just powerful stuff.
The story of the throne of Gondor is an epic in its own right. It's an expansive tale that spans the millenniums, tracing an illustrious line of kings and stewards, revealing heights and depths and, ultimately, setting the stage for the War of the Ring.
Here's a look at the most important events, figures and elements involved with Gondor's line of kings--from Numenor to Minas Tirith, from Narsil to Aragorn…
The Beginning: After the fall of the great civilization of Numenor late in the Second Age, legendary Dunedain chieftain Elendil set sail for Middle-earth with the most noble Numenorian survivors. He established the kingdom of Gondor, and ruled it jointly with his sons Isildur and Anarion.
Narsil: Forged in the First Age, Narsil was the mightiest of swords. It was brought to Gondor by Elendil, who used it in his epic standoff with Sauron. Though Elendil was slain and Narsil shattered, Isildur used the sword's hilt to cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger. The shards of Narsil were presented to the Elves for safekeeping, until the time when the One Ring would be found and Sauron would rise again.
Isildur: Although best known for slashing the One Ring from Sauron's hand and keeping the ring for himself (until it betrayed him to his death), Isildur was also responsible for planting the White Tree of Gondor.
The White Tree of Gondor: Isildur took a seedling from the White Tree of Numenor and planted it at Minas Anor (later renamed Minas Tirith) in memory of his brother Anarion. The White Tree grew to become the symbol of Gondor, and its health would mirror the state of Gondorian civilization throughout the ages.
Minas Tirith: Originally known as Minas Anor, the walled White City was built on seven levels and featured majestic towers. It eventually became the chief city of Gondor and the heart of the most advanced culture in Middle-earth.
The Line of Kings: There were 31 kings of Gondor after the death of Anarion, and they ruled for more than 2,000 years. But over time the line of descendants ran dry, and after Earnur disappeared while pursuing the Witch King, Gondor found itself without a successor to the throne.
The Stewards: For centuries, a steward served as head of the king's council in Gondor. But after the loss of King Earnur and the demise of the line of kings, the stewards assumed the leadership role. They took office with the oath, "To hold rod and rule in the name of the king, until he shall return." They exercised all the powers of the king, but never sat on the ancient throne or wore a crown. The stewards ruled Gondor in this manner for nearly 1,000 years.
Denethor: The 26th and final steward of Gondor was a skilled ruler, but it's believed he was the first king or steward of Gondor to look into the palantir, or seeing stone, kept in the White Tower. He paid a steep price, for Sauron possessed the palantir most closely linked to Gondor's. And over time, Sauron used it to weaken Denethor's mind and his grip on the kingdom and reality.
Aragorn: The son of Arathorn, a chieftain of the Dunedain who lived north of Gondor, Aragorn is a descendant of Isildur and the last hope to restore the line of Numenorian kings. He was raised secretly in Rivendell, away from the watchful eyes of Sauron, and spent much of life wandering Middle-earth disguised as a Ranger. On the eve of the War of the Ring, the elves reforged the legendary sword Narsil and presented it to Aragorn as Anduril. The weightand futureof Middle-earth now rests on Aragorn's shoulders. |
In the hands of an actor like Sean Astin, the character of Samwise Gamgee is much more than a simple caretaker to the beleaguered Ring Bearer. Over the course of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Astin's gardener from the Shire evolves from Frodo's companion to his confidant and, at times, his pillar of strength.
Here Astin reflects on Sam's remarkable transformation as well as his own unforgettable experiences working on the production.
When you look at a character like Sam, the trait that really stands out seems to be his loyalty...
Sam is the best kind of friend. Through thick or thin, he is always there. I found myself gravitating toward that quality in my portrayal, toward this idea of an earnest, loyal, decent fellow.
He also has a surprising amount of bravery, right?
Sam is so brave. I think bravery is when you're afraid, and yet you act. Like when you take a 3-foot-6 hobbit and put him next to a three-story spider and say, are you going to get victimized or are you going to fight? What's going to happen? You'll see in The Return of the King.
It sounds like Peter Jackson had a real affinity for Shelob...
He knows audiences will just get wigged out by what he's done with Shelob in this movie. Also, as an admirer of Tolkien, he saw how much Tolkien was able to put into the character of Shelob. How much personality, how much substance. And he wanted to honor that.
How did you see the servant/master relationship between Sam and Frodo?
I was never uncomfortable with that, I was never uncomfortable calling Mr. Frodo Mr. Frodo. When it comes to the servant/master relationship, there is something special about remembering every day and every moment to pay respect or courtesy to the person you're working with. And through hardship, through suffering, Frodo and Sam are able to achieve a level of parity, a level of equality in their relationship.
How does Sam's task change over the course of the trilogy?
When the journey begins, Sam's primary mission is just to help Frodo, making sure he's got the right utensils with him, for example, and that his food is prepared. But as the journey continues, that mission, that sense of loyalty is increased. Sam is tested in a lot of different ways, especially by the third film, with figuring out what it means to help Frodo emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, psychologically. And these are areas that hobbits don't often venture into.
But through it all, it seems like Sam retains his core.
Sam would be more than happy never to do anything other than garden and drink ale and be with Rosie Cotton. I think that would be plenty for him. But Sam's got something a lot of people could use: good common sense. He's grounded in the earth, feet on the floor. He understands right and wrong.
Some of the scenery you guys traverse is almost surreal. What was it like working in those spots?
We found ourselves in places where you'd look around and think, wow there really are places like this on planet Earth. I mean it looks like a Martian landscape. And that would invariably trigger some other emotional or psychological thought process about portraying a character who would travel through a place like that.
What was it like to be part of Frodo's quest as he nears Mount Doom?
It was an amazing thing as an actor to watch the relationship of Peter Jackson and Elijah Wood. How could Elijah, who is so sweet and has such goodness in him, communicate the idea of trying not to give in to pain and suffering and darkness and hatred and villainy and treachery? You can see it on his face, you can feel it. The audience is in for a real treat--and for a bit of pain.
Can you talk about working with Elijah?
Working with Elijah was the realization of a brotherhood chemistry, onscreen and off. It's hard to put into words how someone like that is so important to you, what they mean to you and what working with them is like.
How do you think the audience will respond to The Return of the King?
Well, Peter Jackson says he's saved the best for last, and I think the third film will unquestionably be the most emotionally satisfying, because it resolves. All the time you've invested, learning about these characters, living in this world, this battle for Middle-earth...now you get to find out what happens.  |
 With his ruggedly handsome exterior and coolly courageous performance, actor Viggo Mortensen embodies Aragorn in a way that's wholly true to both J.R.R. Tolkein's literary creation and Peter Jackson's cinematic vision.
Here, Mortensen discusses the appeal of his complex alter-ego, the awesome responsibilities facing the heir to  the throne, and the treats that await in the trilogy's final film.
As an actor, what attracted you to Aragorn?
There's an internal struggle, and there are layers to peel off. He has the burden of many secrets, and he knows things that very few others do, outside of maybe Gandalf, Galadriel and Elrond. That weighs on him.
Where do those secrets come from?
When his father, heir to the throne of Gondor, was killed by Sauron's Orcs, his mother brought Aragorn as a baby to Rivendell. He was raised there, and he wasn't told until 20 years later that he was actually the prince. He was also told that if Sauron were to learn there was a surviving heir to the throne of Gondor, he would do everything to kill him. So when Aragorn left Rivendell, he 
operated under physical disguises, assumed names and false dialects. He had to learn to hide, and he learned quite well.
What's Aragorn's biggest challenge?
His greatest struggle is to be himself, unashamed of his fears and his doubts. I can relate to that effort. I'd like to, in some small part, achieve that kind of honesty. I think he is a very honest character in that sense.
Does Aragorn reach a turning point in his relationship with Gandalf during the third film?
Yes. He's had Gandalf as a friend and mentor since way before The Lord of the Rings story started. But in the third movie he takes that step we all have to take--whether it's towards our parents or teachers--of thinking for himself. He goes from being the pupil to being his own man.
How do you see the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen?
The thing that stands out for me is they both feel their union is more profound and long-lasting than their individual existences could ever be. They have each other in mind. They've known for a long time that they're much better together than they are apart.
Spectacular settings are a hallmark of these films. What can fans look forward to in The Return of the King?
Minas Tirith will be a really spectacular set. Every bit as impressive as Rivendell, or Edoras, or Lothlorien. I mean, Helm's Deep was impressive in a very hard way, and Minas Tirith is the flip side of Helm's Deep. It's a place that is rich in tradition and history and that visually it's very beautiful.
One of Aragorn's toughest tasks is to seek help from the legions of the dead. Who are these warriors?
Long ago when Isildur was King of Gondor, these men had sworn allegiance to him. But they were corrupted by Sauron, and they betrayed Isildur and the alliance of men and elves. After that they were condemned to live as ghosts until summoned by an heir to Isildur to fight for the Kingdom of Gondor. Only then could they be allowed to die properly and go away.
What was it like doing scenes for the Paths of the Dead?
We went on location to some very strange place on New Zealand's North Island that reminds me of the Badlands in South Dakota. Very forbidding, with weird rock formations where nothing really grows. It's not like we stood in front of a blue screen and they are going to put things in, we were physically there.
Word is the battle scenes in The Return of the King are extraordinary. What's the secret to making them work?
I think Helm's Deep, which was the centerpiece of the second movie, will be topped--not once but probably twice--in the third movie. Peter Jackson just enjoys battle sequences, the greater the scale and number of combatants, the better. That's the kid in him. He's got collections of thousands of little toy soldiers and things in his house. The big battle sequences work because he leaves emotional threads running through, where you see individual effort and suffering and achievements on a small scale within this giant canvas.
What's the most pleasant surprise for you in the final film?
It has to be Eowyn and Miranda Otto's commitment to her. When I saw that they were paying attention to her warrior side in the third movie I was really pleased. Because the people of Rohan have had to count on women to defend their country for a long time, and I thought it was important to see that. And Miranda has done a great job. She's been amazing, and I think people will be impressed by that. |
 
New Zealand native Karl Urban, a veteran of local film and TV productions including Xena Warrior Princess, rides to new heights as Eomer in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Eomer, who first appears in The Two Towers, goes on to play a critical role as a Rohan warrior who helps shape the future of Middle-earth in The Return of the King. Here, hometown-boy-made-good Urban talks about his character and his biggest project yet.
Eomer probably spends as much time on horseback as any character in the trilogy. How did you prepare for that?
Eomer's a consummate horseman and I was nowhere near that level, so I invested a lot of time learning-six to eight weeks, five days a week, two hours a day. I wanted to get to the point where I could neck reign-hold control of the animal with one hand while leaving the other hand free to wield a sword. I wanted to be so at one with the horse that I wasn't conscious or concerned about what the horse was doing.
Did you feel like you were living the character after a while?
Absolutely. When you're under that armor all day long and on horseback all day long, riding with your troop behind you, it's very easy to let your imagination go and just be there.
If you had to boil Eomer down to his essence, what would that be? 
He's very forceful, proud of being a Rohan warrior, but a little bit hot-headed. His job description is Orc killer-that is what he does. He's the protector of Rohan. He's out there doing the dirty work, and trying not to lose hope under extraordinarily trying circumstances. |
| Did Peter Jackson give you any specific direction for Eomer?
I never had any in-depth discussion with Peter about the psychology of Eomer, or how the death of his parents may have affected him as a young man. Besides, any questions you need to ask are answered in the book, where you get to see how your piece of the puzzle fits in with the bigger picture. That's not a luxury you have on other projects.
Between wrangling with Wormtongue and battling at Helm's Deep, the mood on the set must have been intense at times.
I think Viggo Mortensen summed it up best with a note he wrote above his makeup mirror: "Adapt and overcome." That just gives you a little insight into the attitude that you had to have. |  |
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Sounds like you guys had plenty of good times, too.
Awesome times. I remember once when myself, Viggo, Orlando [Bloom], Bernard [Hill], Miranda [Otto], producer Barrie Osbourne and some make-up people decide not to do the hour and a half journey back to the hotel because we had a dawn shoot the next morning. We stayed on location and slept in our camper vans. Viggo caught some fish and, being the consummate outdoorsman, dug a fire pit and grilled them up. We sat around laughing and drinking and listening to music, and Barry Osbourne's there and telling us old Hollywood tales. It was a really amazing night and one of the memories I cherish the most.
Can you talk about the battle of Pelennor Fields, which is a centerpiece of Film Three?
The battle of Pelennor Fields takes place on the huge, grassy plains outside the city of Gondor and it constitutes one of the largest cavalry charges in the history of cinema. It's a ferocious battle, which is very costly for some of the characters in The Return of the King. We shot the charge down in Twizel, on the South Island, and it was a phenomenal experience. There were like 500 horsemen and horsewomen charging down this plain, and it was just incredible hearing the rumble. The ground was actually shaking.
Was filming the Battle of Pelennor Fields hard work?
It's a very hard-fought battle, and it was exhausting to do. I learned an important lesson: you don't want to eat lunch before you fight, it generally doesn't stay down. |
 How does Eomer change from Film Two to Film Three?
The stakes are raised. Eomer goes from just protecting and serving the people of Rohan to protecting and serving the people of Middle-earth. He's faced with making the ultimate sacrifice--his life and the lives of his men--to ensure the survival of future generations.
What was it like filming in your homeland?
I got to see more of my country shooting this trilogy than I had living there my entire life. We went to places I had no idea existed. I thought I knew my country, but now I know I didn't. I'm hoping one day I can go back to those places. |
 There may be no more complex character in The Lord of the Rings than Faramir. He's a soldier with a scholar's heart…a dutiful son spurned by his father…a brother who can never measure up…a man who had the One Ring in his grasp-and willingly let it go.
It's a rich role, and David Wenham considers himself fortunate to play it. Here, the up-and-coming Australian  actor talks about Faramir's struggles, the splendors of Minas Tirith and the heroic struggle to defend the White City.
What lies ahead for Faramir in The Return of the King?
Faramir faces incredible struggles throughout The Lord of the Rings, and in The Return of the King, everything escalates. He's been under incredible pressure for a long time, and it basically comes to breaking point. The tension in all storylines is at its absolute peak.
How is his relationship with his father Denethor, the steward of Gondor?
Denethor is a man on the edge of sanity, and he's pushed Faramir into doing things that aren't necessarily logical, like leading his men out to almost certain death against the forces of Sauron. But he loves his father, and he follows his commands fully.
How does Faramir deal with living in the shadow of his older brother, Boromir?
Faramir realizes he's never going to live up to the expectations of his father. Boromir was his father's favorite son. Boromir was the boisterous soldier, whereas Faramir is a thinker, forced to lead men in very difficult circumstances. After Boromir's death, Gandalf sums it up best by saying that Faramir essentially does the work of two brothers.
But Faramir's also a good soldier, right?
Absolutely. He's courageous and loyal, and very skilled. He would gladly give his life for Gondor.
 What can you tell us about the Battle of Pelennor Fields? After all, it's Faramir's retreat from Osgiliath that heralds the beginning of the siege.
It's the biggest battle of the War Of The Ring. When I think back on it, I think of the fields and horses. I remember pinching myself one day, being on a horse amongst hundreds of horses and stunt men, and thinking, I'm a  pretty lucky guy.
Word is the Minas Tirith set is pretty amazing.
It is. There was a huge set built in a quarry in Wellington. The size was just overwhelming, and the detail was incredible. I found myself just wandering through the streets. It was very easy to lose yourself in it.
Will The Return of the King live up to expectations?
I know the expectations are enormous, but I'm confident the film will live up to, and possibly exceed expectations. The Return of the King has always been Peter Jackson's favorite.
Is there one thing about this project that really impressed you?
The design, for me, is overwhelming. The scale of it, the detail within it. It is mind boggling the amount of sweat, pain and love that's gone into the sets, the costumes, the weaponry, the armor. It's a humbling experience, seeing the amount of work people have put into this. They made sure there was a truth in everything on screen. Near enough wasn't good enough. I consider myself bloody lucky to have been involved in this project.
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  Bernard Hill's King Theoden doesn't appear in The Lord of the Rings trilogy until midway through The Two Towers, but he makes a memorable impression when he finally arrives. Gripped by the evil of Saruman and Wormtongue, Theoden's regal stature is restored in spectacular fashion by Gandalf's power and his family's love.
It takes an actor of some stature to handle such a transformation, and the veteran British player is a perfect fit. Here, Hill discusses Theoden, his resurrection and the joys of working on Tolkein's trilogy.
Theoden's such a strong, complex character. Where did you turn, aside from Tolkein's text, for your inspiration?
I was leaning towards a kind of old Celtic king, an Irish king. The idea of Henry V came to me as well. I wanted him to be somebody who led from the front. Not a general who stood on a hill directing troops, but someone who went out with a sharpened sword and put life and limb on the line.
How did it feel to be leader of Rohan?
I loved the Rohan concept and the idea that they're like an ancient Celtic race. I've got a lot of Irish in me-my grannies were Irish-and I felt very comfortable dressed up with the extras who were the Rohan people.
Can you talk about Theoden and his role as a father figure to Eowyn?
After Theoden's resurrection, he's full of self-doubt and self-blame. He thinks he's let his niece down. When he sees her laughing for the first time in ages because she's in love with Aragorn, it's a great delight for him. It's part of the process by which he recovers his true self. It's a big arc that doesn't actually fulfill itself until they ride out of the great hall at Helm's Deep. His relationship with her comes more into play because when they get attacked by the wargs, he comes up to her and says to her, you must take our people to Helm's Deep, 'you must do this for me.' It's important for him that he sees her as being his successor in a way, and it justifies his status as the King of Rohan once again.
What first brought you to this project?
I was busy directing a play and I didn't have time to go to the casting people in London, so I put myself on tape. I got a friend who had a lot of camera equipment and a little studio, and we set the stuff up in his barn and I directed myself.
 Obviously your tape did the trick. Do you remember your first meeting with the LOTR team?
I had a phone conversation with the writers, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, which went on for an hour and a half. They kept talking too fast for me and I kept pretending I knew what they were talking about, because in the original script my scenes weren't really padded out yet. When I got to New Zealand, Fran and Philippa came rushing in and said, "Great! You came on an act of faith, we won't let you down." And of course, they didn't.
What was it like working with Peter Jackson?
Working with Pete was a daily delight, really. Pete's enthusiasm was infectious, and if your head dropped, you couldn't let it drop too far because his didn't. Someone would say, "You mean he's not tired?" I mean, come on, this guy was going to bed with the rushes every night.
You must have some memorable moments from the production...
Like the first time we see Theoden, when the evil power of Saruman gets exorcised from his body and he goes through this wonderful morphing process. It's basically a scene between Ian McKellen and myself. When we arrived to do the scene, Pete said, "I don't know what we're gonna do here. Why don't you two do the scene." We did the scene, and he said, "Well, its very high." So we took it down a bit, and it was too low. Over the course of three or four days, we developed the scene. Now I don't believe for a minute Pete didn't have an idea of it at all. I think he just didn't want to step in too much and too hard.
What was it like doing those scenes at the Battle of Helm's Deep?
When we all got there, we all went to Bob Anderson, the fight master. He had his own way of teaching and we went through rehearsal after rehearsal. Then they'd call "action" and all hell would break loose. I was on a great horse called Deep End, short for Dependable. He'd just stand there forever, not bothered by any of it. We bonded with the stunt guys and they became our friends, our drinking buddies. We'd have parties in pubs, and birthdays were celebrated. We just kind of looked out for each other.
Theoden also plays a critical role at the Battle of Pelennor Fields in Film Three. How does that differ from Helm's Deep?
Helm's Deep was a defensive thing that nearly went wrong, whereas Pelennor Fields is an attack. It's like the Light Brigade. Theoden says, "Follow me, let's charge." So it's a completely reverse from Helm's Deep, and much more positive.
You've said you think The Return of the King will be the best film of the bunch. What makes you think that?
I think the story is the strongest of the trilogy. It has a higher emotional content than the first two films. Plus, Peter's been living with Film Three the longest, and he will take advantage of everything he learned on Films One and Two.
Looking back on it, what's your overall impression of your time on LOTR?
I think for me the great delight was the work process. Everybody was so tight-knit, so bonded together, that it felt almost like a low-budget movie where no one's doing it for the money. And then being in New Zealand was precious too. It was just a wonderful experience, taking this book and putting it onto the screen. |
There is perhaps no other character in Middle-earth as complex as Gollum. Both reviled and revered, he is a critical link in The Lord of the Rings universe.
Andy Serkis, the gifted British actor responsible for bringing this unique antihero to life, sees Gollum as a rare opportunity.
Not only does the role present Serkis with extensive emotional depth and physical demands, but under the direction of Peter Jackson, Gollum is also a cutting-edge mix of acting craft and computer-enhanced effects.
Was it daunting to take on such a famous--or some might say infamous--character?
Not so much before, but as I started the job everyone was saying, "Phaw! Gollum! What a great character!"
What's the appeal?
Everyone has their own interpretation of the character, whether you love him or hate him. The number of people I've met who can quote him verbatim from the book is a bit alarming.
How did you get involved in this project?
My agent told me they were casting for the voice of Gollum. I hadn't read The Lord of the Rings, but I read the script and realized what an amazing role it was. I developed a voice for the audition tape, then met Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh at the auditions and fell in love with them both. Then, fortunately, I was offered the role.
Of course, the voice is just one element of Gollum, correct?
When I first came out to New Zealand for principal photography, the focus was on voicing Gollum. But Peter wanted Gollum to be the most interactive digital character ever made for a movie, with a combination of live action and digital animation.
What did that mean for you?
Peter wanted Gollum to be actor-led. Peter wanted Frodo and Sam looking into Gollum's eyes, rather than to a tennis ball on a stick. So, I soon found myself on set at Mount Ruapehu with Elijah [Wood] and Sean [Astin], dressed in a skin-tight lycra body suit to minimize my body size and make Gollum look emaciated. Frodo and Sam and Gollum have such a physical relationship, I don't think it could've been done any other way.
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 "Gandalf is sent back by the powers that be to complete the job he has not yet finished."
It is a much different Gandalf who rejoins the fight against Sauron in The Two Towers. Leaner, cleaner and somehow younger, the revitalized wizard wields staff and sword with equal skill and fresh determination. Fortunately for audiences, it's the same Ian McKellen underneath Gandalf's new white robes. Now the legendary British actor, who snared an Oscar® nomination for his performance as Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring, discusses changes in his character for The Two Towers, the power of Tolkien's tale and making movies that connect with viewers.
How does Gandalf the White differ from the Gandalf we saw in The Fellowship of the Ring?
Well, Gandalf is not human. He's sort of immortal, and he's been around for 7,000 years, so when the Balrog pulls him off the bridge at Khazad-Dum to what seems like a certain death, Gandalf doesn't die. He's sent back by the powers that be to complete the job he has not yet finished.
And what does he consider that job to be?
When he goes back in The Two Towers, it's clear what has to be done. And what's needed is not the old academic--the Hobbit expert who is keeping an eye on things. What's needed now is a commander, a military point of view, a man of action, and that is Gandalf's position. He's going to be in the thick of it, helping lead the troops to victory in a series of mighty battles.
How does Gandalf change to fill that role?
The refurbished Gandalf has gone up one notch in the order of things. He comes back rather younger than before, trimmer, more organized, with clothes that won't get in the way when he's on horseback, with a sword and a staff in his hand, with hair that's not getting in his eyes. It's all shorter, it's all trimmer.
In what ways do we see a "younger" Gandalf?
 The hair may be white, but Tolkien makes it quite clear that Gandalf is younger in spirit and physique than he has been before. He's no longer complaining about how old he feels, because he isn't as old as he was. He looks a bit different, he behaves a bit differently, he speaks differently, but it's the same spirit. But they're both Gandalf.
So, did you approach Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White as two different roles?
Well, two different aspects. I thought, this is Gandalf as he used to be before he got a bit decrepit. He's a man of action, he's a samurai, he's a warrior, he's a commander, and he's in control. Gandalf the Grey is more subservient than that. He may tell people what to do, but he's not really in control of what's going on. In the second two films, he's much more focused. |
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And about that new costume…
It's trimmer. It fits his body better. It's padded. It could repel a weapon or two. It's clean. He's just more on the ball.
You mentioned returning to New Zealand this summer for some additional work. What was it like stepping back into the Gandalf role?
It's funny, once you've done a part--even if there's been a bit of a break--you can slip back into it. On a number of occasions in the theater, I've played a part for some months and then dropped it for as long as a year and then come back to it. And you slip back into it almost without thinking. If they wanted me to do a little bit of Gandalf this afternoon, I could.
Is there a secret to reconnecting so easily with a role?
I'm aided enormously by the look, the makeup, the wig, the mustache, the nose, the costume. Once you put all that on and look in the mirror, you see not yourself, but Gandalf. When you stand up, you find yourself standing up as the wizard rather than yourself. As is the case with many things in acting, it's not as difficult as you might think.
Which part did you prefer playing: Gandalf the Grey or Gandalf the White?
To act, I preferred Gandalf the Grey. He's more complicated than Gandalf the White. He had enormous strength, resilience, intelligence and determination, passion and generosity. He was also very human, very frail, in the sense that he liked to drink, he liked to smoke, he liked to laugh, he liked to play. He also was human in the sense that he was worried he wasn't doing the job properly--that he'd somehow let Middle-earth down by not anticipating Sauron's revival. He had to really organize himself. That was a fascinating character to play.
And Gandalf the White is more straightforward?
When he comes back, there's no question he knows what he has to do. It's just getting on and doing it. I wouldn't like to suggest that Gandalf the White isn't an interesting person. He is. But for the actor, he's not quite as complicated or difficult a part.
But you do own both action figures, don't you?
Well, I think if they were fighting each other, there would be no doubt who would win. Gandalf the Grey wouldn't stand a chance.
How has the role of Gandalf affected you personally?
The odd thing for me has been that it seems wherever I go, people recognize me. How they recognize Gandalf, I'm not quite certain. But that's been the big change in my life. I'm suddenly a bit famous. I just went out for lunch today and met a guy in his late twenties who'd seen the film 10 times.
It must be very gratifying to generate that kind of reaction from people.
I think the film now belongs not so much to the actors and filmmakers as the audience. And that's why one makes them. This is one of those wonderful times when the work that you've done also finds favor with the public overwhelmingly.
Now that you have a bit of time and perspective on the project, how do you see The Lord of the Rings?
It's a wonderful film--I think of it as one film--and the shooting was immensely pleasurable. There was lots to enjoy in New Zealand, apart from the actual filming. I look back on it all with enormous pleasure, and I'm very pleased I was involved.
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From the beginning, The Return of the King was the film Peter Jackson couldn't wait to make. It had everything he would need -- real drama, deep emotions, fierce battles -- to wow audiences and bring his trilogy to a rousing close.
Here, in the second of a two-part interview, Jackson goes into details about the film he always believed would be his crowning moment.
In your view, what makes The Return of the King the most special of the three films?
It's the most emotional, and that's important, because no matter how much spectacle we put on the screen, no matter the battles and the visual effects, there's a point where people just want the human story, the story they can relate to. Fortunately, The Lord of the Rings as a book has wonderful human drama, so we were able to really focus on that.
The sense of closure is also very rewarding…
The journeys these characters have been on, what they care about, what they've been fighting for, what some of their friends have died for, all leads to the events in The Return of the King. There's a realization among the characters that everybody we have met in the first two films is changed by the events in The Return of the King. They'll never be the same again.
The relationship between Frodo and Sam moves to a new level in the final film. Can you talk about that?
The Return of the King really does center on the last leg of Frodo and Sam's journey to Mount Doom, and it focuses in particular on the emotional impact this is having. Frodo and Sam are affected in different ways, and yet they have to be together to see this through. Frodo is the Ring Bearer, he's the only one that can carry this Ring, and yet every footstep he takes closer to Mount Doom, it's harder and harder for him. And Sam finds it hard in a different way, because he's watching Frodo going downhill. He can't physically take the ring off him and carry it himself, he can only support Frodo. So the pressure is on Sam to increase his purity, his courage and his commitment to Frodo.
Everybody's talking about Sean Astin's performance. Were you expecting that kind of reaction?
Sean has done by far his best work of the trilogy in this film. He plays wonderful scenes, has incredible emotion. It was frustrating because we were shooting some of these scenes in 1999. I remember one day, when Sean had been very emotionally intense in a scene on Mount Doom, I told him, "That is fantastic, that is absolutely amazing. And you realize, it's going to be four years before anybody sees this." He's been sitting patiently waiting for the release of this film.
Can you go into the transformation experienced by Merry and Pippin in The Return of the King?
These two little hobbits, neither of whom really have any desire to become part of this conflict, are both dragged into war in a way that neither of them can really help it. The reason why Merry and Pippin stand up with huge courage is that they're committed to helping Frodo. And they realize the best way to help him, since they can't physically be with him, is to provide as much of a diversion as they possibly can to take Sauron's eye away from his own land.
 Is there something especially poignant about the fact that the film's bigger-than-life characters are the hobbits?
The four hobbits are very important characters because in a sense they are us. I mean if there was anybody that we were relating to by watching these films, it's the hobbits. They represent the innocent person who has no experience of war, no experience of conflict, who finds themselves suddenly in the middle of it all. And in our own way, I think we would like to behave as Frodo and Sam or Merry and Pippin do. We would hope that if we found ourselves in this situation, that somewhere we would get the courage to do what they do.
One of the most memorable characters in the entire trilogy is Shelob. How did you manage to make her so frightening?
The scene in which Frodo encounters Shelob is a scene I've been looking forward to doing right from the beginning, and I think it 's largely because I've got this incredible arachnophobia myself. I mean I'm seriously scared of spiders. The design of Shelob is based on a New Zealand spider called the Tunnel Web, which is a spider I've been scared of ever since I was a child. And yeah, the Shelob shots do make me want to flinch back, so I guess I'm being successful at scaring myself.
The Battle of Pelennor Fields is such an impressive sequence. What's the secret to capturing a battle of that magnitude?
Battles are always a challenge. They have to tell a story. You can't just have endless fighting, because that gets boring very quickly. Fortunately a lot of our principal characters get involved in Pelennor Fields. Gandalf, Pippin, Merry, Eowyn, Theoden, Eomer, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli--all of them get involved in this battle. Focusing on those characters and telling their stories within the spectacle of the battle is very important. You never want it to become a battle that you're forced to sit and watch. You have to be excited about what is happening to the people that you really care about. That's really been the challenge of the battles on these films.
What is it about these films that seems to touch people's hearts?
Well, these films are truly timeless. That term is used a lot, but the themes are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago when Tolkien wrote the book. They were relevant 500 years ago. It's basic human emotional stuff. It's friendship, it's courage, it's loyalty, it's love, it's fear, it's good vs. evil. There is nothing complicated about the themes. I mean for all the complexity of The Lord of the Rings as a story, for all the multitude of characters and funny place names, and things that you struggle to remember, at its essence it's the most simple themic material possible.
And the events of the final film drive those themes home…
What you find in The Return of the King especially are the emotional moments of just admiring the courage of somebody, admiring the selflessness of somebody, realizing that this person is taking themselves to the point of death because of something they believe in, because of somebody that they love. Those are very basic, honorable themes, and they are all things that we would ourselves like to aspire to. I think that's why it touches people.
  Eight years after Peter Jackson first hit upon the idea of bringing The Lord of the Rings to the big screen, his ambitious dream has been realized. Here, in the first of a two-part interview, the director draws a deep breath and looks back at his monumental achievement, from its surprising beginnings to its triumphant conclusion. It's been a long journey. Now that it's over, what are you feeling? Well, it's very mixed feelings. I know there won't be The Lord of the Rings anymore for us, which is sad. But it's also okay, because we've put our heart and souls into this project and we made three movies that really don't belong to us anymore. They're out there for other people to enjoy, and it's time for us to move on. Did you grow up reading the books and dreaming of making them into films? I think it was 1978 or 1979 when I first read the books. I was going on a train journey to Auckland, to attend a course as a photo engraving apprentice, which was my job at that time. And I thought, what on Earth can I do on this 12-hour train journey? So I bought myself The Lord of the Rings, and I sat there watching the landscape of New Zealand sliding by the train window while reading the story.   Is that when the idea first popped into your head to adapt the book for the big screen? I would love to say I had this vision of making the film, but when you're 18 years old and a photo engraving apprentice you can't possibly imagine you're going to be making The Lord of the Rings one day. I thought, wow, this will make a great film, I can't wait until somebody else makes it. I never ever dreamt it would be me. When did you first realize you might be able to tackle it yourself? We were making a film called The Frighteners in 1995, and it was the first time we used extensive computer effects. We had set up this little company called WETA, and we were doing these ghost effects and I was starting to get very excited by what computers could do. It was a realization we had arrived at a time when just about anything you could imagine was possible to put on film. Which made you think… …what type of film have we never really been able to do that could now happen? And I thought fantasy, a film with huge cities, creatures, battles -- things that up to now really been impossible to show on film. And The Lord of the Rings came into my mind. It had been nearly 20 years since I had read the book, so I immediately read it again. In fact, I still had my same old copy on the shelf. Where did you go from there? I made a phone call to my agent and asked him if he could explore who had the rights to The Lord of the Rings. I was imagining it would be secured in the vaults of some studio or corporation, and wouldn't be accessible. It was only through a series of very lucky, fortuitous circumstances that we managed to actually get the rights. Is that when the idea first popped into your head to adapt the book for the big screen? I would love to say I had this vision of making the film, but when you're 18 years old and a photo engraving apprentice you can't possibly imagine you're going to be making The Lord of the Rings one day. I thought, wow, this will make a great film, I can't wait until somebody else makes it. I never ever dreamt it would be me. When did you first realize you might be able to tackle it yourself? We were making a film called The Frighteners in 1995, and it was the first time we used extensive computer effects. We had set up this little company called WETA, and we were doing these ghost effects and I was starting to get very excited by what computers could do. It was a realization we had arrived at a time when just about anything you could imagine was possible to put on film. Which made you think… …what type of film have we never really been able to do that could now happen? And I thought fantasy, a film with huge cities, creatures, battles -- things that up to now really been impossible to show on film. And The Lord of the Rings came into my mind. It had been nearly 20 years since I had read the book, so I immediately read it again. In fact, I still had my same old copy on the shelf. Where did you go from there? I made a phone call to my agent and asked him if he could explore who had the rights to The Lord of the Rings. I was imagining it would be secured in the vaults of some studio or corporation, and wouldn't be accessible. It was only through a series of very lucky, fortuitous circumstances that we managed to actually get the rights.
What was the biggest challenge about adapting The Lord of the Rings to the screen?
Well, the book is incredibly long. We overcame that to some degree by being able to do three movies, which was the greatest thing that could ever happen to this project. But even so, it's a very complicated book. Tolkien fleshed out the characters and the events with all this backstory. That's fine for a book, but it's really hard to put into screen. Except without it, you can't really tell the story properly. So, how much detail we gave as opposed to how little detail we could get away with was very important.
And, of course, there are so many characters.
Normally in a movie you wouldn't choose to have as many characters as we had to deal with. And we obviously removed a huge amount of characters from the book. The ones in the film were just about the limit of what we could manage with our screen time and with the structure and telling the story.
What was your philosophy to casting this film?
There were two things: One was finding actors to represent some of the most beloved characters in history. Everybody that has read the book has imagined Frodo or Gandalf or Aragorn or Arwen, and we felt that responsibility acutely. The other thing was to make sure these actors were actually nice people. We were going to have to work with them for three years, and that's a long time to work with someone you don't like. We were lucky, we got it right. They have been the most wonderful cast.
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"Gollum will be the big surprise of The Two Towers--it's something you've never seen in the movies before."
How has making The Two Towers compared with making The Fellowship of the Ring?
The Two Towers was a lot harder than the Fellowship. The story splits into three and we've enhanced Tolkien's narrative more. The key moments from the book are all there, but we've written scenes that Tolkien didn't write and things he didn't describe, to beef it up a bit more. |
Can you give any examples?
We've extended Gollum's story. Tolkien hints at Gollum's schizophrenic nature. He's  Gollum, as a result of 500 years of owning the One Ring, but there are threads of his past life as Smeagol. We've enhanced that more--Frodo shows him pity, which allows Smeagol to dominate over Gollum. We've added scenes where the Smeagol side and the Gollum side conflict, which we think makes him a more interesting character.
Gollum is complex on a technical level as well, right? How did you go about developing him?
We decided we'd go with a computer-generated character. Once that decision was reached, two things became important. The first was to make a computer-generated creature that looks absolutely real and authentic. He's turned out more successfully than I ever dreamed. You'll see close-ups of his face that don't look like he's a CG figure.
And what was the second essential ingredient for Gollum?
We wanted to ensure he gave an amazing performance. He's a major cast member and he has about as much screen time in The Two Towers as Frodo does, so he had to match the level of Elijah or Viggo or Ian. A lot of what makes a great performance is in an actor's eyes. We studied how eyes work, and we built the muscles around Gollum's eyes and face, so we can change the slightest nuance in his facial expressions and create those complex emotions.
What was Andy Serkis' contribution to Gollum?
We decided we wanted an actor to drive Gollum's character. There's a team of animators working on Gollum, with a huge range of shots, so there was a danger of the result looking unfocused. We cast Andy Serkis originally as the voice of Gollum, but that was only the beginning. We told Andy to own the character, and tell us what Gollum should do and how he acts, just as Elijah is in charge of Frodo. Gollum will be the big surprise of The Two Towers--it's something you've never seen in the movies before.
What other elements did you expand from Tolkien's original story? Tolkien has brief descriptions of Wargs, giant wolf-like creatures with Orcs riding on their backs like saddles, like a cavalry. They're not in the forefront of any action in The Two Towers, but we found them interesting, so we've added a pitched battle between horsemen and the Wargs.
 The Two Towers also sees the introduction of crucial human characters, like Eowyn and Faramir. How does that change the mood of the film?
It gives the film a very different feel. You had fantasy in Fellowship, with the elves in Rivendell and Lothlorien. You come to The Two Towers, and the story takes a turn into the world of humans. Edoras is a feudal kingdom, a human society, and a lot of the story is set there. The fantastical feel of Fellowship is less present--it's much grittier and more earthy, like Braveheart. I think it's healthy that we're not just replicating Fellowship, especially after its success. The Two Towers has its own voice.
You also get to introduce new characters and showcase some new talent.
The Two Towers has a nice combination of familiar characters returning, and new characters who are as strong and complex as those in Film One. Actors like David Wenham (Faramir) and Miranda Otto (Eowyn) and Bernard Hill (King Theoden). The Two Towers introduces us to this group of core characters, who then go onto the extraordinary climactic events of The Return of the King.
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The Fellowship ended with an action climax (the Fellowship dismantling) and an emotional climax (Frodo continuing on his quest). Will The Two Towers have a similar ending?
 Yes, it does. The combination of the epic and the intimate is what's wonderful about the books, and I think it worked very well in Fellowship. Audiences appreciated that there was character depth and emotions within such a vast epic. We've tried to create that same feeling for The Two Towers.
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Can you reveal what the climaxes will be?
Our action climax is the Battle of Helm's Deep. It does have an emotional power of its own, as you're seeing enormous heroic acts and the world of Rohan being saved. We also have Frodo, Sam and Gollum's storyline with Faramir. We've gone a little further than the books, and deviated in some of the detail, and created a much more intimate emotional climax with those characters.
In the book, the Battle of Helm's Deep is a very violent affair. How does that translate onto the screen?
We've got a PG-13 battle scene, but it's a fairly gritty battle. It's about as far as we could possibly push it within that rating. We filmed some heads and limbs being chopped off which we've taken out. We'll probably put them back in the DVD, which will have an R rating. |
During the five-year journey of making these films, have you ever felt like Frodo on his quest?
I guess it has. Where I would differ from Frodo in my experience is that Frodo looked ahead. He had to get to Mount Doom, and put one foot in front of the other, and it was an outward-looking experience. I felt more like I've got a steam train coming up behind me and I have to lay the rails in front of the train. I've had more a backward-looking pressure on me-"Oh my God, I've got to do this, because I've got the train bearing down on me!" It is similar because it leaves you physically and emotionally exhausting. You do feel like you've been through a war. I've worked harder these last five months than I've worked since the shooting of the films, and I've come out of it exhausted. I can take a bit of a breather now that The Two Towers has been delivered, though!
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