This sort of thing can be frustrating – I get up in the morning and there’s emails telling me that there’s an interview with Chris Lee (Saruman) in the Sunday Times – but no clue about the Sunday Times of which country even, let alone which city. Our correspondents had tried to find an online version for us but it didn’t seem to be around.

Holraven to the rescue then: the same article was printed in the Norwegian paper Dagbladet, and is available online. In it, Chris Lee is sitting in front of….yes, it’s Orthanc!!! (here)

Many thanks to Holraven again for his translation below:

WIZARD OF THE RINGS
– Christopher Lee tests his magical abilities in “The Lord of the Rings”.

The filmation of “The Lord of the Rings” is well underway, and the legendary actor Christopher Lee plays the wizard Saruman. In an interview with The Sunday Times Lee, known for his Dracula-interpretations,talks about the already mythical production by Peter Jackson.

Christopher Lee can of course not discuss the film itself. He is bound by a vow of silence as everyone else involved. But he can say a bit about the character he portrays:

“Saruman is more than just a wizard. Three immortal Istari wizards have been sent to Middle Earth. I play Saruman, who is the most powerful of them all. He’s brilliant, and by far the strongest. Saruman the White; that’s me!”, says Christopher Lee.

POWER CORRUPTS

Saruman is the most powerful wizard, and hence the most dangerous. Especially when he spins out of control. And Christopher Lee thinks it’s not a cliché that power corrupts the soul. “Saruman was meant to be a good wizard. He was to fight for the light and the good forces. But his power destroys him, and he embraces the dark. This is in the book, and it’s kept in the films, and that’s all I can tell you, Lee tells The Sunday Times.

The first film of the trilogy have a world premiere next christmas. And Christopher Lee hopes to live long enough to see all the films in their completion.

By May Synnøve Rogne, translated by Holraven.