Wellington – Rumours linking British actor Sean Connery with Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ trilogy are gathering momentum in the Wellington suburb of Seatoun, where the film-maker lives. First there was speculation the Connery and Kiwi actor Sam Neill (‘Jurassic Park’) were interested in playing the role of Gandalf the wizard. Now rumours are circulating that Connery has bought a house in Seatoun, where Neill is said to own a property. Locals are believed to have spotted Connery at the Chocolate Fish Cafe in Karaka Bay.
A cardboard cutout of the star has graced one of the cafe’s seats since Tuesday. “I haven’t seen him myself,” said manager Penny Pennington, “but I have people who swear they have seen him here.”
Well, with stories like this around, I don’t need to make anything up. People’s imaginations are running rife down there. Or maybe he really DID go to the Chocolate Fish Cafe. (In case that sounds revolting, chocolate fish are a popular thing here, they’re chococlate-covered marshmallow fish.)
(You didn’t need to know that…)
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This was sent to me this morning. Coming from the Oxford Literary Press I would put more weight into this rumour. “The Lord Of the Rings”, the nation”s most popular novel, according to recent polls, is currently being made into a blockbuster movie by Hollywood director Peter Jackson. Jackson is preparing to film the three-part epic in his native New Zealand with a budget of millions of pounds and a cast of thousands. One member of the cast may come as a surprise to Tolkien aficionados; Christopher Tolkien, the author”s son and editor of many recent Middle-Earth releases, is strongly rumoured to be making a cameo appearance in the movie. Although both the Tolkien family and the Tolkien society have been keen to distance themselves from the production, word has reached us that Christopher has been approached to play a small part. Our insider, a member of the Tolkien Society tells us, “During talks with [Christopher] Tolkien, Peter Jackson broached the subject of a cameo appearance. Christopher has indicated that he would be pleased to take part as he has been impressed with the production and screenplay. The current thinking is that he will appear on-screen during the Council of Ellrond.” This will come as a surprise to many in view of the Tolkien family”s reticence to be involved with previous adaptations. We tried to contact the family but their representatives declined to comment. I really hope this rumour is true. Christopher Tolkien has done so much for Tolkien’s Literary works! It would be absolutely fabulous to see him make it into the film. Huge thanks goes out to ‘Broken Nose’ for the 411.
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It seems like two Babylon 5 actors are vying for the role of Aragorn. Robin Atkins-Down and Jason Carter, and the later seems to be closer than the former. Atkins-Down, who played Morann. Carter playes Marcus Cole.
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Tom Baker, the actor who became the most recognised of the eight incarnations of “Doctor Who”, might be making a comeback. The Doctor Who Newspage reports that Baker was apparently screen tested for the part of Gandalf in the upcoming “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, sometime in March. While Baker is best known in the sci-fi field, he has worked in the ‘sorcery fantasy’ genre before – most notably a major part in the TV adaption of “The Silver Chair”, the sixth book in CS Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” series. No doubt there’ll be some in-joke about a TARDIS worked into the story. Thanks to ‘Calli’ & ‘GMW’.
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What’s a few hours waiting in the cold open foyer of the School of Dance and Drama when you have a chance of becoming an extra in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings? No problem at all for Liz Dengate-Thrush, her daughter Phoebe and fellow hopeful Mary Knight, each warmly wrapped up against yesterday’s cold weather.
They were among several hundred hopefuls, some prepared to wait outside in the rain, on the off-chance of being snapped up as hobbits, trolls, orcs & “anything”, Mrs Dengate-Thrush and Phoebe said. The Dengate-Thrushes wiled away the hours swotting up on the hobbit tale. Other hopefuls relied on thermoses and conversation with friends. Ms. Knight said friends had told her to audition as ‘she fit the criteria’ Lord of the Rings publicist Sian Clement said about 500 people had passed through the audition process on Saturday and more were expected to have done so by the end of yesterday (Sunday) “we’re very happy, we’ve had a good cross-section, including very tall women and very short women,” Ms. Clement said.
They would obviously fall short of the 15,000 requirement, but ‘we can use some on more than one occasion”.
She also hinted that clever make-up made facial ‘character’ unnecessary. None of the extras would have a speaking part.
The main role-players have yet to be announced, and the potential extras will have to be patient – all are being told they will be called “if we want to hire you”.
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Liz Berry and Kylee Southon saw the long and the short of it yeasterday. The Nelson pair were two of the more then 500 hopefuls who turned up to Wellington’s National Dance and Drama Centre in a bid to become extras in film director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
And they reckoned they were just what the production company was looking for. “I’m 4ft and that’s with shoes on,” laughed 21-year-old, Southon. “I could be just what they’re looking for if they’re after an elf or a hobbit.” Berry, an avid horse rider who stands 60cm taller then her friend, is keen to play a giant if she is successful.
Berry, who modeled at the 1996 Smokefree Fashion Award, confessed to not having read The Hobbit but was confident of proving herself on horseback with a sword. “I decided to give it a go for the fun of it, really, but I also like the idea of being in a film.”
The friends caught the 4.30 ferry from Picton to join the Queue for casting. They filled out forms asking for everything from head size to bra size.
They then drew an outline of their feet and were photographed Publicist Sian Clement said the production company was looking for 15,000 extras for the $264m adaptation of the JRR Tolkien book. Filming is due to start in New Zealand later this year.
“We’ll be looking over the applications over the next few weeks and deciding who’s suitable.
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