IS Kevin Conway going to be in LOTR? The answer is a simple NO, want to know why? [More]
Month: July 2000
Well, we’ve finally gotten our answer to that elusive question, IS Kevin Conway going to be in LOTR? The answer is a simple NO read on, from Starlog Magazine
…and contrary to rumor, Conway will NOT be in Peter Jackson’s massive Lord of the Rings trilogy. That’s not to say the rumor mill was inaccurate in reporting that he, at one point, had been attached to the project. “I pulled out of Lord of the Rings, which may yet prove to be one of the bad mistakes in my career, and I’ve made alot of them,” he says. “I was upfront with [the filmmakers]. they offered me the role of Theoden, which is a wonderful part. But…their schedule. They wanted me to go out in January to New Zealand for six weeks, then go home, then go back again for another six weeks, then go home again and then come back again for three months. I said, ‘Whoa!’ The character is in two of the films. It wasn’t worth it. Hehas a couple of good scenes, but the rest is allbattling with armor and stuff. You could have a stuntman do that, which they probablywould have done anyway. But I really suffered about it”
Ian Mckellen (Gandalf) recently spoke to Starlog Magazine concerning LOTR. In the interview McKellen reveals how much they’ve shot so far, what he’s done, White vs Gray, and his future plans! Read on! [More]
Starlog Magazine are covering the X-Men film up the yin yang, it’s lucky our very own Ian McKellen (Gandalf) plays the chief heavy Magneto…otherwise I’d be out of a job…X-Men is on every mag cover from ‘American Cinematographer’ to ‘Maxim’. During the McKellen interview they did speak a little bit about LOTR, read on:
Acting Wizard
Not long after he wrapped X-Men, McKellen joined the cast of yet another high-profile genre project, Peter Jackson’s mammoth mounting of The Lord of the Rings. McKellen will appear as beloved Gandalf in all three of the films, which also feature the talents of Liv Tyler, Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee, among many others, and which are lensing in the lush environs of New Zealand.
“We’re shooting roughly in sequence, and I’m now more than halfway through my work on the first film,” McKellen reveals. “The [production people] did a lot before I got there and are, I suppose, halfway through the three films. But you’re not really aware that it is three films. You’re just aware that it’s one long story that you’re telling. Yes, I will be there until December, on and off, but a year of one’s life doesn’t seem too much to spend on this sort of project.
McKellen as Magneto
“Peter is very much the motivating force, not just of the planning, but of the daily achievement of it. He wears that responsibility very lightly and is very open to suggestions from the actors and people from all departments. He’s very clear about the style and what is required of each scene as we shoot it, but he’s not a domineering sort in any way. So I am full of admiration for him”
As anyone who knows J.R.R. Tolkien tales can attest, Gandalf is essentially two characters. There’s Gandalf the Gray, who re-emerges later as Gandalf the White. Tolkien makes some clear distinctions between the two wizards, in terms of appearance and energy levels. “In a sense, they’re two aspects of a character I am playing,” McKellen opines. “It’s almost like two parts. I suspect that Gandalf is as popular as he is because he likes the Hobbits as much as he does. Tolkien was clearly fond of the Hobbits. He’s fond of all his characters, really, but he has invested the Hobbits with such detail. We know so much about their social life, about what they enjoy, about what they’re like. Being smaller than most people, they have a cutesy quality on top of everything.
“And there is Gandalf, the wise wizard, the spirit from afar who is concerned about preserving Middle-earth. That he slips so easily into the world of the Hobbits makes him delightfully human. And he’s good-natured with a sense of humor. From the first time you meet him, you think he’s a man to be trusted. You feel that probably the Hobbits will be safe, somehow, through the dreadful adventure they have to endure. So Gandalf is a fatherly figure and, at least in the world of the Hobbits, he would be great fun to be with.”
….
After he finishes Lord of the Rings, McKellen may return to the stage, or he could charge into another film, or he just might take a vacation. And after essentially making four genre movies back-to-back, one might not begrudge him if he never, ever wanted to hear the words SF, Fantasy or comics again. “Immediately before X-Men, I spent five months in the theatre,” Ian McKellen says after enjoying a good laugh. “Probably after Lord of the Rings, I’ll go back and do something on the stage. Where or what it will be I am still considering. I think a stage performance is the most likely next job. It may be preceded by a long holiday, but I don’t see the need for one at the moment, New Zealand is beautiful. I can’t imagine the film being made anywhere else. New Zealand is vacation in itself and I’m feeling very relaxed, really.”
Our content partners, and banner advertisers IGN have scored themselves some great pics of some LOTR gear direct from WETA HQ!!! [More]
Our content partners, and banner advertisers IGN have scored themselves some great pics of some LOTR gear direct from WETA HQ!!!
Check out what your fashionably-dressed LOTR warrior will wear, plus a short glance at a dwarf.
July 10, 2000
A battalion of IGN editors hit Vegas this weekend for the big video retailer VSDA convention, as well as more than a little gambling and guzzling. We figured we’d grab some stories, some hangovers and a little roulette fever. We never figured that Steven would walk away with a wheelbarrow full of winnings, or that we could spend hours on end watching Playboy Playmate Jaime Bergman just breathing (and what a nice pair of lungs that lady has). And we never figured that New Line would have a showcase of Lord of the Rings gear at their booth. Just another reason to have that surgically-implanted camera.
Peter Jackson’s going old school with the battle gear, having artisans forge real, wearable Middle Earth battle fashions — which will hopefully shield the actors from wild swings with those real, slashable swords. Here’s what you’ll be seeing on the fields of glory at Christmas, 2001:
We also got a sneak peek at one of the dwarf models that Weta Workshop created:
Now that we have you up to speed on the latest LOTR pix, we’re going back to Jaime. We think she looked in our direction once. That’s enough to get our hopes (and other things) up.
— Den Shewman wonders if Jaime goes for guys with shields