JBG was part of the studio audience for ‘Inside the Actors Studio’ with our very own Ian McKellen, here is his report!

“I went, it was wonderful, but I still don’t know when it will air. I DO know it was the last class of the year, but I don’t know if that means it will be the last show of the season. I think I’ll be able to find out soon and get back to you.

It was quite long, and it will be televised of course, but here some short general impressions and some stuff that probably won’t be aired. This is all from memory, so I might have some details wrong. Also, I’m not a reporter and my email writer does not have spellcheck, so this is probably all utter crap. Also, you may not find it relevant to your site (there certainly isn’t anything particularly earth-shattering here, to say the least). I will not be offended IN THE LEAST if you don’t want to print it. (But if you do, please don’t use my name or even my initials…a friend at Bravo got me in and I don’t want to get her in trouble some how.) Anyway, here it is:

The focus was very much on his stage career and Shakespeare in particular. Due to prodding by the host, there was a fair bit of name dropping of all the great British actors and stage directors that he has worked with.

There was also good deal of juicy details about his childhood…especially about how he got into acting. He attended plays of all levels–amateur to professional–quite regularly and at a young age, and also took parts in plays both in school and in amateur theaters. His first role? An American pilgrim child! He then related his years at Cambridge and subsequent work in repertory theater, where he would do up to twenty plays a year with some of the finest actors in the country. I always appreciated that Sir Ian acted well, but I never realized how MUCH he acted (and you really got the feeling that the two go hand in hand).

He also mentioned that he regrets getting rid of his Lancaster accent. He said that if he were learning to act now, he would keep it.

Then he had some funny things to say about getting knighted. This might be an old story, but I guess that the Queen, after knighting him, asked him, “Does anyone even GO to the theater any more?” At the dinner at Buckingham Palace, Ian and Judi Dench (or it may have been Maggie Smith) snuck around the bandstand and sat on the royal thrones!

There was also a great deal about coming out of the closet and what it meant to him as an actor (essentially, all good). And he had some deep things to say about how an actor needs to communicate with the audience. This is why he hates microphones on stage, and why he talked to the camera during his soliloquys in the Richard III film. There was a great deal of talk about Richard III, both the film and stage versions.

There wasn’t too much about LOTR (when the host asked him what we should expect in the next films, Sir Ian suggested that if you want to know more, you can read the books…which Sir Ian has NOT done himself, shame on him), but he did emphasize that it was an profound experience to be involved and that it was a thoroughly fulfilling endeavor…this is especially saying a lot considering the audience was much more interested in his stage work. It’s hard to describe here, but you definitely got the feeling that working on LOTR was sincerely wonderful for him…and he really can’t believe his luck about getting involved.

He specifically had good things to say about Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Ian Holm. I guess Ian Holm does every take differently, which Ian McKellen thought was impressive and daring, but definitely wasn’t his style. He mentioned slowly appreciating the passion that Tolkien’s fans have for the work (of course, the internet was mentioned), and feeling absolutely thrilled and a bit scared about the responsibility of playing Gandalf.

And for the X-Man fans, he essentially has the attitude that Magneto is the GOOD guy…likening the character’s anti-assimilation stance to the gay rights movement! This was only SLIGHTLY tongue-in-cheek, I assure you. He also made a playful dig at Spider-Man, saying the X-Men have REAL problems, not just dealing with sticky goo on their hands (or something like that).”

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This year’s Tolkien Weekend at Sarehole Mill (the third such event now becoming an annual item in the Birmingham calendar) will be the biggest yet. The museum at Sarehole Mill will be open for extra hours, and a miller will be demonstrating his craft.

• Within the mill itself in addition to the miller and the city’s museum displays will be stands from The Tolkien Society and Hall Green Library about Tolkien’s life and works.
• In the mill courtyard and on the green, Shire Productions will be performing dramatised scenes from ‘The Hobbit’ on Sunday and ‘Lord of the Rings’ on Sunday.
• There will also be ‘story’ walks on guided tours of Moseley Bog, in addition to the guided walks taking in the local ecology and history of the Cole Valley.

On the green around the mill there will be:

• Birmingham City History Bus
• Environmental displays and information from the local groups that made up the Tolkien Park Partnership.
• The Bowmen of Swanshurst providing archery practice for kids young and old
• A blacksmith will be showing the ancient art of working hot metal
• Woodcrafters will be cooly demonstrating their skills
• Birminghmam Eco Park will have a plant stall
• Games Workshop demonstration games
• Waterstones will have a sales stand of middle-earth books
• Pony rides
• Local radio group Wythall Amateur Radio will be providing a special event station allowing chat with someone on the other side of the world
• Morris dancing from GreenMan Morris Dancers (Sat) andthe Glorishers of Brummagen (Sun)
• Displays and demonstrations from the RSPB, British Woodcarvers Assoc., Mehindi Henna Art, WWF Wildlife Trust, Bee-keepers Assoc., Guild of Spinners and Weavers and the Guild of Model Wheelwrights.

The Fun at Mill weekends have been organised to provide a free good day out, and to publicise the concept of a new park centred around Sarehole Mill. Contrary to several articles in the press in 1998, this is not a Tolkien Theme Park, but a country park based around Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog. Since 1998 a group of charitable organisations, the Moseley LNR Conservation Group, the River Cole and Chinn Book Conservation Group, The Tolkien Society and The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, otherwise known as the Tolkien Country Park Partners, have been working towards the creation of this park in Birmingham. It was decided that this park should be known as The Tolkien Country Park because of the importance of the area to world-famous author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

The plan is to create a linear park along the course of the River Cole past Sarehole mill, which is believed to be the last functioning water mill in Birmingham. The suggestions came initially from local residents, some of whom were aware of Tolkien’s links with the area.

(Please note that all these organisations are run by volunteers in their spare time)

Mrs Chris Crawshaw, 30 Span Meadow, Shawbirch, Telford, TF5 0NE.

c/o Mrs Joy Fifer MBE, Wake Green Road, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 9UZ.

c/o Peter Bennett, 68 Smirrcus Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, B28 0LB.

c/o Peter Bennett address as above.

The Tolkien Society was founded in 1969, its aim being to further interest in the life and works of Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, CBE, the author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and other works of fiction and philological study. Based in the United Kingdom and registered as an independent, non-profit making charity, the Society boasts an international membership. The Society helps to bring together those with like minds, both formally and informally, with gatherings throughout the year. There are three such events at a national level: an Annual General Meeting and Dinner, the Seminar and Oxonmoot.

The society produces two publications; a bulletin, Amon Hen, appears six times a year with Tolkien-related reviews, news, letters, artwork and articles, both humorous and serious. The annual journal, Mallorn, is more serious in nature with longer critical articles, reviews and essays. For young members there is an active group, "Entings", which has its own section in the Society bulletin.

We also have a website, which provides members and non-members with general information about the park project, the society and the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien:

http://www.tolkiensociety.org/

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