Thanks for posting the information about our “Trilogy Tuesday” ticket sales that took place on October 10th. If you recall, at that crucial time our www.senator.com site was down from hurricane Isabel [and stayed down for some time!] As a direct result of your timely posting, our overnight line for “Trilogy Tuesday” tickets included a good number of true believers that came from all over the surrounding states [we are the only location in Maryland doing the extended edition screenings and “Trilogy Tuesday”]. Two fans showed up from Colorado!
I wanted to pass along some additional information to you. Blessedly, our new site is up at www.senator.com .
We also will be doing drawings each evening starting this Friday 12/5 through Thursday 12/11, before each evening’s 7:30pm show of the special edition of “The Fellowship of the Ring” for two tickets to “Trilogy Tuesday”. So each evening, on those dates, some lucky individual in our audience will win two Trilogy tickets.
Thanks again for giving us a timely leg up and keeping your site visitors informed of what’s up at The Senator Theatre, “Baltimore’s Premiere Showplace”.
As an 900 seat, single-screen historic independent moviehouse in a chain dominated industry, it is an extraordinary honor to have been designated by New Line Cinema as the only theatre in Maryland to present this special LOTR engagement. For all of us who are striving to maintain and enhance The Senator’s cutting edge state-of-the-art presentation quality and gracious style of operation, it is truly wonderful to be honored in this way.
The LOTR fans we have gotten to know from our prior engagement of “The Two Towers” and from the “Trilogy Tuesday” ticket line have been terrific. As fellow fanatics in our own right regarding The Senator Theatre, we all established an immediate rapport and we are really looking forward to making this upcoming LOTR engagement a very special one for all concerned.
Thanks to Glorfin2 we have the complete transcript from Ian McKellen’s recent chat on Sci-Fi.com! Take a look!
[silverstars] Hi, Ian, If you could ask J.R.R. Tolkien anything about his character Gandalf, what would it be?
[SIM] Is there a Missus Gandalf?
[ninjor] Are you familiar with the similiarities between Gandalf the wizard and a character called “Vainamoinen” from a Finnish mythology called “Kalevala”? Has this aspect came clear to you as you have introduced yourself to the script and history of LotR?
[SIM] No, I am not. But I am aware that Tolkien may have been familiar. But the actor’s duty is to be fiathful to the screenplay, not to the novel itself or even to the influences on Tolkein.
[Varda] Is there a Gandalf quote that you love the most? Can you tell us what it is?
[SIM] I will try. [SIM] All we have to do is to… fill the time that is given to us? Something like that. And I like the fact that there is no religious ethic or morality involved in Middle Earth. [SIM] There is no church in Hobbit Town. [SIM] Every person must decide for themselves how they organize their life.
[superandi48]: what has been your favorite scene in the filming of the three movies?
[SIM] I think as far as Gandalf is concerned, I mjost enjoyed visiting the hobbits in Hobbiton. I did that on my very first day of filming in January 200. [SIM] 2000, I mean. [SIM] It was thrillintg to see the village brought to life.
[deathskiss]: Hello Sir Ian- Would you consider reprising Gandalf if Peter Jackson decides to do ‘The Hobbit’?
[SIM] Certainly! [SIM] [Laughs]
[Locke]: Other than Gandalf, is there a character you would like to have been in the LOTR trilogy?
[SIM] Hmmmm… [SIM] No, I think I’m very happy just to have played Galndalf — but don’t forget I play TWO Gandalfs so I was doubly lucky.
[Siwel-Kire]: In the scene in Bag End where Gandalf hits his head on the beam directly after hitting his head on the chandelier, I’ve heard that that was not in the script. Is that true?
[SIM] That is true. [SIM] That was my idea. [SIM] It told the audience that Gandalf was a little bit forgetful and that he had not been to Bag End recently.
[Aragorn-Elessar] : Hey Ian. Did you do anything to set a differance between Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White? If so what?
[SIM] The basic difference is that Gandalf becomes more focused, more determined, and is rejuvenated — is actually younger — as Tolkein suggests. [SIM] So his voice changes, along with his movement and attitude.
[Igtica] : Sir Ian, did you have to learn to ride bareback to do the shadowfax scenes or was there some other means?
[SIM] [laughs] [SIM] Sir Ian chuckles… [SIM] Under Gandalf’s voluminous costume, there was a saddle. [SIM] But there was no bridle, and sometimes no stirrups. [SIM] there was also Basil who was the stunt rider.
[ricquebec]: my daughter would like to now if sir ian has a cat at home and if he do ,what’s its name
[SIM] No, I don’t have any pets. But if I did, I think I would have a dog.
[Siwel-Kire]: The differences between your most recent characters of Magneto and Gandalf were very different. How did you become such a good actor?
[SIM] Thank you. [SIM] I have been acting professionally for 42 years, and have not yet been out of work. [SIM] Practice does not necessarily make perfect but it helps.
[Mithrandir2]: How was the sequence on top of the Tower of Orthanc filmed?
[SIM] The top of the tower was a raised platform built in the carpark of the film studios. [SIM] The winds were provided by wind machines, but the interior of Orthanc was a set in the studio itself.
[Tabrimmon]: Sir Ian, which of the three films is your favourite and why?
[SIM] I think I prefer the first. Because the exctement is beginning to build, and you get to know the characters well. [SIM] Gandalf has more variety of character in that film.
[Dan]: What was your reaction to seeing yourself for the first time in a video game? 😀
[SIM] [laughs] [SIM] I thought “that will make a good present for my great-nieces and nephews.”
[ElessarKing] : What is it like going to all of the premieres for The Return of the King? In NZ
[SIM] It was one of the most exciting and emotional days of my life. [SIM] Film actors rarely meet their audience. [SIM] It was wonderful to feel the love that fans have for these characters, as well as for the actors who portry them.
[OrangeBlossom] : What was your last day of filming like?
[SIM] Hard work. [SIM] I did a lot of Gandlaf’s fighting for the final battle. [SIM] We then had a party and I was given Gandalf’s sword as a souvenir.
[sbcglobal] : Sir ian, will you ever be coming to Russia for LOFTR premiere? We are waiting for you so much
[SIM] I would love to return to Moscow. [SIM] But so far I have not been invited! [SIM] I would really love to visit every country in the world and meet Gandalf’s friends.
[sam] : Hey, Mr. McKellen I was wondering if learning the different lanaguges Tolkien created for the LOTR was an easy task or was it diffcult? Being Gandalf you had to learn so many different speeches… was it hard to keep up with it all?
[SIM] [laughs] [SIM] I spoke very little non-English. [SIM] But I had to learn Elvish, but just by rote. [SIM] Like a parrot! [SIM] [laughs]
[ChatMod] [Paladin] : Sir Ian, (you are a fantastic actor!) about how many hours did it take for make-up for you?
[SIM] To begin with, it took two and a half hours — maybe more — for Gandalf the Grey, but it got quicker as the months went by. [SIM] Gandlaf the White took almost half that time.
[ChatMod] Was it hard acting out the movie sequences involving the Balrog?
[SIM] I did not see the Balrog until I saw the film! [SIM] He was — it was — just a yellow tennis ball on top of a pole for me to shout at. [SIM] I felt like screaming “You shall not bounce!”
[cowgurl222] : bet you have learned so much working with Peter Jackson and with everyone on this film… what is one thing y ou will carrie with you?
[SIM] To be patient, and not expect to achieve everything at the first take. [SIM] Peter sometimes asked us to do scenes more than twenty times as the camera rolled.
[moldy-hair] : Sir Ian, What would you say was your worst day of filming, and could you elaborate?
[SIM] Ohhhh… [SIM] Probably one of the very few days in which I got made up and dressed abd had to sit all day without ever working.
[LOTR4life] : Hi, Sir Ian, did you volunteer to do most of your own stunts?
[SIM] No. [SIM] My attitude is that stunt people have an expertise which very few actors have. [SIM] it would be irresponsible to risk being injured so that filming would have to stop. [SIM] However, most of the time you see Gandlaf fighting, it is me. [SIM] The riding was a different matter. [SIM] A friend of mine was fatally injured riding on set, and I always remember him when I am asked to do something dangerous.
[ChatMod] [superandi48] : How has you history in Shakespearean history helped you on the film?
[SIM] In Shakespeare, as in Tolkein, I have had to be able to play-act with intimacy, and with large rhetoric. [SIM] So I was not frightened of acting big in the film. [SIM] When required.
[ChatMod] Mercury] : Who is your favourite cast member in LotR?
[SIM] Gollum. I want to meet him some day. [SIM] But I am very fond of Ian Holm whom I have admired on stage and screen since I was a boy. [SIM] he plays Bilbo.
[zachary] : Sir Ian are you sad that it is coming to an end?
[SIM] Since I finished principal photography as Gandalf, I have been in three other movies and played in Strindberg’s “Dance of death” which I am revising in Sidney Australia next month. [SIM] So the wizard and I have already drifted apart.
[ChatMod] How would you contrast working on small films like Gods And Monsters with blockbusters like LoTR?
[SIM] The principal difference is the budget. [SIM] Gods and Monsters could only take four weeks to film.. [SIM] Although I like the challenge of intensive work, I think I prefer the more leisurely time scale that a larger budget permits.
[Mithrandir2] : Since Viggo once needed a taller double to fit the proportions when he was beside a hobbit, did you ever have to have a taller double in the same way?
[SIM] Yes, Viggo and I shared Paul, a New Zealand actor who is nearly seven feet tall as our double. [SIM] I also saw him once dressed as a giagantic Legolas.
[ChatMod] Sire Ian, our final question — and thank you so much for taking the time to join us. What advice do you give to aspiring actors and actresses?
[SIM] [laughs] [SIM] You save the most difficult question for the last! [SIM] I am sorry I don’t have more time to elaborate, but the best advice I can give is to act whenever you can, paid or unpaid, with people whom you know will be honest in their criticism. [SIM] Also, watch other people act and analyze why you think they are good or not good. [SIM] I might direct everybody to my website: www.mckellen.com where I have answered many similar questions in my e-postings. [SIM] All best wishes from Middle Earth.
BIG LoTR fan here, ever since THE HOBBIT cartoon appeared on tv in the late 70’s.
Last night I was blessed to attend an advanced screening of RETURN OF THE KING at the Director’s Guild theatre in Hollywood. This is where director’s view their films privately among their peers and to vote on Oscars, Golden Globes, etc. It is arguably the best theatre in L.A. – private – with the BEST sound and image available (and darn comfortable seats too).
The film started at 7 p.m. – we were there at 5:30. We got seventh row seats. The lights went down…
I honestly, in good conscience, don’t feel right about giving away spoilers to this film – it is right to leave surprises for yourself on this one. You must have the chance to experience it ‘clean’. But there are a few here, so read at your own risk…
I PROMISE you – you have never seen what you are going to see in this film. I work in the industry IN GRAPHICS, and my jaw was on the floor (that is, when I wasn’t saying “Oh my gosh!”). Helm’s Deep truly is now nearly dull! The film is epic, sweeping, a vast grand saga in the truest vein. I had high high hopes and expectations, and they were not only met, but SURPASSED. The balance between top-notch action and truly small, personal, touching moments makes this film an incredible narrative. It IS exhausting, but in a very very good way. It is thurough (as thurough as a film with this much in it could be). This film truly delivers, as a final film in a series never has. Not Indy, not Jedi, not Aliens, and certainly, CERTAINLY not Matrix.
I personally felt the first hour was just a little slow, but then its non-stop from there. They got so many of the scenes dead on. Eowyn/Dernhelm vs. the Witch King – awesome! (especially what happens to him when he dies). Shelob – oh boy! Every strike from Sam is right out of the book. Denethor and the pyre – greeeaat scene (his actual demise has been dramatized, but its really cool).
YES, there are many exclusions and changes that will get under the skin of us purists, but most of them were understandable and acceptable. There were a few that were NOT, however. NO MOUTH OF SAURON!? Why? That one didn’t make sense. And no House of Healing – too bad – it was a way for Aragorn to show his kinglyness in a non-fighting way. And no union of Eowyn and Faramir – no uniting of the two kingdoms – hard to accept that one. AND by the way – they TOTALLY could have kept the Sauruman scene just fine – it might have been slightly slower, but it is an interesting and exciting scene, and would have flowed okay. It felt odd not having his stoy=ryline closed correctly – too easily. And also, the passage of time in RoTK is off, but that has been a problem with all three films. Hopefully the EE will help that one some, like it did FELLOWSHIP.
By the way – If you have ever had to say goodbye to someone you dearly loved, and knew you would never see again, YOU WILL CRY in this film. Me, I’m a marshmellow, but my brother is stone stoic – and he was trying to wipe the tears without my noticing! There were sniffles in the crowd.
Also – not to offend anyone – but if you are of the Christian faith, like Tolkien was, the coronation scene can’t help but remind you of a return of Christ analogy. Aragorn looks INCREDIBLE in his Kingly garb and glory!
Also – use the restroom RIGHT BEFOREHAND, or have a big, big bladder!
Afterwards Peter Jackson took the stage to an immediate standing O. He answered questions for about 45 minutes. He spoke of the Sauruman scene ‘probably’ being on the dvd, along with a beer drinking contest between Gimli and Legolas which he said was ‘hilarious’. When asked if he thought the Fantasy genre was unjustly ignored and viewed illigimately by Hollywood, he said yes he thought it was, and that “all films are in essence fantasy anyway, aren’t they? I mean what is the difference between our scene of Eowyn cradling the dying Theoden in her arms, just because there’s a castle and an elf in our movie? We are just taking more extreme methods of conveying basic human conpcepts.”
About THE HOBBIT – he said he was definitely interested in doing it, once New Line had worked out the rights with United Artists, who he said aquired the distribution rights 20 or 30 years ago. Afterwards, when he was speaking to people personally, I asked him if he thought Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis would be interested in reprising their roles in THE HOBBIT (I knew Ian McKellen had already said that he HAD to play Gandalf if the movie was made, and I assume they’ll get a younger, new Biblo). Peter Jackson’s answer was “Oh, I would assume they would want to. I mean, I’m sure they would.”
A point of interest – the fellow who had shot Elijah Wood’s audition video, which was sent to England and won him the role, was there and introduced himself to Jackson.
Peter stayed afterwards, until twelve o’clock, and met everybody who wanted to meet him, answered every personal question, and signed every last autograph (see attached). For someone who has been doing this project for nearly seven years, he gave interesting, excited, non-rehearsed answers, and treated every fan like they were important. And with kids, he took on a wonderful, excited, imanginative, and fun persona, teasing and treating them special. What a great guy – I’m glad that he was the one to head up our beloved novels. He is a true geek through and through.
Special thanks to my boss at work – who graciously allowed us to attend the evening in his stead.
A BIG thank you to Cyloran for this transcript, photos to come soon.
(EW enters to band playing Shire theme)
Elijah Wood: My God, such a regal entrance!
Jay Leno: It is a regal entrance. It’s a regal movie!
EW: I’m not the king, tho! Viggo is.
JL: That’s alright. You’re as close tonight as we have to a king.
EW: I’ll do, then?
JL: Forget the movie, even tho it’s like the biggest movie ever and it will make more money – forget that. Something that has amazed me more than anything else, you have finally got your own place! Did I hear that you’ve moved out of your mom’s house?
EW: That’s right. (to the band) I think I need a little music for that, guys
JL: Wow. That’s amazing.
EW: I thought you’d like that, Jay.
JL: Because the last time you were here I was teasing you about living at your mom’s house, folding the socks and all.
EW: She’s does all of the laundry and all that sort of stuff. No, no! Not any more. Not any more.
JL: Where’s the new place?
EW: It’s in the Flat Iron District in Manhattan.
JL: Oh, you’re in New York! Okay!
EW: Yeah, in New York.
JL: Now how does one go about that? I mean, you’re a young guy. Did they recognize you, for instance? Did they know it’s you, or do they go, this kid wants an apartment, let’s get out of here?
EW: They were actually, to be honest, they were very nervous about me getting the apartment because I’m an actor, so it was kind of a rigorous screening process. Because the building that I’m renting from, the people actually own the building that live in the building, and so they met my sister and I who also moved out there with me, and they wanted to sit down with us and sort of have a chat about us living there, because they had a lot of questions in regards to, you know, do we stay up late at night, do we have parties, that kind of thing, because I think they had an idea of me that is not me.
JL: Let me ask you this, do you stay up late at night or do you have parties?
EW: I stay up late, I don’t have parties.
JL: Well, parties with your sister, that seems almost creepy, but, ya know. Now you’re just back from where, New Zealand?
EW: Back from New Zealand yesterday morning.
JL: Which is really today.
EW: Exactly.
JL: So you’ve only been back an hour.
EW: That’s right.
JL: It’s confusing, isn’t it?
EW: It’s a little weird.
JL: How long a flight is that?
EW: It’s about 12 hours. A 12 hour plane flight.
JL: Well that’s not too bad.
EW: Not too bad, but we’d just had a massive premiere and parade the day before. 125,000 people in the town of Wellington, the city of Wellington, came out for the premiere. It was pretty extraordinary.
JL: Now in the parade are you dressed as the characters or do you dress normally?
EW: I dress normally. I was in a suit, yeah. It would be pretty silly if we –
JL: Well, I don’t know. I don’t know how those things work.
EW: Right, okay.
JL: Not being an actor, you know. Now you shot the whole movie down there, so one must go a little stir crazy being far from home.
EW: A bit, yeah.
JL: I mean, did you pull pranks? Did you do things like that to one another?
EW: There was a bit of pranks on the set. I mean, you know, it was a rigorous schedule so we had to kind of mix it up a little bit to sort of ease the tension. There was one time where Dom Monaghan, who plays one of the hobbits, and myself fashioned . . . we had this idea because Viggo, one of the other actors in the film, had been attacking people’s trailers and sort of decorating them in horrible ways and so we –
JL: Attacking their trailers and decorating them?
EW: Yeah, yeah. Sort of spray painting the trailers and coming up with ways to sort of decimate various actors’ trailers, so we came up with this idea to fashion a turd, a piece of poo—
JL: Yeah, I think we know what a turd is. Anybody not familiar with a turd? You know, poo?
EW: You know, poo. Thought I’d clarify it.
JL: Of course.
EW: Out of this sort of cotton material. We were in getting our feet worked on, as you do when you’re a hobbit, and we basically took this sort of cotton material, got some paint which there were lots of various colors of paints –
JL: Turd colored.
EW: Yeah, a good brown. In fact, they did have a poo color.
JL: This is more information than I want.
EW: So we sort of molded these wonderful poos that ended up looking very realistic and then we set them on his doorstep of his trailer. I think that went over very well.
JL: Let me ask you this. When you went for your apartment in New York, did you tell them this turd story. Did they know?
EW: No, that was not included. It wasn’t necessary.
JL: Okay, we’ll take a little break, more with Elijah after this.
(coming back from commercial)
JL: We’re back with Elijah Wood from Lord of the Rings. Sorry about being in New Zealand. Now I heard about some drinking that happened on the set, did I hear through the grapevine?
EW: It wasn’t on set, actually. There was plenty of drinking, not on set. There was one sort of experience that we had.
JL: Experience?
EW: Well, yeah. There’s a fountain in the center of Wellington that was a point of particular frustration for myself and for Dom Monaghan who’s in the film, he plays Merry, and it’s a fountain that is made of buckets. Colored buckets that each, the water sort of comes down and falls from one bucket to the next bucket to the next, so it lands in this sort of pool. But it doesn’t actually work because the sort of area around the fountain is sprayed with water as well. So we walked by this thing and people would walk by and they’d get water on them, and I thought, this is poor engineering. Why would someone create a bucket like this? Fountain like this. So one particular drunken evening, Dom, myself, Billy, who’s also in the film, were walking home from a bar and we saw this fountain, and Dom and I look at it and went, that thing is rubbish! And he said, yeah, we should conquer it. I said, conquer it? He said, yeah, come on, let’s climb it! I said, alright, let’s climb it! So we climb the thing . . . (laughs, then shakes his head) . . . and, um, once we got to the top, what else is there to do?
JL: I don’t know.
EW: But urinate in it. And really show our disgust.
JL: You know, this is why Americans are loved around the world. We go to a foreign country and we urinate in the fountain.
EW: There you go.
JL: Now the people walking by, rather than just be splashed with water, would have urine on them as well.
EW: Possibly, yeah. And Peter, Peter Jackson was very upset. The director of our film, was very upset when he found out that we’d done this. I believe he was heard to say, but I grew up with that fountain! Which was a bit of a shame, so I felt a bit bad after that.
JL: So we had the turd story, and we have the –
EW: Yeah, I’m just coming up with gems, aren’t I?
JL: It was good. Now tell us about the movie. This is the big one? La dee da, the king and the whole bit.
EW: This is it.
JL: It’s an amazing series of movies, and you did them all at once, didn’t you?
EW: All at once, yeah, we shot over 16 months in New Zealand.
JL: Okay, so you must be stunned when you watch, oh that’s where that scene is! Did you shoot them in order –
EW: Completely out of sequence. It is one story so it’s not too crazy. But yeah, this is it. This is the end of the journey.
JL: (cueing monitor) Now what is this footage we’re going to see? What’s happening here?
EW: I believe this is Sam and Frodo and Gollum, and Sam is attacking Gollum because he suspects him of some villainy and Frodo is saying that we need to keep Gollum with us.
(shows Sam Frodo Gollum clip)
JL: You know, I was trying to think of who Gollum looks like. Put Gollum’s picture up there. And then I realized, it’s James Carvell (shows split screen with pic of Gollum and J.Carvell). It couldn’t be more exactly. Amazing!
EW: That’s fantastic!
JL: What an amazing likeness.
EW: We should give James a call.
JL: And you’re hosting Saturday Night Live, right, on the 13th?
EW: That’s right.
JL: Are you nervous about that?
EW: I am quite nervous about it, but I’m also very excited. It will be a good time.
JL: Have you hosted before?
EW: No. First time.
JL: Oh! First time! Ohhh, so you get the initiation – oh, I don’t want to go, to tell you –
Thanks to Cyloran for the transcript! Photos to come soon.
Jay Leno: Great to have you here, on the cover of all the magazines like GQ. Very cool. (much cheering and squealing from the audience). I know you’re from England, but where abouts?
Orlando Bloom: Canterbury and Kent, just outside of London.
JL: Okay, you grew up there. Now when did you get into the whole show business . . . when did you first do a play or get on stage or anything of that nature?
OB: You know, I always really loved performing as a kid. I once . . . my first performance was a little embarrassing because I was doing a play at a local theatre and it was quite a big deal because it was the whole of Canterbury was there, and I was a monkey. Dressed in a monkey suit. There were three of us. And this monkey suit was really hot, you know? It was like one of those sort of synthetic suits, and I was only four, and I’ll never forget it. I think it’s lived with me ever since, I’ve been really paranoid about making the same mistake, but I, um, I itched my butt on stage because it was, like, I had this terrible itch, and of course the audience went mad with laughter. But I was a monkey, so it was sort of what a monkey would do! But I was like, “what did I do?” because I’d sort of broken the routine out of what I was supposed to be doing, so I was like, Uh! So it was sort of stage fright.
JL: I was going to say, considering the other things monkeys do, that’s not bad. Now when did you first leave home to do acting and all that?
OB: I was about sixteen, I moved to London, but I sort of finished my education in London and I sort of moved from Canterbury up to London because my best friend was at University up there and I sort of felt like the big city was the place to go if I was going to make it as an actor.
JL: So you went to acting school. Did you do all of those sort of theatrical . . . you know, the exercises?
OB: Oh, yeah! I went to drama school so, yeah, I was at Guild’s Hall for three years and they get you to do all sorts of exercises to get you in the . . . you know, to help you loosen up and sort of be natural and stuff. One of the exercises we had to do, you had to go and study animals at the zoo, you know, in order to find . . . it’s quite useful way for a character to actually find the animal’s movement and whatever. I kind of wanted to be an ape because I kind of liked the idea of idea of sort of being a bad — (hits chest ala an ape and accidentally hits his mike).
JL: That’s very ape-like.
OB: Yeah. But my teacher insisted on me being a lizard so I wouldn’t do things like that (mimes beating on chest). And I had this sort of more stillness and composure, so I was a lizard, and that just meant that I had to hold this one position for like hours on end and occasionally jog my head and stick my tongue out.
JL: Have you still got the lizard tongue out? Because that could come in handy, actually.
OB: You want to see my tongue just –
(Audience squeals and cheers.)
OB: (laughing) It was sort of like that –! (quickly sticks out tongue, audience goes wild)
JL: Very good! That was very good! And you’re actually, I understand you, I know you ride motorcycles like I do. Did you break your back once? Did I hear that?
OB: I did, yeah.
JL: And how did –?
OB: That kind of changed my life. I was 21 and some friends had an apartment with a roof terrace and a landing below their apartment, and the door had been warped by the weather and it had been kicking open from the outside in. And I walked into their apartment and I thought, wow this is great. I looked out the window and the roof terrace was about a meter and a half to the left and down, and I thought I could just hop across. But instead I got onto this piece of lead flashing running down the wall, like a drain pipe but not, and I just fell back. I didn’t, it was rusty and old and it wasn’t much to hold on to and I fell back three floors and landed on a –
JL: Three floors?
OB: Yeah. I had a sort of really narrow escape because I landed the roof terrace below that was belonging to the neighbors below, and there was an old washing machine that was left out and I fell in-between the railings that were going around it and the washing machine, and I was just like there. They couldn’t get to me because there was nobody in the apartment, they had to get helicopters and firemen with fire engines to try and get to me. It was pretty trippy.
JL: When you break your back aren’t you sort of confined to a wheelchair? I mean, that’s pretty serious.
OB: It was a very narrow escape. They told me I wouldn’t walk for a while, they didn’t think the first four days, because I had no strength in my legs, but I bruised my spinal cord and I hadn’t severed it so I was very very lucky, and it sort of kind of changed my whole approach to life. Because I was a little bit reckless. I’d broke my leg on a motor bike and I had sort of broken my other leg skiing and snowboarding and had injuries. Not very elf-like. Like Legolas would never fall off a motor bike, you know what I mean? But it was . . . I kind of think of it as a really good thing. I think that things that happen to you that feel like their going to ruin your life actually there’s always something really positive to have out of it.
JL: I think that’s a really good attitude to have. Now tell us about Return of the King. These are epic movies. I’m astounded when I see them how visual they are. It’s almost like you have to see them 4 times to go, hey, I didn’t see that dragon in the corner before! Tell us about what happens in this one.
OB: Well, this is the last chapter of the three and I think the last of any movie is always the most exciting, you know? Because it’s sort of the dramatic conclusions to what’s been two films already and this is the third. So really you get a sense of closure on this and you see what happens to the Ring. I mean, if you don’t know, the books obviously quite well read and well known and everything but basically it all ends well. You just get a real sense of Aragorn becomes King, Frodo and Sam go off to Mt. Doom and do their business with the Ring and it sort of works out well.
JL: And you have blonde hair and blue eyes.
OB: That’s right, yeah.
JL: (to audience) He’s not a natural blonde. (cues monitor) Let’s take a look. What’s happening here? You know this scene?
OB: This is, I think this is as we enter the Paths of the Dead. This is about Aragorn assuming his responsibility to become a king. Part of it, he can call on the Dead to help him fight.
(Shows clip of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli entering Paths of the Dead)
JL: Terrific job! Orlando, please, please come back and see us again!
Dimatariel writes: I just found out a Norwegian TV channel, TV2, broadcasted 10 minutes worth of footage from “The Return Of The King” on their website! The problem is, the sound quality is bad, and you’ve got to be a member and pay a small fee and stuff like that to see it, so I’ve published a small sort of summary of all the nine clips here:
Clip 1: Called “I Am On Your Side”, this is Frodo, Sam and Gollum, I’m not quite sure where they are, and it all begins with Frodo holding Sam back, as if preventing him from attacking Gollum. “Sam, no!” he cries, and then Sam replies something I can’t quite make out, which ends with: “He means to murder us!” Gollum screams then, and says humbly: “Never! Sméagol wouldn’t hurt a fly! Stupid hobbit! Fat hobbit who hates Sméagol! He makes up nasty lies!” he screams, pointing at Sam. “You little maggot!” Sam cries, and almost attacks Gollum again, with Frodo pulling him away. “YOU’RE the liar!” Sam cries to Gollum. Frodo says angrily at Sam: “Sam! We’re lost!” Sam replies then: “I don’t care! I won’t wait around for him to kill us!” “I’m not sending him away,” Frodo says, and Sam says to him: “You don’t see it, do you? He’s a villain.” Frodo says, seriously: “We can’t do this by ourselves, Sam. Not without a guide. I need you on your side.” Sam whispers: “I am on your side, Mister Frodo.” Frodo says to him: “I know, Sam. I know. And so is he,” he adds, referring to Gollum, who approaches him. “Come, Sméagol,” he says, taking Gollum’s hand and leading the way. As they walk off, Gollum grins evily at Sam.
Clip 2: Called “Something For The Road”. This is in a stable, I think, with Gandalf lifting Pippin up on Shadowfax as they prepare to leave. “How far is Minas Tirith?” Pippin asks, and Gandalf replies: “Three days’ ride, as the Nazgûl flies. Let us hope we won’t have one of those on our tail.” Then Merry comes in, handing something to Pippin. “Here,” he says, “something for the road.” Pippin looks at it, then says: “The last of the pipe weed”, or something like that. “I know you’ve run out,” Merry says seriously. “You smoke too much.” Pippin looks down at him. “But… we’ll see each other soon. Won’t we?” Both he and Merry look at Gandalf, who seems worried as he gets up on Shadowfax behind Pippin. “I don’t know,” Merry says. Then he mumbles something I can’t make out, but he seems about ready to cry. “Merry,” Pippin whispers, as Gandalf eagers Shadowfax to get moving. “Merry!” Pippin cries desperately as they ride off out of the stable and onto the road. It’s un unbelievably touchy scene, no doubt Merry and Pippin will finally create a few need-to-weep scenes in this film!
Clip 3: With the title “It Is Time”, this is Arwen, I don’t know quite where she is but it does look like Rivendell, and she’s approaching Elrond saying: “Tell me what you have seen.” “Arwen,” he says, and she continues: “You have the gift of foresight. What did you see?” Elrond stares at her seriously and says: “I looked into your future and I saw death.” Arwen says: “But there is also life.” She approaches him, saying: “You saw there was a child. You saw my son.” Elrond stares out at the view as he says: “That future is almost gone.” Arwen follows him. I think she says something like: “It is not past,” and then he says: “Nothing is certain.” Arwen kneels at his side, the first thing she says I can’t make out, but the rest is: “If I leave him now, I will regret it forever. It is time.”
Clip 4: “At Your Service”. This is Gandalf in the Stewart of Gondor’s hall, saying to Denethor: “I come with tidings in this dark hour, and counsel.” Denethor, sitting at the steps with Boromir’s cloven horn in his hands, says: “Perhaps you have come to explain this. Perhaps you have come to tell me why my son is dead.” Both Pippin, who is in the background, and Gandalf stare wideeyed when they see the horn. Then Pippin says: “Boromir died to defend us. My kinsman and me. He fell defending us from many foes.” He comes forwards, and Gandalf says “Pippin!”, but then the hobbit kneels in front of the Stewart and says: “I offer you my service. In payment of his death.” Gandalf seems unhappy and worried about this…
Clip 5: Called “Ready For Fight”. This is again Pippin and Gandalf, standing at a balcony with the view from Minas Tirith. Pippin is looking through some armoury, saying: “So I imagine this is just… ceremonial possessions. I mean… They don’t actually expect me to do any fighting. Do they?” He lookes worriedly up towards Gandalf. “You’re in the service of the Stewart now,” he says. “You will have to do as you’re told, Peregrin Took.” Peregrin leans on the railing, saying: “It’s so quiet.” “It’s the deep breath before the plunge,” Gandalf says. “I don’t want to be in a battle,” Pippin says. “But waiting on the edge of what I can’t escape is even worse.” Gandalf approaches him as he asks: “Is there any hope, Gandalf? For Frodo and Sam?” Gandalf replies with a slight smile: “There never was much hope. Just a fool’s hope.”
Clip 6: Called “You Have Given Us Hope”: This is Aragorn and Éowyn, preparing to leave. Aragorn says to her: “You ride with us?” She replies something like: “Only for a short distant. It is tradition for the women of the court to farewell the men.” Aragorn hesitates, then approaches her horse looking under the saddle to find she’s got a sword there. Éowyn quickly hides it again. “The men have found their captain,” she says. “They will follow him to battle. Even to death. You have given us hope.”
Clip 7: With the title: “Tell Me Everything”, this is from when Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith with Pippin asleep under his cloak, riding with many Gondorian horsemen into the courtyard, where they stop. Gandalf hears someone call out: “Mithrandir!”, and turns to see it is Faramir, who approaches him. “They have taken the bridge and the west bank.” Another Gondorian rider says: “It is what lord Denethor predicted! Long has he forseen this doom.” Gandalf says angrily, removing his cloak from Pippin: “Forseen, yet done nothing.” Faramir stares wideeyed as he spots Pippin, and the hobbit doesn’t seem too comfortable being watched. “Faramir?” Gandalf says. “This isn’t the first halfling to have crossed your path?” Faramir confirms, “No.” Now Pippin smiles, asking: “You’ve seen Frodo and Sam?” Faramir nods, and Gandalf asks: “Where? When?” Faramir replies: “In Ithilien. Not two days ago. Gandalf, they have taken the road to the Morgul vail,” or something like that. Gandalf then says: “The pass of Cirith Ungol?” Faramir nods, and Pippin asks worriedly: “What does that mean? What’s wrong?” Gandalf looks at Faramir. “Faramir, tell me everything.”
Clip 8: “More Will Come”: This is a clip which is a bit difficult to describe, because there’s a lot of bad sound in it. It’s a scene with Théoden, Aragorn, Legolas and many other ride through a Rohirrim camp, Théoden getting news from different men as he rides through, I’m guessing mostly about how many warriors have come. The scene then turns to Théoden and Aragorn, standing staring out at the Rohirrim camp. Théoden says: “Six thousand steers. That is half of what I had expected.” Aragorn mumbles something here, and then Théoden says: “More will come.” Aragorn actually speaks very low again, and I can’t make it out, but whatever he says Théoden nods at it…
Clip 9: This last clip is the one from the entrance to the Paths of the Dead, one which has been released before, so I won’t take the trouble of desciribing it… It’s called “The Road Is Blocked”, though.
