Actor Bruce Hopkins, who played Gamling in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (and is a good friend to TORn), is 67 years young. To celebrate his recent birthday, he raised money for charity by doing something unusual: back flipping off a wharf, once for every year of his age.
Middle-earth fans will be aware of Hopkins’ drive and energy; back in 2017, he walked the 3000km Te Araroa trail, taking the ashes of his father and brother the length of New Zealand and back to their ancestral home, Stewart Island. That time, as with this latest endeavour, he was raising money for charity Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.
As a grandfather himself, Hopkins is an ardent supporter of the charity. He’s also a keen swimmer who has spent much of his life in the water – but never before had he endeavoured to do quite so many back flips. To challenge himself even further, one in every ten of the flips was taken from 4m (c. 12 foot) above the water!
The men of Rohan are hardy stock, and our Gamling came through unscathed – apart from some bruising to his shins. Happy birthday Bruce, and congratulations on raising funds for such a worthy cause.
Feel like taking a 15 day journey through Middle-earth with the former commander of the armies of Rohan? Well now you can 🙂 Bruce is leading tours of Middle-earth for a local tour company, you can check out all the details on his