{"id":86069,"date":"2014-01-04T17:41:48","date_gmt":"2014-01-04T22:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=86069"},"modified":"2014-01-07T17:15:26","modified_gmt":"2014-01-07T22:15:26","slug":"graham-mctavish-talks-exclusively-to-theonering-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2014\/01\/04\/86069-graham-mctavish-talks-exclusively-to-theonering-net\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham McTavish talks exclusively to TheOneRing.net"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today (January 4th) is actor Graham McTavish’s birthday – Happy Birthday to him from everyone here at TORn!\u00a0 Back at the start of December, our favourite tattooed dwarf sat down with TORn staffer greendragon, to chat about The Hobbit<\/em>, about his latest project (playing Dougal MacKenzie in\u00a0the\u00a0Outlander <\/em>series), and to reveal what it’s like to spend months working with a bunch of sweaty men in fat suits – and even to risk inviting them over for parties! Continuing greendragon’s ‘Inside the Middle-earth Actor’s Studio’ series, McTavish also discussed at length his approach to acting, what he sees as the greatest challenge in creating\u00a0a role, and how he began his career on the stage.\u00a0McTavish is an excellent raconteur, and there were many laughs during the conversation\u00a0– read on to find out all that he had to say.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"2013-12-05_17-06-19_368<\/a>greendragon:<\/strong> The first and obvious question has to be, are you looking forward to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug<\/em> European premiere, and what is it like getting back into Hobbit<\/em> mode?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Graham McTavish:<\/strong> Yes, I am looking forward to the next premiere \u2013 very much.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen a fair amount of the film through doing the ADR [additional dialogue recording], but in an unfinished state \u2013 and even then it looked absolutely amazing! The sequence with Smaug is hairs on the back of your neck stuff, really.\u00a0 Going back into it \u2013 I was thinking about that the other day, because although I only just finished in August, it already seems a very long time ago, because I\u2019ve started this new project doing Outlander<\/em>.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been completely immersed in that world \u2013 the world of 18th century Highland politics, and charging around in plaid and carrying a sword and a dirk and all of that stuff!\u00a0 So I\u2019ve not really been in the Hobbit<\/em> world in my head for a long time.\u00a0 I think it will take a little bit for me to get back into it, to be honest, when I\u2019m in Berlin.\u00a0 Last time it almost felt like the premiere came hot on the heels of finishing filming, so everybody was locked in to that zone. This time some of us have gone on to other projects, some haven\u2019t seen each other \u2013 so it will be a little strange perhaps.<\/p>\n

GD: But you\u2019ll be looking forward to seeing people?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yeah very much! Though the one who won\u2019t be there in Berlin, whom I would really love to see, is Stephen Hunter.\u00a0 We became very close, during the pick ups especially, and he\u2019s a great, great guy.<\/p>\n

GD: Does Dwalin have a favourite tattoo artist in Middle-earth? Or does he self-tat?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> No \u2026 I don\u2019t think he does self-tat; though I guess he is used to using both left and right hand with the axes, so he\u2019s fairly ambidextrous. But I think he\u2019s probably got help.\u00a0 I think there\u2019s a specialist whom Dwalin likes to keep to himself; he\u2019s found the<\/i> guy and he doesn\u2019t want anyone else to know.\u00a0 The other dwarves don\u2019t have tats because I\u2019ve never told them where to go to get them.\u00a0 It\u2019s a common question amongst the dwarves; it was a long journey, and almost every day there was one of them going, \u2018Go on, tell us, where did you get your tats?\u2019 \u2013 but no, no…<\/p>\n

GD: I read about your naming of Dwalin\u2019s axes\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> After Emily Bront\u00eb\u2019s dogs, yes.\u00a0 I read a book about the Bront\u00ebs.\u00a0 I\u2019d always been interested in them, not just because of what they wrote but the fact that they were women writing at that time, and surmounted these incredible odds to become best-selling writers of their day.\u00a0 And Emily in particular; she only wrote Wuthering Heights<\/em>\u2026 well, that was the only novel that was published\u2026 And she was this tiny woman; but she was incredibly stubborn!\u00a0 Apparently when she was dying she refused to lie down \u2013 so she just walked around and basically died on her feet.\u00a0 So that gives you an idea of the kind of woman we\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n

She had these two quite sizeable hounds, called Grasper and Keeper.\u00a0 She was very strict with them, and she wouldn\u2019t allow them to sleep on the bed; but one of them did one day. So she warned him \u2013 she said, \u2018Don\u2019t do that again!\u2019 \u2013 and the next time that he did it, she just knocked him out! Punched him! And she pulled apart two fighting dogs in the street once, when all the men were too frightened to go in and sort it out \u2013 she just grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and pulled them apart\u2026 She was a pretty amazing woman.\u00a0 And I\u2019d never forgotten that story, and that she\u2019d named her dogs with such extraordinary names.<\/p>\n

So I was talking to Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor; we were talking about weapons, and I was very keen that the axes were very practical weapons.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t ornate \u2013 they were simply tools of business.\u00a0 We went for that very much in the design of the blades, and the shafts; and then I said, \u2018I think he would have names for these axes,\u2019 and I mentioned this story and said that I thought those would be great names.\u00a0 Really this conversation was simply from a character point of view \u2013 that it would inform my portrayal of Dwalin.<\/p>\n

GD: That he was secretly a Bront\u00eb fan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> [laughs] Yes.\u00a0 He was the guy who had his little collection of books, which he took along with him \u2013 the collected works of the Bront\u00ebs.\u00a0 But I said this to Peter and Richard \u2013 that one of the axes grasps your soul, and the other one keeps it \u2013 and Peter got very excited about this.\u00a0 He was going [does excellent PJ impression], \u2018Yeah, yeah, yeah, that\u2019d be great \u2013 we could have it engraved on the blades in Dwarvish!\u2019\u00a0 And I went, \u2018Yeah, sure, ok\u2026\u2019\u00a0 And the NEXT day \u2013 there they were: the engraved blades of Grasper and Keeper.\u00a0 Those were the weapons that they very kindly gave to me at the end;\u00a0they\u2019re at home. The trouble is, you need a Baronial mansion with a massive fireplace to put them above; in a modern home they look a little out of place\u2026<\/p>\n

GD: Above the loo, in the downstairs cloakroom\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Actually that\u2019s not a bad idea!\u00a0 I think that would be quite post modern\u2026\u00a0 Just stick ’em in the toilet; just as a reminder, for anyone visiting, who they\u2019re dealing with\u2026\u00a0 Put the lid down, don\u2019t hog all the toilet paper\u2026<\/p>\n

GD: I’ve been talking to various actors from the films about their background in theatre and their training in acting. Tell me about your background; how did you learn your craft?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> I suppose the short answer is on the job.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t train at drama school.\u00a0 I had no interest in being an actor during the time when most people develop those sort of interests.\u00a0 I was always very interested in being a writer, and I used to do a lot of writing.\u00a0 I would write with a friend of mine, and we would do these comic sketches that we only trusted ourselves to perform; so we would perform them for the school, and that kind of stuff.\u00a0 And the drama teacher at the time \u2013 the wonderful Des Margetson \u2013 would approach me periodically and ask me to be in the school play.\u00a0 I always said no, because I had no interest in doing it.\u00a0 On one occasion, I remember he asked me to be Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night<\/em> \u2013 and I said no. (Weirdly, I went on actually to do that part once, but I didn\u2019t want to at the time.)<\/p>\n

GD: Great role. \u00a0He has one of my favourite lines in Shakespeare\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> \u2018I was adored once, too.\u2019<\/p>\n

GD: Exactly!<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> It\u2019s a wonderful line. Anyway, there came a day, at the very end of my time at school, when they were doing a production of Sheridan\u2019s The Rivals<\/em>, and a guy dropped out three days before they were due to do the single performance\u00a0 – he was playing Bob Acres.\u00a0 Des came up to me and said, \u2018Listen, we\u2019re in a real bind; this guy\u2019s dropped out, we\u2019re opening in three days \u2013 could you do the part?\u2019\u00a0 And \u2013 I\u2019ve said this to many people, but it\u2019s absolutely true \u2013 to this day, I\u2019ve no idea why I said yes. I suspect there may have been a female member of the cast that I was interested in \u2013 knowing my mind at seventeen, that would have probably been a strong motivation\u2026 but I said yes, and incredibly I learned the part in three days, and went on, did the show, and it was a great success \u2013 and that was that!<\/p>\n

GD: You got a taste for the applause.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dwalin\"<\/a>GM:<\/strong> Yeah, I did!\u00a0 And I took a year off between school and university, and during that year I joined the local amateur dramatics company, \u2018The Priory Players\u2019 in the church hall \u2013 classic \u2018AmDram\u2019, the local bank manager, etc. putting on plays, and I loved doing that.\u00a0 Then there was a production being done of the Lincoln Cycle of Mystery Plays, in a place called Elvetham in Hampshire. It was done every twenty-five years in Elvetham \u2013 it may well still be done every twenty-five years! \u2013 and this was a big, big deal for the local amateur dramatic societies.\u00a0 There were auditions all over the region for this particular show; and I auditioned, and I got the job! \u2013 to play the part of Cain and the disciple Philip.\u00a0 I used to cycle to rehearsals \u2013 nine miles there and nine miles back \u2013 three times a week!\u00a0 And that production really solidified my interest in acting. And then I did more and more at university; and I was lucky to have a professor at university who was very interested in drama, as a way of accurately studying the works of Shakespeare particularly, and other dramatists.<\/p>\n

GD: You read English Literature at university, correct?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yes. So his approach was that, even if you weren\u2019t acting, everybody had to participate in the staging of these plays. So I got to play lots of Shakespearean leading roles, and Elizabethan and Jacobean roles, that I wouldn\u2019t have otherwise had a chance to do, especially at that age. In fact, I probably ended up having more practical experience of acting at university than I would have had at drama school. I mean, I was doing four or five complete shows a year when I was at university.\u00a0 And then after that I was going to go to drama school \u2013 I got accepted at a few to do a postgraduate year.\u00a0 But I\u2019d already used my three years\u2019 grant [government provided funding, to cover education costs], and they wouldn\u2019t give me a further year; so I thought, \u2018Ah, I\u2019ll just go out and be an actor.\u2019\u00a0 And so I did!\u00a0 I\u2019d done a production of Beckett\u2019s Krapp\u2019s Last Tape<\/em> at university in my final year, and I performed that (as it is a one man show) in pubs all\u00a0over London, and that\u2019s how I got my Equity card. And from then on I just started working professionally.<\/p>\n

In the telling of that, it all sounds like this seamless, well thought-out plan \u2013 but of course it wasn\u2019t a plan at all!\u00a0 It was just stumbling, really, from one thing to the next, and hoping for the best!<\/p>\n

In terms of my approach to acting: I think because I haven\u2019t had formal training, my approach has always been\u2026 well, text-based, because of my background at university, but also instinctual. I\u2019m not a method actor, for instance \u2013 or what one would imagine a method actor to be.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to be the guy walking around \u2018being\u2019 Dwalin when he\u2019s not on camera\u2026<\/p>\n

GD: You didn\u2019t sleep with your axes?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> No! And I know that Viggo, for example, did sleep with his sword \u2013 or certainly had it in his hotel room\u2026<\/p>\n

GD: But we\u2019ve already established that Grasper and Keeper weren\u2019t allowed to sleep on the bed\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM: <\/strong>Good point, good point! So my approach has always been, as I say, text-based, instinctual; I\u2019m not agonizing over the background, necessarily.\u00a0 The only way I do background research is from a curious point of view, rather than \u2018I need to know this in order to play the part\u2019. So I love doing research; I’m playing a Highlander in the\u00a018th century now [for Starz’s Outlander<\/em> series.] I\u2019ve thoroughly enjoyed reading all about that period, finding out what those people were like; and I guess those things seep in to your performance, they inform you to some extent\u2026 But the other thing to remember \u2013 and I\u2019ve always tried to remember this \u2013 is that everybody that you portray is\u00a0human like you are. You\u2019re tied to a way of behaving that is human<\/em>, and isn\u2019t specific to a certain time; yes there are certain things that you wore and carried around with you, and there were diseases that you suffered from that you don\u2019t get now, but behaviour is behaviour, and one thing that history teaches you really is that nothing changes very much! So while I do historical research, for a role like Dougal MacKenzie in Outlander<\/em>, I\u2019m not slavish to that research. At the end of the day, what you have is the text \u2013 the script that you\u2019ve been given \u2013 and that\u2019s all.<\/p>\n

GD: I read an interview with Ian McKellen, where he was asked how much research he did, and he said, \u2018None \u2013 I just read the script! The rest of it is the director\u2019s job.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Absolutely! It\u2019s true \u2013 I did a stage production of Jane Austen\u2019s Persuasion<\/em> once; I played Captain Wentworth. And I remember there was a Q&A session after one of the shows, and somebody was very interested to know how reading the book had informed my performance, and I said, \u2018Well I didn\u2019t read the book! I had no interested in reading the book \u2013 I\u2019m doing the play!\u2019 I think sometimes reading source material like that \u2013 especially if it\u2019s an adaptation \u2013 can interfere with finding the truth in the script, because they\u2019re different \u2013 they\u2019re different media.<\/p>\n

GD: So did you read The Hobbit<\/i>?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> I did read The Hobbit<\/i>, yeah.<\/p>\n

GD: Because we are all pretty aware that Peter Jackson is going quite a way away from the book! But there\u2019s not a lot to discover about your character in the book; just what colour hood he wears!<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> No, there\u2019s very little to discover. Most of the dwarves in The Hobbit<\/i> are barely described \u2013 very sketchy. Really with the exception of Thorin, and maybe a bit of Balin\u2026<\/p>\n

GD: They all play an instrument and they all have a different coloured tassel and hood. And we’ve already seen Dwalin play his instrument [in An Unexpected Journey<\/em>].<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Indeed! Obviously which I learnt to a level which was\u2026<\/p>\n

GD: A degree of virtuosity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yes, of expertise! It was extraordinary; it was quite embarrassing to the others who played musical instruments, that they were so poor in comparison, but\u2026 [laughs]<\/p>\n

GD: Thorin didn\u2019t seem to have his harp, though…<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Well, maybe he\u2019d left that outside the door of Bag End, because it was a bit big to get through the door? And as we were leaving, I would have probably said to him, \u2018Didn\u2019t you bring a harp? What happened to the harp?\u2019 And we had to go the whole journey without his harp \u2013 which is probably why a lot of us were quite bad-tempered\u2026<\/p>\n

GD: A mouth organ would be more convenient on such a journey \u2013 or a Jew\u2019s Harp.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yes!\u00a0 I think somebody wanted to play one of those actually. It was probably Jed Brophy \u2013 that\u2019s the kind of thing he would ask for\u2026 [laughs]<\/p>\n

But going back to the text \u2013 for me, it\u2019s really the be all and end all of understanding what you\u2019re supposed to be doing. I know, for instance, having worked with Richard [Armitage] and having heard subsequently what he\u2019s said about the subject, that he liked to be left on his own, to be in that headspace\u2026<\/p>\n

GD: Yes, he said that he felt that he got a reputation for being anti-social, because he was \u2018the weirdo in the corner\u2019\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> His words, not mine! [Laughs] But my approach has always been to find almost the opposite emotion to the one that I\u2019m going to be portraying in the scene that I\u2019m about to do. I once did a play about Vincent Van Gogh, that I\u2019d written, and really it was an hour of angst \u2013 not a lot of laughs. But before each show, the other actor and I would always be cracking jokes up til the moment we walked on. And I always found that really helpful \u2013 because I think it frees you to being able to react in the moment.\u00a0 I think that the greatest challenge that acting presents to you, (other than the technical challenges that you have to be able to do, especially with camera, and onstage, knowing where people are in relation to the audience, etc \u2013 all of those things, which are very important), the greatest challenge is to find the truth in any given moment that you\u2019re portraying.<\/p>\n

In many ways, I think acting is very simple \u2013 because most of our lives are spent in truthful moments. Of course there are moments when we present a character to people, if you\u2019re serving the public, etc.; but we generally live in truthful moments. We\u2019re not questioning those moments as they\u2019re happening \u2013 we\u2019re just experiencing them and reacting accordingly. And that\u2019s the challenge of acting; because you know what those moments are going to be in advance, it\u2019s difficult to hold on to that spontaneity. I find that allowing my mind to be free of what I\u2019m about to do, before I do it, helps that happen.<\/p>\n

GD: That\u2019s very interesting. I\u2019ve been reading Cicely Berry\u2019s book Voice and the Actor<\/em>, and thinking about trust and freedom in acting; being free and not relying on vocal tricks, or even what\u2019s been successful in the past\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Well, we all have our tricks \u2013 everyone I\u2019ve worked with, myself included, has that little bag of tricks that has served us well in the past. The challenge is always to fight against using them; to try and keep those tricks away from you, because I think they should be the last resort.<\/p>\n

GD: How much of yourself, or your own personal experience, do you use in any given role? We\u2019re talking about the need to find spontaneity in any given moment, but you also have to know what that moment is about, as it\u2019s not a real experience. So say if you\u2019re playing someone suffering grief, you have to have some understanding, through your own life experience, or through observation, literature, etc. of what grief means to the human condition. And then do you have to find a way to access that \u2018memory\u2019 in the moment when you\u2019re portraying it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Well I suppose that is the argument of someone like Stanislavski, I think \u2013 though obviously I\u2019ve never read Stanislavski because I\u2019m that kind of actor! [Laughs] I\u2019ve always suffered from the superstition that if it ain\u2019t broken, don\u2019t fix it; so I\u2019ve always been loathe to over-analyse how I get to a certain point. But in terms of memory, there are many, many things that I\u2019ve done on stage and film that I\u2019ve never experienced.<\/p>\n

GD: I would hope so!<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yes \u2013 most obviously, killing people, dying\u2026 And while I\u2019ve witnessed death myself, in my later life, the actor\u2019s greatest tool, I believe, is not his memory but his imagination. When, for instance, you\u2019re portraying grief – I have experienced grief, so I have the memory of it, but I also find it useful to imagine grief; imagine situations that have not happened \u2013 and hopefully will not happen! \u2013 that make you feel a certain way.\u00a0 Because memory is a strange thing; it\u2019s sort of snapshots of experiences, whereas I think your imagination can be a more solid, reliable reflection.<\/p>\n

GD:<\/strong> Yes – memory is not always true. What you remember about how you felt is not necessarily what actually happened at the time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yes – and I think you can imagine something fully, in a way that you cannot remember something fully.\u00a0 So I rely more on my imagination than on my memory.<\/p>\n

\"McTavish<\/a>
McTavish with greendragon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GD: So how is it going with Outlander<\/em>? Is it fun?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Oh yes, great fun!\u00a0 No prosthetics! NO prosthetics!\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell you \u2013 we all fantasized about that, when we were doing The Hobbit<\/em>.<\/p>\n

GD: Yes, I read an interview with Stephen Hunter, where\u00a0he said, \u2018They told me I could afford to buy a house with the money I\u2019d get for this film \u2013 they didn\u2019t tell me I\u2019d have to be wearing it!\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> [Laughs] Classic Hunter!<\/p>\n

GD: So you\u2019re liberated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yeah. You know, I\u2019ve got my own beard \u2013 so<\/em> great! Other than that \u2013 the character [in Outlander<\/em>] is different, and he\u2019s given the opportunity to develop over sixteen hours, which is even longer than the three Hobbit<\/em> films!<\/p>\n

GD: And is this just the first book, that the first season is based on? So potentially there are seven or so more seasons\u2026.?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yeah \u2013 she\u2019s [Diana Gabaldon] just writing her eighth one.<\/p>\n

GD: But does Dougal survive into book eight\u2026?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> [shrugs] You see, having already explained that I don\u2019t read these things, I wouldn\u2019t know! [Laughing] So it\u2019s a process of discovery for me as well!\u00a0 So when I get the script that says, \u2018And Dougal falls to his knees and dies,\u2019 I\u2019ll know!\u00a0 – and approach it accordingly! But that\u2019s a great gift, which actually television does uniquely \u2013 it allows you to explore a character over a great period of time. So yeah, I\u2019m thoroughly enjoying it!\u00a0 We\u2019ve been very lucky with the cast that we\u2019ve been given; to a man and to a woman, they are just thoroughly nice, interesting, different kinds of people. Good sense of humour \u2013 that\u2019s very important. That was one of the real benefits of the guys on The Hobbit<\/em> as well; you need a sense of humour. If you haven\u2019t got a sense of humour \u2013 I mean, it\u2019s true of anything, but especially if you\u2019re locked together for a long period of time – if you\u2019re in each other\u2019s company continually, you\u2019re going to be in situations that are difficult, sometimes boring, sometimes frightening, you need to be with people that you really like. And you grow to care about them; so, on something like The Hobbit<\/em>, certainly we developed a very, very strong bond. One of the things that Richard used to say \u2013 and he was so right \u2013 was that nobody but us will ever know what it was like to be those characters, to do that job, to wear what we wore, and to carry that around with us for such a long period of time.<\/p>\n

GD: Yes \u2013 working on the other side of things, with TheOneRing.net, I realise that there are so many fans who are so invested in this and feel a very strong sense of ownership for Tolkien, for the films, and for the cast \u2013 there\u2019s a sort of protectiveness from the fans, and they feel very involved with the whole journey \u2013 which is as it should be. But then you realise, talking to people like yourself, that actually the experience of the people who actually made<\/em> the film is totally different from anything that any of us are seeing from the outside.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Sure \u2013 it is. I think the \u2018Behind the Scenes\u2019 pieces which Michael Pellerin has put together \u2013 and continues to put together, for the next two films as well \u2013 are setting the standard for that kind of thing, and he\u2019s done an absolutely incredible job. But they only show snapshots \u2013 extended snapshots, but nevertheless only snapshots \u2013 of what people went through. I think just the fact that, when I was standing opposite Richard, I was standing opposite somebody who was, like me, encased in all of this stuff – we knew how that felt for each other. And when we were being asked to go that extra mile in a scene, by Pete, we would be able to look at each other for the support that we would need to be able to do that. Because sometimes \u2013 you know, I\u2019m not comparing it to a lot of things which are very, very physically demanding that people do every day \u2013 but there were times when you were just out of gas, you were done. But Pete would need it again, and we would look to each other to be able to go, \u2018Yep, we can do this, we\u2019ll do it!\u2019\u00a0 And people like \u2013 well, everybody, but really people that stand out for me are Richard, Jed, Stephen \u2013 such rocks of guys that were there to just\u2026 if you were bent over, nearly puking, or if somebody had fallen down or injured themselves or anything, we were there to go, \u2018Come on, it\u2019s ok, get up \u2013 we can do it!\u2019 That\u2019s a fantastic thing \u2013 and I feel that about the people on Outlander<\/em> as well; it\u2019s a very supportive cast.<\/p>\n

GD: So it\u2019s a camaraderie in real life, which reflects the camaraderie of the characters on the screen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yeah! I think it\u2019s essential. I think when you\u2019re spending that amount of time with somebody\u2026 well, it\u2019s possible to act opposite somebody that you don\u2019t like. I have done it; and I\u2019m sure people have done it with me\u2026<\/p>\n

GD: Never let it be said!<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Thank you; that is the correct response!\u00a0 [laughs] But it just makes the whole job a lot more difficult \u2013 and you don\u2019t look forward to it. Whereas I looked forward to doing scenes with Richard, I looked forward to doing scenes with Stephen and Jed and Adam \u2013 and all the guys. We would always find something funny, in every scene, every single one!<\/p>\n

GD: So my final question to you \u2013 which you may or may not know, but which has been intriguing fans\u2026 Last year at the New Zealand premiere, Ian McKellen wasn\u2019t there but sent a recorded message, and he said, \u2018Love to my favourite dwarf!\u2019 So who is Ian McKellen\u2019s favourite dwarf – do you know?<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Well\u2026 yes, I do\u2026 but I just feel it would be a shame to spoil that\u2026 All I can say is, it wasn\u2019t me! Now that doesn\u2019t mean that Ian and I didn\u2019t get on \u2013 we did! But Ian would take great delight in coming up to various people, me included, and saying [does excellent Ian McKellen impression], \u2018I do like you; I think you\u2019re lovely. You\u2019re lovely! But you\u2019re not my favourite dwarf. You know who that is, don\u2019t you?\u2019 And I said, \u2018Yes Ian, yes\u2026\u2019 And he\u2019d go, \u2018Well it\u2019s true \u2013 I just can\u2019t help it\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

So he did have a favourite. But you know, he was very close to a lot of us. We spent a lot of time with him; he was very hospitable when it came to parties.<\/p>\n

GD: I\u2019ve heard that he throws a good party.<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Yes!\u00a0You know, a lot of us threw parties.<\/p>\n

GD: That\u2019s a risk, having the dwarves over for a party when you\u2019ve seen what they did to Bag End!<\/strong><\/p>\n

GM:<\/strong> Well, yes \u2013 I mean, I did have to burn my house down after the last one. Especially the bathroom \u2013 the bathroom was just destroyed\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today (January 4th) is actor Graham McTavish’s birthday – Happy Birthday to him from everyone here at TORn!\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":86076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1344,1295,22,7,4,49,232,74,496,1292,77,1297,148,1636,1911],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adam-brown","category-graham-mctavish","category-headlines","category-hobbit-book","category-hobbit-movie","category-mckellen","category-jed-brophy","category-jackson","category-production","category-richard-armitage","category-taylor","category-stephen-hunter","category-hobbit","category-the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey","category-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/with-GM.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1tLoH-mod","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86069"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86090,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86069\/revisions\/86090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}