Can you believe Sir Peter Jackson’s “The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring” is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year? In honor of the occasion, the four Hobbits of the Shire and Gandalf the Wizard reunited for a special interview.
Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc Brandybuck aka Merry), Billy Boyd (Peregrin Took aka Pippin), and Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) got together to reflect on the trilogy’s legacy and reminisce about filming it.
Given the long days on set that go into making movies, it’s no surprise the cast developed a strong bond. But after the original 3 films wrapped, it doesn’t seem like everyone kept in touch.
“When we finished doing The Lord Of The Rings, everyone was so friendly and bonded together that we agreed that wherever we happened to be in the world, we would all congregate in the same place just to renew our friendship and our fellowship and our fraternity,” McKellen told Empire Magazine. “And I haven’t been to a single one of these reunions in 25 years! Whether they’ve been taking place without my knowing, well, you’ll have to ask them.”
“Never, Ian,” Monaghan assured his former co-star. “Never! The four Hobbits are very lucky because we all go to conventions together, so I think we see each other at least eight times a year. With Ian it’s a little harder, but we do try our best.”
“I think it’s that fact that all of us want to get together that keeps the spirit alive,” Astin pointed out. “It’s not as though the Fellowship has utterly failed or dissolved in some way. We just can’t fucking figure it out!”
And today we learned that the cast of “The Lord of the Rings” is just like any D&D campaign trying to schedule a game. (Seriously, Mike, send the group text your schedule!)
Remembering the First Scene They Shot Together
“Well, on my first day I did Gandalf’s entrance into the first movie, on the horse and cart going into Hobbiton,” McKellen reminisced. “But the next scene I did was the very last scene that Gandalf has in the third movie, where he’s setting sail and leaving everything behind, including the Hobbits, who were all on their knees to make themselves look smaller. I said to Peter Jackson, ‘am I pleased to be saying goodbye, or would I be regretting it? Can you give me a quick rundown on my relationship?’ Because I didn’t know them at all! And he said, ‘Well, you’ve been on a lot of adventures and you’re very grateful to them.’ But if you look at my face in that scene, it’s absolutely blank. It’s the best thing to do: if you don’t know what to do, do nothing. I hadn’t a clue!”
“Yeah, that’s my first memory of us all together: filming the very end. That happened because Ian Holm was there, and they only had a month to shoot his Bilbo stuff,” Boyd added.
“I remember us all being in the make-up bus together, with the four Hobbits in a row, and Ian in the next room on his own,” Astin said. “And I remember thinking: ‘Oh, shit. Ian’s right there. I could lean over and touch him!'”
Getting to Know You, 25 years Ago
But being starstruck didn’t last long. The actors all entered the project knowing they would be shooting 3 films simultaneously. Knowledge that probably helped them get comfortable sooner rather than later.
“It was immediate, which was something that’s never happened to me before or since,” Monaghan said about on set bonding. “It was an immediate connection, specifically between the nine fellows in the Fellowship, where they just said, ‘Oh, that’s what you like? Can I enjoy it with you?’ I think it’s one of the reasons why we still are desperate to hang onto this connection, you know?”
“It was a really specific alchemy,” Wood explained. “It hadn’t been experienced before in our lives, because there was nothing like it. We were all brought to New Zealand for a period of time that was so far extended beyond what we were used to as actors, to live away from home and go on this adventure that was not unlike the adventures our characters would go on.”
We’ll keep you posted about more “The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring” 25th anniversary celebrations as they get announced. Keep an eye out for more news about “The Hunt for Gollum!”
