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We're Hangin' With..... THE RETURN OF THE KING ACTORS!!! by: Lynn B. 1. Orlando Bloom and Liv Tyler: Return of the Elves
Liv: But
did you get your sword? I didn't get my sword through customs yet. They're
like we sent your...Did you get it? AGW: We
want all that gag reel stuff on the next DVD. AGW: Since
you didn't see a lot of what you were fighting, did you have to totally
trust your director Peter Jackson to put something great in there later?
Liv: it's been an incredible experience for us, on a personal level and work wise. As an actor, I think I've changed a lot from the process of working on something for so long and trusting someone so much. I guess what's been great about it is playing these characters with so much depth and such beautiful language and all of those things as well as learning about all the technical stuff. It was so advanced. AGW: This is your last press tour for LOTR. How does that feel? Orlando: It's been really emotional. It's been a really amazing journey to be with everyone that worked on this project, so it's kind of weird. Flying around the world doing all this stuff has been the best, one of the most exciting parts each year at Christmas we get a chance to do it. I think I might go and break down in the toilet. AGW: Philippa (co-writer and producer) said that her daughter, Phoebe, had a huge crush on you and you showed up at her friend's birthday party Orlando: Yeah. One of Philippa's daughter's best friends had just lost a father or the family had split up, and the kids were really kind of upset, and it was the girl's birthday, like I think she was turning 16 or something so I just swung by. The family had had a rough time with it. One of the great things of being in our position is that you can do that. It's nice to be able to sign a piece of paper and put a smile on a kid's face or to make a movie and hopefully bring something to somebody. That's a great part of being an actor. There's some other parts that get frustrating, but other than that, it's a great opportunity. It's a great job. AGW: But doesn't the fame part get to you? Orlando: I try to keep it about the work. I try to keep it focused on that because that's what I love and that's what I trained to do. I don't get too involved in the rest of it. People project an idea of who they think you are onto you, and yet you're not that, it's difficult to go, 'Hang on a second. That's not me. It's difficult not to get offended by quips that people say or little things that are written and taken out of context so you just don't read it. Liv: You have to stay focused on something, because if you start to acknowledge all these things around you, that every photo must look good, and everything everybody says, it can make you really kind of depressed and paranoid. I think that there's something to be said for people getting to a certain point in their career and kind of saying, 'You know what, I can't do this anymore.' AGW: Do you think being married helps? Liv: Well I love my husband and he supports me and helps me through everything, but those other insecurities are quite personal no matter how much love you have around you. I went through a period even last year for the first time in my life where we moved, and suddenly there was paparazzi outside of our house all the time. There are so many more of those magazines that are gossip-oriented, and so many things are just made up and they're not true, and it can make you unhappy. People think you want to know about it or your grandmother says, 'Oh, there's this pretty picture of you in thingamagigger'. Orlando:
And I don't want it. I say to my mum, 'Don't send me any of that stuff.'
You know what, if you want to keep it. Keep it, and when I'm like old
and gray and AGW: How do you go out and have fun without all the paparazzi following you? Orlando:
You avoid the sort of setup events. When you party, party with your friends.
Go to a pub or a bar. Nobody's expecting to see you, and you go and have
a good time. AGW: Orlando,
what's happening with Pirates of the Caribbean 2? AGW: Liv,
I want to ask about Jersey Girl in which you co-star. Are you anxious
to see how the movie is going to do especially after Gigli with Ben and
Jen? 2. Elijah Wood: Leaving Middle Earth Behind
AGW: Is it true that you keep the original first ring prop? Elijah: I've got one of the rings. I can't confirm whether it's the original. There are a lot of originals. It was a gift from Peter. I opened up this box and it had another small box in it, and there was the ring and the pouch. I've got it at home. At the moment, it's in a box in a box in a box. I won't display it, I don't think. I think I'll keep it away, just as Bilbo had, just as Frodo did. AGW: Can you talk about how you developed the character of Frodo as he goes along? Elijah: In some ways it was done in real time over 16 months, but we were shooting so out of sequence that we'd be doing something from film 1 one day and film 3 the next. We had discussions about Frodo's journey before we started the film. So I had a very basic outline as to how he was meant to descend throughout the course of the journey. You would approach every scene with the thought of, 'OK, where on the journey are we now?' and 'How much has the ring deteriorated Frodo?' 'How exhausted is he at this point?' There would be discussions with Pete about the makeup at this specific point. Is he gonna be more torn-looking and so on. After we established the very defining moments in his evolution, it became easier to then bounce around, because I kind of became very familiar with the Frodo in 3 and the Frodo in 2 and the Frodo in 1. AGW: How has this massive project affected your life? Obviously it's turned you from a kid actor to a major movie icon. Elijah:
My daily life hasn't really changed all that much. But, pretty much everywhere
I go, I'm recognized. And it's also made it easier for me to continue
doing what I'm doing. There are more opportunities open to me, which is
great. It was an incredible life experience that is unlike any we've ever
had or ever will have again -- that of an extended family of incredible
friends that was made for life. You know, living in New Zealand and what
that did to all of us. It's such an incredibly beautiful place that I
think taught us all so much about the good and the pure of the world.
Elijah: It's something that I certainly acknowledge. It's wild to think of it in those terms. It was such an intimate, intense project in New Zealand for the last four years. That it will go down in movie history is pretty wild. I went to Virgin Megastore the other day to get the Beatles' "Let It Be… Naked." And I saw 'The Two Towers' special edition. I hadn't even realized it came out. There I was. I'm in the movie and I'm like, 'Wow, it came out! Awesome!' And the only thing that kept me from buying it was the realization that of course they're gonna send me a copy. But I was like, 'I kinda wanna get it now!'. AGW: Okay, now you're Frodo. Do you worry about being typecast? Elijah: I think it is of its own world. And the character's not overly specific to a genre, I don't think, either. These characters are very human characters. I think it's iconic because these movies are so huge. But beyond that, I think it'll be in its own world and people will see it that way. I think as long as I keep working on other things and balance it out with other roles…In fact, I've not even gotten one fantasy script, which is great. Next I'm in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I play a technician who works for a company who erases people's memories. AGW: Let's talk toys. Do you like them and what do you have from the films? Elijah: I love the figures. I collect toys myself, so be able to actually have a toy of myself is exciting. The first Frodo is probably the first one, just because it's the very classic image of Frodo. I have all the action figures, Lord of the Rings puzzles. I've got Lord of the Rings up the wazoo. AGW: Is there a Hobbit Pack? Like the 1980's Brat Pack? Do you guys hang out? Elijah: Yeah, yeah. I mean, they're some of my best friends, those guys. But we're not always in the same country, the same city. So it's not always the three of us. Sean doesn't hang out with us so much because he's got a family, and that was always a part of it. But certainly Dom and Bill, yeah, definitely. Love those guys. I'm almost more close to Sean because of what we experienced. It's a different type of closeness. I mean, we're like brothers after what we went through together. I think our journey was very much that of Frodo and Sam. We kind of relied on each other and helped each other through and literally spent every day together for months and months on end. And these are people I will know for the rest of my life, so it is a real wonderful benefit to having worked on something like this. AGW: How did you handle being barefoot with furry toes all that time? Elijah: (laughs) I think my feet were at their healthiest in New Zealand. They've gone considerably downhill since the films. I mean, they were pampered, man. I had to put these feet on every day, so at the end of every day they'd be bathed and powdered and massaged. AGW: Did you go out with the hobbit feet on? Elijah: No. Viggo went out with his sword quite a lot. He went out with his sword and at one point with his Strider jacket. AGW: What did you discover about yourself through this journey? Elijah: I think that the journey that I went through as a human being working on these movies, like the journey that Frodo has- - it's kind of prepared me for anything in life and made me a stronger human being I think and maybe a more courageous human being. Maybe I did inadvertently learn that from Frodo, but it's also from the experience as well. AGW: How did you handle your last day on this last film? Elijah: I couldn't really come to terms with it. I couldn't believe it after four years, that it was all coming to an end. My last day, I was completely drained. I had knots in my stomach all day, and it came time to do my last shot where Frodo is writing the last bit of the book and Sam comes and says, 'it's all over,' and Frodo says 'no, there's room for a little more,' and it had this whole meaning tied into it. That's the last shot! Everybody came on to see it, and I remember we did five or six takes, I don't know how many we did, and they checked the gate, and Peter came over to me and broke down, like gave me a hug and broke down on my shoulder. It was so, so sad. Everybody was crying. AGW: We hear they presented each cast member with presents when they left? Elijah: they gave us each a farewell after our last day, so every actor had a farewell party where Peter would give a speech to the crew, the whole crew, which was amazing, and so emotional. The whole crew would stand around and each actor was given the last clapper for the last take of the last shot they were in, and they were given gifts like each was given their signature weapons. I was given Sting and the last pair of feet that I wore, and I bet they smell like shit now. I haven't opened the box in quite some time. AGW: Do you become a regular filmgoer when you watch the films? Elijah: Oh yeah. I think there's a subconscious remembrance of all of those things in terms of the filming, but when you see the movie you kind of forget about all of that. You kind of let go. The beauty of the way that the movies transpire. My character is only one amongst a massive group of other actors so my journey is a small part so there's a lot of material that I'm so unfamiliar with because I was so focused on my journey. AGW: Will Peter Jackson finally get an Oscar for directing these films? Elijah: It would be a shame if he wasn't acknowledged. No one has ever done anything quite like this before in cinema. To simply adapt those books and make them into films in and of itself is an incredibly difficult thing but to have done it so well and in such a beautiful way is amazing. I think Best Picture is one thing, I'd rather Peter be acknowledged. The thing about him that's amazing is that he creates a creative environment that is very collaborative with everyone, and I've never felt more welcome to the full fabric of a film in my life. And that was a great honor.
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Orlando
Bloom and Liv Tyler look gorgeous together but they're not a couple. Just
having seen Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, we had to readjust
for Orlando's dark curly hair and leave that Legolas image behind when
we interviewed the two in L.A. Dressed in jeans and t-shirt, Orlando was
leaning in his chair against the wall in a dangerous balancing act. He
wore blue "rags" rolled and tied as bracelets just like his
"Pirates" co-star Johnny Depp and between questions, chomped
on a wad of gum. Liv was simply breathtaking even in casual green blouse
and black slacks. They spilled all the info about the gag reels played
for each actor on his departure from the final "Rings" film,
looking at "pink golf balls" which would later be monstrous
CGI enemies, being heartthrobs and dealing with melting elf ears. Orlando
talked a bit about "Pirates2". Oh, and they sang too.
AGW: Liv,
did you get to keep your ears?
Participating
in The Lord of the Rings saga has been a defining career move for
talented actor, since age 5, Elijah Wood. From age 18 to 23, he played
one of the most well-known characters of classic literature and it has
made its mark on him personally. He's made lasting friendships among the
"Fellowship" and with director Peter Jackson, the rest of the
cast and many of the crew. Elijah is not quite ready to leave it all behind
but knows he must at some point. At present, the actor is still consumed,
much as Frodo was, with Ring Fever. We looked into those huge blue eyes
in a recent interview as Elijah spilled the details of shooting and living
so long in Middle Earth.