Among all the adaptations of literary works, the film “The Lord of the Rings” (based on Tolkien’s novel) is perhaps the most famous. The movie trilogy was filmed by director Peter Jackson. Together, three films were shot for about seven years and brought $ 200 million to the New Zealand economy. All filming took place in this country.
For many actors, the picture was a real breakthrough in his career. If Elijah Wood starred in Hollywood for a long time, then many of his colleagues in the film, who portrayed the hobbits in the tape, before that remained little known.
Actors
"The Lord of the Rings" was the first adaptation of the fantasy genre, which gained so much popularity. All participants in the filming gained fantastic fame. Speaking about the cast, it is worth noting that the selection was not easy. Actors changed, The Lord of the Rings was repeatedly redrawn at the whim of the intractable Peter Jackson.
One such example is actor Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf. According to the scenario, his height is 2 meters 10 centimeters. The growth of the hobbits is no higher than 120 cm. To ensure a similar effect, the camera always shot the actor only in the foreground. It turned out that the participants in the trip did not see the artist who played the magician until the very moment of his death in Moria. Their grief at mourning a friend is entirely the merit of acting.
How to play the hobbit?
The hobbits are another matter. For their roles, slender actors of short stature were needed, however, Sam and Meriadoc according to the script should have had a small abdomen. Elijah Wood is not tall in itself, but finding actors for the crowd was not easy. As a result, instead of the planned 140 people, only 100 extras were invited to the Bilbo birthday ball. Sean Astin for the role recovered by 14 kilograms, and Dominic Monaghan wore a special suit. For him and the performer of the role of Pippin, Billy Boyd, the shooting became a real vacation. They spent several hours on a huge tree, from where they were not even rented for lunch. The hobbits managed to work on their own project in between filming. Food and drinks were served at a height of 4.5 meters, where the actors were sitting. The Lord of the Rings was a pleasant adventure for them.
The Hobbitania itself was built a year before the filming, so that the props had time to acquire natural scuffs and all traces of time were deposited. Bilbo had two houses - one of normal human height, and the other smaller, for filming Gandalf in it. The bridge to Hobbitania was made by polystyrene soldiers from the New Zealand Army.
Men's work
Unlike the hobbits, Viggo Mortensen, the performer of the role of Aragorn, underwent a real hurricane of setbacks and accidents on the set . He came to New Zealand with his son Henry, who had long persuaded his father to take part in the picture. Mortensen knocked out a tooth, nearly drowned and severely injured his face. The filming process was at stake. According to the actors, “The Lord of the Rings” was shot in general is not easy - there were many injuries.
Orlando Bloom, already a well-known actor, had to learn archery, which he successfully managed in two months. In the picture, the viewer still sees the result of computer graphics, since a person cannot shoot fast, like Legolas. The role of Sauron was played by Christopher Lee - a big fan of Tolkien, who re-read the book many times. He is the only one from the crew who personally knew the writer.
Who is masked?
The most unusual shootings were for Andy Serkis, who played Gollum. More than 1000 sketches and a hundred layouts were made before the image of a strange creature appeared. Andy drank special lemon and ginger tea with honey every day. For complete credibility, he had to imitate the sounds made by a cat trying to burp wool.
The cries of the orcs in the caves were imitated by recordings of night cries of possums. To sound the big battle, Jackson gathered 25,000 people on the set and made them scream, squeal, sob - all this to record the terrible howl of the orcs during the attack.
After the final battle, the extras were taken away from the set to the ambulance. Many received heat stroke due to unbearable heat.
During the battle with the dragon, Gandalf fights with a tennis ball. Computer graphics were superimposed, and a terrible battle appeared in this form to the viewer. This shell is used by many during the filming.
Artists who drew sketches for the book of Tolkien took part in creating the scenery for the film. John Howe came up with costumes for the Mori orcs. Together with Alan Lee, the artist starred as one of the four kings in the prologue to the film.
What do you have with your feet?
The most difficult thing, of course, was the makeup of the orcs and Urukhais. An unusual novelty of the film is the hobbits' woolen legs. They were a cross between a patch of leather and shoes worn on their feet. "Dentures" delivered terrible inconvenience to actors and make-up artists. It was not possible to remove the linings without problems. As a result, several thousand pairs of such legs were spent on the set. The same thing happened with the elves' ears.
What didn’t work out?
It is noteworthy that the roles of Bilbo and Frodo could play other actors. Who knows what the picture would look like then. Instead of Ian Holm, the role of Bilbo shone to James McAvoy, and the role of his nephew Frodo to Jake Gyllenhaal. Elijah Wood might not have become the most famous hobbit. The role of Elrond was seriously proposed to David Bowie.
John Astin, the father of Sean Astin, the actor who played Sam, auditioned for the role of Gandalf, and then voiced it in some English versions. Stuart Townsend was fired, losing the role of Aragorn, four days after the start of filming.
The film “Lord of the Rings” was not approved by the descendants of the writer, but since he sold all the rights to the film adaptation of the work during his lifetime, they could not influence the course of events.