Secrets of filming and actors. "The Lord of the Rings" reveals secrets

Among all the adaptations of literary works, the film "The Lord of the Rings" (based on the novel by Tolkien) is perhaps the most famous. The film trilogy was filmed by director Peter Jackson. Together, the three films were shot about seven years and brought 200 million dollars to the economy of New Zealand. All the filming took place in this country.

For many actors, the picture was a real breakthrough in the career. If Elijah Wood has long been shot in Hollywood, many of his colleagues in the shop, depicting 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 such great popularity. All the participants in the filming gained fantastic fame. Speaking about the cast, it is worth noting that the selection was not easy. The actors were changing, "The Lord of the Rings" was repeatedly changed on the whim of the intractable Peter Jackson.

One such example is the actor Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf. According to the scenario, its growth is 2 meters 10 centimeters. The growth of hobbits is not more than 120 cm. To ensure this effect, the camera always shot the actor only in the foreground. It turned out that the participants did not see the artist who played the magician until the time of his death in Moria. Their sorrow at the mourning of a friend is wholly the merit of acting.

How to play the hobbit?

Another thing - hobbits. On their role, they needed subtle actors of low growth, but Sam and Meriadoc had a small abdomen in the script. Elijah Wood is not high in itself, but it was not easy to find actors for the crowd. As a result, instead of the planned 140 people, only 100 extras were invited to the ball in honor of Bilbo's birthday. Sean Astin for the role recovered by 14 kilograms, and Dominic Monahan wore a special suit. For him and the performer of the role of Pippin, Billy Boyd, shooting became a real rest. For several hours they spent on a huge tree, where they were not removed even for lunch. The hobbits had time to work on their own project in the intervals between filming. Food and drinks were served at a height of 4.5 meters, where the actors sat. "The Lord of the Rings" became a pleasant adventure for them.

Hobbitsania itself was built a year before the shooting, so that the props managed to acquire natural scuffs and everything was left with traces of time. At home, Bilbo had two - one in normal human growth, and the other smaller, for the filming of Gandalf in it. The bridge into the Hobbit was made by New Zealand army soldiers from polystyrene.

Men's work

Unlike the hobbits, Viggo Mortensen, the performer of Aragorn's role, suffered a real hurricane of failures and accidents on the set . In New Zealand, he came with his son Henry, who had long persuaded his father to take part in the picture. Mortensen knocked out his tooth, almost drowned and badly damaged his face. The shooting process was under threat. According to the actors, "The Lord of the Rings" was removed 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, because a person can not shoot quickly, like Legolas. The role of Sauron was played by Christopher Lee - a great admirer of Tolkien's creativity, re-reading the book many times. He is the only film crew who knew the writer personally.

Who is under the mask?

The most unusual shooting was for Andy Serkis, who played Gollum. More than 1000 sketches and hundreds of layouts were made before the image of a strange creature appeared. Andy daily drank a special tea of lemon and ginger with the addition of honey. For complete likelihood, he had to imitate sounds produced by a cat trying to regurgitate wool.

The cries of the orcs in the caves were imitated with the help of night opusum screams. For the scoring of a big battle, Jackson collected 25,000 people on the set and made them scream, squeal, cry - all this to record a terrible howling of the orcs during the attack.

After the final battle, the extras were taken away from the set to the ambulance. Many received a heat stroke due to unbearable heat.

During the battle with the dragon, Gandalf fights with a tennis ball. Computer graphics were imposed, and a terrible battle appeared in this form to the viewer. This shell during the shooting is used by many.

The artists who painted sketches for Tolkien's book took part in creating scenery for the film. John Howe came up with costumes for the Morian Orcs. Together with Alan Lee, the artist starred as one of four kings in the prologue to the film.

What about your legs?

The most difficult was, of course, the make-up of the Orcs and the Urukhai. An unusual novelty of the film is the woolen feet of the hobbits. They were a cross between a leather lining and shoes on their feet. "Prostheses" caused terrible inconvenience to actors and make-up artists. I could not remove the lining without problems. As a result, several thousand pairs of such legs were spent on the set. The same happened with the elves' ears.

What did not work out?

It is noteworthy that the roles of Bilbo and Frodo could be played by other actors. Who knows what the picture would look like back then. Instead of Ian Holm, Bilbo played the role of James McAvoy, and the role of his nephew Frodo, Jake Gyllenhaul. Elijah Wood might not become the most famous hobbit. The role of Elrond in all seriousness offered 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, having lost the role of Aragorn, four days after the filming began.

The film "The Lord of the Rings" was not approved by the descendants of the writer, but since he had sold all rights to the film adaptation of the work during his lifetime, they could not influence the course of events.