PART TWO
My college education finally paid off! I was able to take lots of notes, some of which I can actually read. These pages are going to contain my opinion and short passages of remarks the stars made.
Friday
By Losillë - Comments by Ala in Italics
Jorn Benzon, Jarl Benzon, Sandro Kopp and Peter Tait were on stage.
Peter Tait said that hundreds of people were on PJ's lawn looking for parts in the movie. Tait had read LOTR by torch light (that is flash light to American's, he wasn't trying to burn down his house) as a child when he was suppose to be asleep. He thought that, "Orcs were fantastic creatures that were under represented." He spent 4 1/2 to 5 hours in makeup when he first started. As the makeup artist became more familiar with the prosthesis, the time shortened to 3 hours. He told us he had an idea for a movie and asked PJ to be in it. PJ said yes and appeared without pay. His movie would be about a group of people that wanted to be in the LOTR.
I think he said they were hanging out eating meat pies and drinking when he came up with the idea for the movie. Meat pies are very popular in New Zealand. Tait said that Peter Jackson loves meat pies. In New Zealand they would eat meat pies instead of a hamburger. He also mentioned PJ’s addiction to meat pies had significantly contributed to his somewhat rotund physique and that whenever PJ got cranky it was a sign that it was time for his meat pie ‘fix’.
He made the movie Bogans. This is a word that loosely means garage dwelling head bangers. The main cast included Peter Tait (Shagrat and Corsair Captain - TTT & ROTK), Stephen Ure –) (Gorbag -- ROTK), Ian Hughes (Irolas - ROTK John Leigh (Hama - TTT). You MUST buy this movie! No matter which country you live in, you have met the guys in the movie. I think I actually dated the American equivalent. Trust me girls, you really do know guys just like these. I could truly see all the New Zealanders flocking to Peter Jackson’s front yard to get auditioned for the movie that was going to make them all rich.
The intro to the movie is, a bunch of guys shaking beer cans, spraying each other and playing air guitar on a tennis racquet. Just like my son and his friends hanging out in the barn when they were teens. Loved them already. As they sit around drinking Red Lion beer they hear an ad about LOTR on the radio. They had no idea what a Hobbit was and the conversation between them is funny and clueless. One was sure Hobbits were "like gnomes." They decide to go to "Wet Duck Films" studio and ask about how to get into the movie. The phone had been disconnected so they took it out to the telephone pole and tapped into someone else's service. I’ve done that, and let say right here that the phone company gets absolutely unreasonable if they catch you and you can get a nasty shock. They find out there is no company called "Wet Duck" but there is a Wing Nut Films in Wellington. One of them steals his mom's car battery and off they go. ROAD TRIP!!
The film follows their progress to Wellington to find Peter Jackson, become stars and make lots of money. They have some very original ideas for travel including a unique way to fill the radiator when the car overheats. Be prepared to cry when they rip pages from a mint condition 1955 hard copy of LOTR to find out more about Hobbits. I also love their efforts to look more like hobbits by rummaging through Salvation Army type dumpsters. Please buy this video; you will not regret it. The scene where they find "Peter Jackson" in the Wellington phone book and go to the man's house under the cover of night is priceless. I won't tell you where PJ is in the film, but his role is hilarious!
Tait said that working on the set of LOTR with PJ was amazing as the man is "a rotund blur" always on the go. He said that PJ is a terrible actor as he does every take differently. He acts, then runs over to the monitor, plays it back then shoots the scene again completely differently. Tait has fantastic stage presence and kept us laughing while pantomiming PJ acting.
Sandro (Wow! He’s gorgeous) Kopp explained the filming of the army of the dead. There were about 20 people that were playing the part. They would shoot them in one position then move them slightly and shoot them again. They had a problem with people showing through each other. It was a process of filming and repositioning so that you would be next to yourself not standing inside yourself, then being moved again until the entire army was filmed. The makeup was at an odd angle on his face. He said he had to look off to the side in order for the soldier to be looking at the correct mark, move without stepping into his other self and allow Viggo to walk past him at the same time. Viggo was actually dots on the floor. He used his body to move us through the steps of the filming, his head turned away showing us his pretend line of sight. He is a very good performer, comfortable on stage and very entertaining. And did I mention he is really pretty? You can see him here.
The three were asked with whom they enjoyed working the most. Christopher Lee was mentioned and Viggo. Tait apparently doesn't care for Americans, although he said that he enjoyed working with Elijah who had rekindled his "faith that Americans were NICE people." He didn't say if any of us had helped with his opinion. Sandro mentioned he was happy to have worked with Ian Holm.
Bruce Hopkins (Gamlin - FOTR, TTT, ROTK). This man is an absolute explosion of energy. When asked what he had learned for the film, he said horse riding. The role of Gamling was added later in production of the films. The battle at the fields of the Pelennor had been shot before he was added to the cast so his scenes were filmed with a blue screen. In one session he had to film a riding scene on "Phony Pony." He was rocking back and forth -- he went forth and Phony Pony wouldn't move back. He’d broken it! The end result was Phony Pony with a pole passing through from ‘you know where’ in the back out through the chest and four men bouncing on the pipe to simulate riding.
It was pointed out that there was no conclusion to Gamling's role and he said it was left open for a sequel. We need to encourage PJ to pick up the story line.
He also mentioned that Led Zeppelin 4 had Rohirrim music written for LOTR. He played the music on set to stay up.
He stroked the top of his ear and said, "What is this... An Elf masturbating." It was silly and funny.
Hopkins was a former dancer in a dance company and could imitate movement easily, so he could imitate riding by copying what he had seen. He couldn't really ride -- "Every time I got on a horse it bolted."
He was asked about people he had met after filming LOTR by a woman in a ridiculously short skirt and stiletto-heeled, hooker-style knee boots. She had nice legs and he was impressed with the length of her skirt and asked her to come up on stage. *Yawn* *Yawn* The attendees were 99.9% female and we were not impressed. He said Winnie Jackson was one of the most amazing people he had met. We learned more about her later on.
What other character would he have liked to play? He said he is always tempted to say Orlando Bloom, not Legolas, Orlando Bloom. *devilish look* He is like "a stringed instrument. I could play him well." As you can imagine the women started screaming. "I have 3 kids, just joking," he added.
Bruce told us about Operation Read. It started in California which ranks last in reading skills in the US according to him. He also said that 65% of the people in southern California are illiterate.
Losille’s soapbox please.
(As a Californian I must add that is not entirely the fault of the school system. According to California Literacy, "5,000,000 adults in California (approximately 22%) speak a language other than English in their home. (U.S. Census)” The census does not include illegal aliens. There are an estimated 200,000,000 illegal aliens in the US currently. You are considered illiterate if you cannot read English; other languages are not taken into consideration. The educators are struggling to work children into the school system that have only been in the country a matter of days. And in most cases, doing a great job with very little money.) *Now putting Losille’s soapbox away…but keeping it handy just in case she gets the urge again*
He said that Reading Ring rewarded children for reading. Children that read LOTR were on the red carpet with the stars. Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema embraced the idea. Twelve thousand children got to see LOTR in LA. We met Winnie Jackson from Operation Read. She has done a wonderful job working with students to raise their reading skills.
He went on to say that geography and history are not being taught in some schools in southern California and that Tolkien linked the past to the present. I am not sure if he meant the writer or the book, since LOTR would be linking mythology to the present. Bruce, as much as we would like The Trilogy to be history and Middle Earth to be a geographic location, it is a myth. You can’t mean hobbits aren’t real!! Blasphemy!!
A message from Peter Jackson was screened. He said he would rather have been with us partying, but he was working on a little film called King Kong. He reminded the crew that they had promised to come back and be squashed by King Kong. He thought it would be great to have the crew back together again. We all agreed with that one.
Then we waited for Dom. My bum was going numb, but I was afraid to get up and leave.
We watched one of the finalists in the fan film contest. They copied a Fandango movie ad. Fandango is advertisement for a number you can call for movie listings and to purchase ticket. The bag puppets in a Fandango ad go to a movie and talk about the people and popcorn. The bag puppets in the "Fellowship of the Bags" were dressed as characters from the LOTR movie-watching people. It was cute and looked very professional and was an exact copy of the ads. It was also an exact blatant advertisement for ‘Ringer’s Lord of the Fans’ movie.
Dom was stuck in traffic on his way over from a luncheon in Beverly Hills.
The next fan film was a fantastic computer generated aerial view of a map of Middle Earth. It was an incredible visual! It was very original and showed real talent. Really cool…wish I were that talented.
Dominic Monahan
(I am not putting up a link for Dom, if you don't know who he is, email me and I will explain, as you obviously found this page by mistake.)
He said that he had spent the holidays with Billy and Elijah. He wanted us to play a joke on them; he wanted us to say, “Door, X, triangle."
Regarding Lost, he said he didn't know what had happened on the last episode that was aired. They were further ahead in production. He said, "Claire has come back right?" Everyone screamed. He indicated that maybe he shouldn't have said that. This episode aired the next week.
Favorite eggs - he likes coddled eggs (they are like poached eggs, you can infuse with other things). “Billy likes scrambled. Elijah likes unfertilized - he is a wild man.”
He was asked to do an impression and did a great impression of Viggo. He said something about Viggo and Twinkies that I didn't get...I think it was that he loved Twinkies about as much as PJ loves meat pies and Viggo would send them to him, or something to that effect.
Favorite part of being a Hobbit, They are “Humans with sin taken out." He likes that they are pure. I love that.
A fan said she had given him the ‘Viggo Bites’ pins. He said they wore them to the Hidalgo Premiere. He wanted them to arrive on toy horses because Viggo had arrived on a horse. In a Monty Python reference, he said he wanted to have someone run behind them with coconuts. Viggo loved the badges and the hobbyhorses.
Is he recognized more now for LOTR or Lost? He said people feel you are more accessible when you are in film. About 60% of the time he is recognized for LOTR. He still gets called Billy sometimes. A guy at the airport yelled, “Hello Pippin!” People on set never got their names straight and some of them just slurred the names. “We are like Laurel and Hardy, always together.” (After you have read this, go to the home page and read my Dom moment about this.)
His favorite location for LOTR? Edoras. He said he and Billy hung out watching Laurel and Hardy and Pink Panther movies.
What made LOTR most special? He said that "…everything after LOTR was because of LOTR. Before everything was preparing for LOTR." He said at the end of the trilogy friends "got me to a head space" where he wanted to be. "Life has a way of kicking you in the ass and smearing chocolate on your bum. I don't know if I answered that question. I talked about my ass and chocolate." *hmmm…chocolate and Dom’s bum….hmmm*
Will you do comedy? "If I do, I want to do it with Billy." ( Yes Dom, we want you to ‘do it’ with Billy too. My beta Stella Hobbit added this, no comment)
Most influential person? Dom said that Billy is the most influential person in his life, the most influential person he has met.
About Billy he said, "He isn't trying to be happy. He is happy. He is funny as hell when you get a few beers in him and we are going to get married." The women started screaming. He caused the estrogen level to rise significantly in the room. Then he looked down and pinched his first finger and thumb together and in a rather quiet voice said, "Got to squelch that gay thing." *snort* like that’ll happen… we’re having way too much fun with it.
On playing Charlie, he said that playing a rock star was fun -- “No problem, being in a band and pretending to sing."
He was asked if he still wore mascara. (Let me interject here, that question irritated me. In my opinion he looked uncomfortable and a little sad when he answered). He said his agent told him to stop wearing makeup. I hope he stands his ground and does what he pleases. If you agree send me an email and we’ll figure out a way to get the messages to his representative.
His voice went down low again and he said something like, "Not many people wear makeup. Girls do." He echoed my feelings perfectly. "Women can do anything, no problem. Men don't have the same freedom.” *looks around for soap box* He saw Eddie Izzard and I can't remember what he said exactly, but it seemed to be a defining moment for him. I got the feeling he then thought men could wear makeup and still be successful. Personally, I think that Eddie Izzard is gorgeous and incredibly funny, rent Eddie's tape. Ciao.
He said he had tried on his mom's heels; his dad walked in and said, "What are you doing?" His dad said it was okay but had the "don't ever do that again” look on his face.
He said he always wore nail varnish (we know and we love it). We call it nail polish. When he wears eyeliner, “…people are like ‘He’s wearing eye liner!’"
On the death scenes in film. "Charlie's modus operandi, use some Latin." Everyone laughed at the way he threw that out there.
When playing a death scene he tries to go into a "sort of sleep." When filming the Lost scene about Charlie, I think he said they were trying to get more out of Charlie. It went "…on so long. Hard to be in a sleep state with someone spanking on your chest."
Bars in Wellington. They spent time at the Tupelo Bar. They misunderstood the name of the bar and he, Elijah, Sean, Billy and Orlando went out asking directions for the "Two Pillows Bar". He said "most of our most drunker moments" were spent there.
Asked about flying to locations in helicopters. He perked right up on this one. The Hobbits flew up alone. They asked the pilots, "To do loop to loops…the best way to get Sean Astin not to ride with you." The pilot refused his request to try to pick up a bicycle with his runners.
He said that Sean Astin is a safety freak. He, Billy and Elijah would be throwing stones at each and playing while Sean spent time directing helicopters. Dom asked Elijah to ask Sean if he knew pilots talked to each other. He talked about the problem Sean Bean had flying in the helicopter.
Boxers or briefs? "I don't believe in underwear, crushes artistic integrity. Don't send me underwear. Send it to Billy. He wears it up to here.” (He indicated chest high). “Keeps him warm in the winter." Wouldn't it be fun if we sent Billy underwear with a note saying Dom told us to do it? He could give them to a local homeless shelter or charity.
Practical jokes? "If you fall asleep on set, you are fair game." His favorites are putting chocolate chips on the car seat to melt, and putting fish or meat on the engine. Children, do NOT do this at home.
Does he have input for Lost? He gave us some examples. Charlie was supposed to say ‘dude’ and he told them Charlie wouldn't say dude. Another time the script called a girl a cow, he said that was not quite right. Charlie originally wasn't as ‘twitchy’ as he is playing him.
He turned and looked across the room. "Hi.” pause “There are no men here." Another scream from the almost all female audience.
Music? Big fan of Radio Head (and listens to reggae a lot. The mood of Charlie is very Richard Ashcroft. (I have no idea who he is.) If you want to hear some music clips go to this fan site and click on music link. Click on the green arrow on the right side. If you like him, save the site owner’s bandwidth by clicking on the link and using "Save Target As" and saving it to your computer hard drive. Then you can play the songs over and over and over. (That is the Window instructions. If you have an Apple, you already know how to do it. If not, contact me and I’ll get Stella Hobbit (the resident Mac freak) to help you.) He likes The Verve, (just found out Richard Ashcroft does the lead vocals), some classical, Wu Tang and Public Enemy. “Any guy screaming makes you run fast."
Souvenirs from LOTR? He was given the sword of Rohan, a clapperboard, and stole a bunch of feet. They were shredded by WETA at the end of the day. He has a bag of ears. He expects the police "…to come around. Think I’m a serial killer.”
Car and a phone yet and sleeping on Elijah' couch? He said he has a Prius (pronounced Pree-us). It is a hybrid and Dom is very environmentally conscious. He "bumped it" and blamed Billy because he was "gabbing on" about something. He still doesn't have a landline; he uses his cell phone. I don't think he liked the part about sleeping on Elijah's couch. He said Elijah is moving right now and he is sleeping on his own job. (I think its time to move on folks, he has an American job now and has his life is together. Stop reminding him of the hard times.)
The Elijah interview on the EEDVD? This question he enjoyed. He said, “My favorite prank I have been able to pull." Originally he was just going to say ‘Hi’. He wanted Billy and him to go in and just give Elijah hell. He wrote down fictional quotes because they always get insane questions like “What is the malady of your character?" During the interview he could see Elijah's publicist saying cut, cut. Elijah wanted to continue. Peter Jackson loved it. It was close to Dom's birthday and Peter wanted to do it again. Peter said they should do it again with a prosthetic device so that Elijah won't recognize him. If you haven’t found this on your EERotK DVD, ask one of us how to find it. It is hysterical.
Did he read LOTR before the movie? As a kid coming back from Germany he had The Hobbit on tape. He had a LOTR poster in his room when he was a child. "My dad is a teacher. He had given me books." He said his dad was preparing him for LOTR with the other books he had received. He loved Frodo and Aragorn. "Feels like pre-history of the world to me." He told his mom she must read LOTR before she came to New Zealand. He was joking, but she read it. Gollum was her favorite character.
Charlie's drug addiction. A lady stepped up to ask the question and said she was more nervous than she should be. Tomorrow she would be a "puddle of goo" with Billy. Dom said, "Yes, he is cute, isn't he?" He doesn't have a heavy drug background so he used Requiem for a Dream as the inspiration for Charlie. He talked about Charlie's withdrawals and how Disney had to handle it in prime time. He said it is on at 7pm in Maui. He met a five-year-old that said Lost was her favorite show. Dom asked her if she thought it was scary and in a little girl’s voice, he said, "No." The drug addiction part was a struggle for him. Disney doesn't want him to upset fans by being too dark.
He talked about Last Stand. Dom is the project spokesperson. Dom said the project raises money for trees. He talked about the Fellowship Forest and is waiting for the different pieces to come together. He added that everything is going great.
he woman that was dressed as a Hobbit by WETA at the event last year was there; I think her name was Leah. Dom said he remembered her.
After Dom left the stage there was a power failure. It was okay because they had lots of floodlights and suddenly there were security guards EVERYWHERE. Some were herding people to the center room; others were just standing around waiting. I felt very safe. When the lights came back on they all disappeared again. I don't know where they went. They must keep them locked in the basement or something.
There was a panel discussion about the Ringers video that included Dom. He looked like he felt out of place. A fan gave him a whistle. He had that, "Oh look, something shiny and interesting" look on his face. He blew it, looked at it, then remembered he was suppose to be paying attention and put it in his pocket.
I couldn't find my cell phone and I tore my purse apart looking for it. Finally, Ala had to call me in order to find it. She laughed at me. She did that a lot during this trip. Is this where I tell everyone it was in your pocket? (bite me)
We got into line to get our autograph from Dom. That story will be in my Moments section on the main page.
We were told that someone special would introduce the band playing that night. We thought it would be Dom since he was there.
We got in line early enough that we weren't too far from the entrance and waited. The lines were the second most fun after seeing the actors. We had a fantastic time. I met a really nice guy from Utah, that owned a bakery. There was a woman (Suzanne, see pic she has a million dollar smile) in the front of the line that was cracking everyone up. As a joke, she started moving everyone up the stairs and giving instructions. Soon people were walking up to her and asking her questions. I fell over laughing. We officially designated her the leader. She had some terrific pictures taken at other events she had been to. We passed the albums around and ooo’d and aaaw’d at all the great pics. It really helped to pass the time while sitting/standing outside on the freezing steps. It got so uncomfortable we moved the line inside the door…then down the stairs…then down the next stairs…then finally to the head of the hall. We figured if anyone said anything then we’d blame it on Suzanne who, after all, was the leader.
When we got inside there was a dessert bar. It was nice. They had a chocolate fountain, but you weren't allowed to stick your face in it. I will say with absolute certainty and with no offense to TOR.n -- if World Without Sundays hadn't played, the people that paid $65 to get in would have been seriously ripped off!
I expected Dom to introduce the band based on what Quickbeam had said (I was ready to jump up and get some good Dom pics for my friend Thrania) when Quickbeam said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Billy Boyd." The room went crazy! Billy ahhh! He is just gorgeous. Forget Thrania, I wanted pics of Billy! Billy called Dom out on stage. Elijah was probably hiding in the back. I think he is shy. They introduced World Without Sundays. Billy said they are … " the best band in the world." (see Main Page side bar for picture link of Billy and Elijah jamming with WWS)
My plan had been to take a few pics of Dom and of the band and then sit and whine until Ala agreed to leave. She likes the kind of music I expected them to play and I don't. I had no idea the band members were friends with Elijah, Billy and Dom. My tastes in music run to Nelly and Usher so I was prepared to hate the music.
I was up against the stage taking pictures. The next thing I knew my shoe was off my foot. I had on strap back shoes and someone stepped on the back of my shoe. I was pushed one way and my shoe went the other. There was a hoard of girls behind me. I couldn't find my shoe and I was blocked in so tight I couldn't move. If it had been men lying on my back I would have enjoyed it! I took my other shoe off and slid it under the stage. It was so embarrassing -- I was the only old person there. I am waaayyyy too old uh-huh, uh-huh to have been in the front! I thought about crawling under the stage (I have done that before). There wasn't enough room for me to get down underneath and the people running the event probably would have had kittens. Finally I just said to hell with it and stayed. To my surprise, I really liked the music. It was fun. Ala got a lot of enjoyment out of my situation. I might mention that she was taking the pictures with my digital camera and I expected her to be right back after getting the shots of Dom/Billy and then get some long distance shots from our seats. But, by being squashed up against the stage, she got better shots of the guys in the band.
The talent show was wonderful. Everyone was funny and happy. I wish they had taped it for everyone to see. The participants put so much time and money into their costumes. My favorite was two girls dressed as Hobbits. Too bad I didn't have my notebook at the evening show. I could have written more than just what I remembered. So much was going on at the same time it was hard to take it all in. The band was great. I could go for Shox….he has that scruffy Aragorn thing goin’ on. (I get the last word in so I would like to point out that Shox is quiet beautiful, but Guy is beautifuller. He is almost as beautiful as Elijah. I said almost, so send me email telling me how beautiful Elijah is.)
We went back to the motel room so exhausted we could barely move.
