'Oh, I was just going to ignore them!' jokes Elijah: a jest that is rewarded with a headmasterly frown from Christopher Lee: 'It's actually very important that we don't stop to chat or sign things, or we'll be there, literally, all night!' With a perfectly straight face, Elijah asks if it is permitted to wave? 'By all means acknowledge them', he is told, 'but please don't stop and don't go across to the public barriers on the other side -' Ian McKellan is somewhere above the Atlantic on Concorde, en route from New York and, as of now, no-one is sure whether Cate Blanchett - who gave birth to her son, Dashiell, only three days ago - will be attending the premiere or not.įor those who have made it to the briefing, there is much to take in: the times of departure by car from the Dorchester and arrival in Leicester Square arrangements for partners, relatives and guests and the procedure to be followed once at the Odeon Theatre: 'You'll make your way along the red carpet, past the press corps in the pen to your right but, please, do not stop -' The rest of the cast - Liv Tyler, John Rhys-Davies, Viggo Mortensen and the two Seans (Astin and Bean) - are still at it in other suites up and down the corridor: attempting to answer the same questions over and over as if they've never heard them before trying to think in those much-desired sound-bites remembering to smile. At the other end of the room, Elijah Wood and family are lounging on sofas and armchairs along with Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd. Everyone is more or less exhausted from two days of non-stop media interviews - as many as fifty a day - and far too tired to do more than pick at the generous spread of fruit, cheese and pastries. It is lunchtime on Sunday, December 9th 2001 and New Line Cinema's Tracy Lorie is taking the cast of The Fellowship of The Ring through the schedule for the next day's world premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square.Īround the table sit Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Orlando Bloom and Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger. True, the setting and characters are rather different - we are in a sumptuous suite at the Dorchester Hotel in London and those being briefed are stars - but the mood is spot on. To be specific, it's like a scene from one of those Battle of Britain films of the 1950s in which the intrepid young airmen are being given a last, stiff-upper lip, briefing prior to scrambling to their planes. (All text in brown is from this same article) Previous chapters can be found here "A JOURNEY WITH FRODO"ĭecember 2001 - and a massive milestone is reached in this tale as the first film in the LOTR trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, is revealed at the world premiere - which is aptly held in London, UK.įrom 'The Making of the Movie Trilogy' by Brian Sibley In reliving Elijah's journey, and mine, I am using everything I can lay my hands on - behind-the-scenes material from the various dvd's, magazine articles, books, internet sites, tv coverage, word-of-mouth info, etc. To finish up a chapter I always like to pick out a quote to accompany the final pic and with this chapter I was really spoilt for choice - there were so many accolades for Elijah's portrayal of Frodo!įor anyone unfamiliar with my pet project, 'A Journey With Frodo' (a work in progress) is the story of Elijah Wood's experience in becoming Frodo, from back in 1998 when the LOTR movies were just a whisper up to the triumphant Oscars of Feb 2004. With Chapter 23 of 'A Journey With Frodo' I have reached a real milestone - the world premiere of FOTR in London - and I must say that Brian Sibley's article from 'The Making of the Movie Trilogy' has been invaluable in setting the scene with his vivid descriptions.
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