Actor Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, left a message on his Facebook page yesterday inviting his fans to ask him questions on the website Reddit.
I’m doing a reddit ama – come ask me anything!
But, what is it an AMA?
One of the most popular subreddits is IAmA (“I am a”) where a user may post “AMAs” (for “Ask Me Anything”), or similarly “AMAAs” ( for “Ask Me Almost Anything”) – prompts for others to ask questions any topic. AMAs are open to all Reddit users, and use the site’s comment system for both questions and answers. A number of notable individuals have participated in the IAmA subreddit, including President Barack Obama […]. (Source: Wikipedia.com)
Among the many questions and answers, we have selected those relating to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Enjoy it!
Why don’t you age!?
There is a painting in my attic that is doing that for me.
Is Ian McKellen as cool as Gandalf in real life?
Ian McKellen might be cooler than Gandalf.
Do you agree that Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar? Also, what was it like eating people in Sin City?
I think his performance is extraordinary. I think if the question is about whether or not a motion capture performer (or performance) should be nominated, or should be considered, the same as another live-action performance, then yes – I think it should be considered. And i think his work in any of the films that he’s done as a motion capture artist has been excellent simply as an actor, motion capture aside. And there’s no question that he has created one of the most memorable characters of the past decade with Gollum. So should he be recognized for his work as an actor? Absolutely. Well, in Sin City I didn’t actually get to eat anyone – there was no simulation of eating – so unfortunately I didn’t even get to have an imagined experience eating the flesh of my victims.
Did you get to keep the ring?
Awesome. Yes, I did. I’ve got one of the Rings. Peter and Fran gave it to me upon completion of pickups for the first film. I don’t know how many other Rings there are, it’s a small number – there are a few really large rings they made for close-ups and different perspectives, depending on what they were shooting the ring for. But I have the standard size that I wore around my neck – and I have the chain as well.
I must say I loved the Faculty, but LOTR was excellent. I would love to know how working with Hugo Weaving was, I know his roles are generally so serious is he just a downright funny guy or what?
he’s a sweetheart. I just recently saw him for the first time in a long time when we were doing promotion for THE HOBBIT. And it reminded me what a kind and gentle soul he is, and very funny, with a great wry sense of humor. The thing is, he can actually be incredibly funny – he was in THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILA, so he can be very funny. Not a lot of people know that.
Thanks for the AMA Elijah! What was your favourite scene to shoot in the LOTR trilogy?
I would say that one of the more gratifying scenes to shoot was the scene with Frodo and Sam on the side of Mount Doom, when Sam has to pick Frodo up to take him up the side of the mountain. It was really emotional and difficult, yet it felt really good. And any scene from THE FELLOWSHIP with a large group of us – with the four Hobbits, or with other members – those scenes were always a lot of fun, because we all got along so well. When The Fellowship broke at the end of the first film, in some ways that happened while we were shooting, because different factions were shooting in different sets – so it was always nice to see friends.
