Hey people, I got the Pavement magazine's 50th issue 'Lord of the Rings'. I found heaps of interviews in there with the Lord of the Rings characters, including Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortenson, Peter Jackson, Sir Ian McKellen, The Uruk-hai warrior, Ngila Dickson(costume designer) and WETA(special effects workshop).
Here is Liv Tyler's interview from PAVEMENT
PAVEMENT: How familiar were you with LOTR before you became involved in the project?
LIV TYLER: I didn't know much actually, other than being in school and hearing boys talk about it. It was amazing to be able to discover a whole new world and to arrive in New Zealand, where they had already spent so much time designing sets and characters and creatures and effects, and then to step into the world and see everything come to life immediately after reading it.
P: How was it for you to arrive in the midst of what was ostensibly a boy's club?
LT: When I arrived, the boys had already all been there for a month so it was weird. Well, it wasn't weird but they had already established this really intense bond and I was immediately invited into that and treated with extra nice boy treatment.
But, you know, just by the nature of who their characters are, all being part of the fellowship, it was important that they all had that bond together.
P: How was it different working in New Zealand on a film?
LT: I don't think it could have been shot anywhere else. I mean, the land is so beautiful and so rich and so untouched in a way I had never seen. To me, I always felt it was Middle-earth and everything I saw in my mind came to life and it was even more spectacular. There was also a real sense of excitement from all the people. They never shunned us in any way and they were just really happy that we were there, and proud. We took over all of Wellington, every warehouse and every big building, and I just got a feeling that they really supported the film. And they were such a big part of it too.
P: What qualities does an elf-princess have?
LT: It's hard to describe because it's such a powerful passion, a classic love story. These two people, against all odds. You know, one's mortal, one's immortal, and they're completely separated in everything and they come together and try to make that love work. There's a lot of sacrificing.
P:Is there a love scene?
LT:Humping elves?(laughs)
P: How do you compare the experience of working in a film like LOTR to a film like Armageddon?
LT: They are completely different films, though they are the largest films I've done. I don't always do so well in those experiences. It's hard for me. I tend to prefer the smaller experiences but it's important for me to adapt. The confusing thing and the amazing thing is that although it's one of the biggest movies ever made financially and scope-wise, it felt like one of the small independent films that I've done. We were in New Zealand. There wasn't all those Hollywood perks, by any means. You know, the big trailers and fancy lunches. That stuff just didn't exist. Even the studio wasn't a studio. It was a converted warehouse underneath the airport, so planes went by all the time and there was no heating and no air-conditioning. The conditions were intense. Wellington is a very intense place, weather-wise. It's very windy and rainy but also really magical.
P: What did you do while you were living in New Zealand?
LT: I shopped at Zambeski. Weekly. What did we do? We worked a lot and if we weren't working, we were horseback riding and sword fighting and having fittings and working with dialect coaches. And that part of it was very full-on. I'm not the most sporty person, so I didn't go bungi jumping and stuff like that. They boys did. I swam in the sea once, which was unbelievably freezing cold, and laid on the rocks like a beached whale. It's weird because the sun is so strong but the air can be so cold, so if you're in the shade for a moment, it would be freezing. Sometimes in the morning, the crew would have snow gear on, like hats and scarves, and then by lunch they'd be standing in tank tops and shorts. It's a really interesting climate.
P: How do you think your ambitions in Hollywood have changed over the years?
End of Part 1