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Robyn Malcolm in the news - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

September 14, 2000 at 13:27:37

Tolkien fans were introduced to Robyn Malcolm a few months ago when it was revealed the New Zealand actress would play a small role in Peter Jakcson's 'The Lord of the Rings'.

Malcolm's character, Morwen, a woman of Rohan, is completely non-canonical but relatively uncontroversial. Her part in the movies is finished and she has moved on to other projects.

In fact, Malcolm has gone on to help found The New Zealand Actors Company, a traveling theater troupe which is currently staging "A Midsummer Night's Dream", a popular Shakespearean play. The company plans to stage 2 or 3 productions in 2001, and has already selected a New Zealand playwright's work for its next production.

At the end of July Malcolm found time to share with some theater students at Morrinsville College.

Even when she injured a leg muscle during rehearsal, Malcolm found time to entertain and a willing audience in the children's ward of the hospital which treated her.

The production has merited enough notice in the New Zealand press that even the costume designer has gotten some attention.

The amazing thing about Peter Jackson's production is that he has been able to tap a relatively large pool of accomplished actors in the small island nation of New Zealand. So, when Tolkien fans around the world finally see these unfamiliar faces, many of whom may never appear in a large international production again, they should be comforted in the knowledge that they are not all one-time wonders, but in many cases are professional career actors.

Malcolm, like so many other New Zealand actors, spent several years working on the television drama Shortland Stree, and has earned some internatonal recognition for her role there in the markets outside New Zealand where the show has aired.