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Tolkien movie actors speak at Dragoncon...about everything BUT the movie... - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

July 01, 2000 at 02:45:40

Brad Dourif and Karl Urban have been hugely popular at Dragoncon. The two actors, appearing in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings", are on hiatus from the movies (as the entire cast is). Fans were standing in the hallway outside the Tolkien and Middle-earth programming track, craning their necks to listen to the actors discuss their fealings about being in the films and their careers and future plans.

Dourif and Urban will be sharing a panel in main programming at 11:30 AM Saturday morning (the Tolkien track will close down for the duration) and again in the Tolkien track room on Sunday.

The actors have been tight-lipped about details of the movies, politely refusing to share any plot details or to discuss anything that might reveal the exact progression of events so as to preserve the integrity of the production as much as possible. Both actors have shared anecdotes about offscreen activities with actors and staff concerning their personal feelings about participating in the largest movie production in history. Both actors have assured the fans are impressed at every turn with the attention to detail provided in all aspects of the production.

Dourif did offer a cautious admonition to fans, repeating oft-stated warnings by Peter Jackson and others, that the requirements of telling a story through film may require some chronological changes in the presentation, as going stricty by the books might result in following the second act of one segment of the story with the 3rd act of another film (he was speaking hypothetically to illustrate the point without indicatin whether any radical changes would be made, leaving the audience guessing about his exact meaning).

Karl Urban sidestepped several questions about plot details, saying only he felt fans would not be disappointed. Both actors have read the book and are familiar with their characters as portrayed by J.R.R. Tolkien. Neither actor could say much (due to restrictions imposed by their conrtracts) about their characters, except to indicate they were very excited to be in the movie. Urban went so far as to say he would have accepted "third spearman from the left", had that been the part offered to him.

Karl Urban is starting development on a new television series, The Privateers, which he has described as a sort of "pirates in space" action/adventure series which will be filmed in North America.

Brad Dourif is already looking forward to working on a new horror film about ghouls later this year when his work on "The Lord of the Rings" is finished.