|
He
gets woken up and told, 'The good news is Saruman's been cast out
of you and you’ll get better quickly, but the bad news is we
want you to come and fight 10,000 Uruk-Hai!'
They’re
being attacked all this time by these monsters that Saruman’s
creating and so he has a decision to make.
It’s
whether they retreat to the traditional impenetrable fortress of
helms deep or whether to stay and fight or attack, which is what
they should do.
But he goes for caution. It’s
to do with the residue of the poison and the attitude that he’s
got and the fear that’s been instilled in him.
 |
| Ian
McKellen as Gandalf |
So
there’s
a terrible dilemma.
A lot
of it’s to do with bravery and how you deal with maturity in
his character in the very beginning. And then as the battles progress
he becomes more bold an realises that they have to reek havoc on
Saruman and hopefully fulfil the quest. So he becomes an honorary
member of the Fellowship.
You’ve
described him as an all-action hero, anything like Bernard Hill?
(Laughs) An all action middle-aged hero, yes absolutely!
I don’t
know really, he’s a man of the people, but he’s the King,
but he’s a popular King. He’s not a dictator, he’s
a benign ruler and he’s a hero to his people. He has a great
following and men fight 'til their death for him. He’s not
a general who sits on the hill, he actually leads the charge. He’s
a brave man, he's full of courage and endeavour.
Not
to blow him up too much, but someone like that I’d genuinely
like as a human being so if I was going to be a king I’d like
to be a king like that.
It’s
filmed in New Zealand, sounds like a good gig!
That
was absolutely wonderful.
Actually
parts of New Zealand remind me of Suffolk. There’s not many
flat bits, but just the atmosphere there. There’s a kind of
a core tranquility about it, a kind of assuredness that this is
fairly close to approaching the perfect way to be.
 |
| Oulton
Broad in Suffolk |
They
do say that New Zealand is the way the world used to be and the
South Island is the way New Zealand used to be. The South Island
is probably one of the most beautiful places on the planet. It is
phenomenal. And one of the world’s hidden secrets in a way.
I loved it, I felt so much at home there immediately.
I loved
it, I loved every aspect of it. It’s an outgoing country but
it’s narrow and surrounded by a lot of water which is familiar
because that’s what it’s like round here.
So
that sense of the sea and the outwardness the kind of departureness
of Suffolk is very much there as well in New Zealand.
 
|
The
Queen 
