Empire Online
12/2003 Interview with Sir Ian McKellen

I think Peter wanted to sharpen up the details of the plot in terms of relationships. Gandalf's link with Frodo, although they don't see each other until the end of the movie, they're constantly thinking about each other so he wanted to beef that aspect up I think.

Is it difficult to go back in character?

We have come back each year so I don't really feel that we've been too long-removed from it. No, I don't think you'd forget the character really. Particularly one you've played for such a long time.

How do you feel now you have to say the final goodbye?

I don't think I'm ever going to say goodbye to New Zealand, and hopefully not to this group of people. If there isn't something for the Fellowship in King Kong I'll be very surprised. And disappointed. And then there's another thing after that that Peter and I are thinking of doing. If you find people you like working with, who like working with you, and who you admire then why spoilt it, you know? It's difficult enough…there are very few good senior filmmakers in my judgement, and Peter Jackson is resoundingly one of them.

Will we see more of Gandalf as a man of action in the third film?

Yes, I think you do. He's running the outfit and everything goes through him this time, so he doesn't vanish for long periods. Of course, he does when you go catch up with Frodo and Gollum and Sam. So yes, you do see him wading in personally, fighting the Orcs.

How has it been working with horses?

Yesterday I was working with Blanka, who is Shadowfax's understudy. There are a number of Shadowfaxes. The principal one is one called Domeiro, who is a very proud horse, and very sociable as well at the same time. He would not work unless there was another horse watching. So Blanka's main job is to kind of watch Domeiro. Well can you imagine being an understudy and having to watch a principal? And eventually it got too much for Blanka and he gave Domeiro a kick or something, so now he's got the part.

As an actor with a background in Shakespearean theatre, how do you find Peter Jackson as a director?

Well I think he should stick to movies rather than plays, because I found him extremely helpful and very clear about what he wants. He's a very good storyteller, but he doesn't go for subtext. But that's the nature of this story, it's very much on the surface. But it's one of the successes of the film that the performances are somehow managing to live up to the special effects.

The first two films have quite distinctive styles of their own. I wonder what you thought the third film's style would be?

 Although they're all part of one, there is a distinction between them. It's tension. I mean they're up against it. Frodo's up against it, he's getting weaker and weaker as the ring gets stronger and stronger. He's trying to cope with Gollum, who's setting him up against his best friend. Elsewhere, Aragorn's story of will he, won't he declare himself King? And will Gandalf get Theoden to fight? Will Minas Tirith be rescued? It's all these ifs. Fran and Peter have been saying from the word go that this was the best of the three films. I think they mean that it's constantly exciting, and it's also moving because there's a resolution at the end.

Is there a notable confidence given the huge success of the first two films?

Yes I think it is, there's a certain giddiness around here of…people happily working long hours without complaining, knowing the end's in sight. I don't think there's ever been from the word go any doubt that this was a project that an audience wanted to see. They kept telling us how we should be doing it. There's one man - I think he's called John - who was peeping through the railings one day when we were shooting just outside Wellington. And Peter spied him and said "what's that man doing?" And he was just mad about the film. "Well bring him in." So he was allowed to stand inside. Now three years later, he's actually working on the film. It's home-made movies, but like home-made cooking it's the best.