| Associated Press, 16 December 2003 NEW YORK - Elijah
Wood (news), star of "The Lord of the Rings" films, is bracing for
separation anxiety.
"When the press is finished and the movies are out, there will be a
certain feeling of sadness," he said. "We're going to have to arrange
something for next year to bring us all back together."
Wood plays the hobbit Frodo Baggins, who was entrusted with the ring
and must throw it into the fires of Mount Doom to save Middle Earth from
the evil lord Sauron.
The actors became so engrossed in the movie that Middle Earth began to
seem almost real, he said.
"Those names that may seem slightly obscure to some were as real to us
as the Hollywood hills," he said. "We became very familiar with the world,
and the locations that we would travel to became those places to us in
some ways."
Some theaters will start showing "The Return of the King" at midnight
Tuesday. It opens nationwide Wednesday.
Wood said the trilogy has become a part of pop culture that was
embraced by the world.
"It's become this really massive thing that I think will carry on for
years and years to come," he said.
The film also stars Viggo Mortensen (news) as the warrior Aragorn,
Orlando Bloom (news) as the elf Legolas, Ian McKellen (news) as the wizard
Gandalf, and Liv Tyler (news) as the elf Arwen.
"The fellowship will carry on for the rest of our lives, even after the
movies, even after we don't have to be together for the films," Wood said.
"I think that we will always know each other and be together in one way or
another for the rest of our lives. That's the one thing we're holding on
to." |