Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm - Lord of the Rings Interview

Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen and Ian Holm discuss their characters in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy seated in the Shire.

[@neildaly2635]

Lee was clearly the only real Tolkien freak, his analysis of Saruman bespeaks a thorough knowledge of the legendarium.

[@mevb]

Not only did he read the books once every year.since they came out, he had met J.R.R. Tolkien, which he's the only one in the cast and crew to do so.

[@ghostinthemachine8243]

I could listen to Christopher Lee talk about anything for hours on end. Also, he was a badass soldier during WW II.

[@mevb]

@@ghostinthemachine8243 According to Peter Jackson and some of the other actors, he liked to talk about his life experiences, which he could spend a long time telling about and you get a taste of that in the behind the scenes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey during the filming of Saurman's scenes during the White Council meeting, Lee told the stories of the corkscrew flip stunt in The Man of the Golden Gun (which Lee played the title character), going to Macau and told the classic boomerang joke.

[@mannaandmonsters]

Ian Holm was very familiar with it as well

[@ellietobe]

I’m really surprised that Lee was able to keep himself from commenting on how much of his own stuff Jackson wrote into the movies. Jackson said that Tolkien’s characters were “too good” so he changed their personalities and even their character. Saruman was a really bad guy. By the time of the war of the ring Saruman really did hate everyone….even nasty old Worm Tongue.

[@TP_TheOneWhoDreams]

This is acting royalty.

[@IANRogel09]

Rest in peace Christopher Lee (1922-2015) and Ian Holm (1931-2020)

[@mdgarciasa]

I'm happy to know that Lee probably had the time of his life playing a character he knew so much about and cared about so much. It adds a new layer to how I view his performance in the movies.

[@kryoboy3.0]

He wanted to play gandalf but peter jackson thought he excelled at saruman👍

[@apples-fj8eu]

​@@kryoboy3.0he knew he would be a great Gandalf, but he couldn't see anyone else as saruman

[@steveb6718]

My favorite scene is Saruman and Gandalf walking together

[@andrewvincent7299]

@@apples-fj8eu I agree with Peter Jackson. Christopher Lee has been playing villains his whole life in film, he excelled in that quality. That seething anger and jealousy and hubris that Saruman has, Christopher Lee is the only one who could masterfully pull that off. On the other hand, I can't imagine anyone else being able to capture the warmth, wisdom and utter humanity of Gandalf that Ian McKellen could. The casting for those two was absolute perfection.

[@Spacemonkeymojo]

God Sir Christopher Lee's brain is something else. He was older than Sir Ian by about 17 years but still razor sharp.

[@markmauk8231]

Which Sir Ian? There are two.

[@Spacemonkeymojo]

@@markmauk8231oh, McKellen I mean.

[@visionist7]

@@markmauk8231 so they all three had knighthoods already in 2001

[@markmauk8231]

@@visionist7 But only two are named Ian.

[@mevb]

​@visionist7 Actually, Sir Christopher Lee wasn't knighted until 2009, unlike Ian McKellen and Holm who was already knighted at this point.

[@AgentOrange8108]

Massively intelligent actors

[@Balt21Raven]

Christopher Lee being phenomenal beyond all reason as usual.

[@pendorran]

What a trio. Three great actors, all knighted.

[@NPA1001]

Three absolute Giants.

[@Golgari213]

The fact that Ian Holms was in a first name basis with Sir Christopher Lee is showing of how close of friends they were. Rest in peace to both legends.

[@bfkc111]

​@@thefonzkiss How ironic to put this aggressive and unnecessary statement in such an awkward and incompetent way.

[@brithaddenhadden8383]

@@thefonzkiss says the putrid pompous punk !

[@davbooms]

​@@thefonzkiss why can't someone mistake himself about a name?

[@owen5964]

I don't understand the comments on this post. It ain't that serious, yo

[@Joshua-jj4xn]

Not really

[@slw59]

The casting in these movies was perfection.

[@Jungletraveler00_12]

Lord of the Rings was also unique because the casting was a success. You have the cinema veterans like Christopher Lee, actors in their prime like Viggo Mortensen and then young actors like Elijah Wood.

[@selfawarebot1]

true, the whole cast was perfect.

[@criert135]

“You have elite cinema veterans, awesome actors in their prime and then you have Elijah Wood” lol

[@aristocraticrebel]

I've never seen this interview before. Great content.

[@MM------]

So this was at Cannes, you can find the 26 minute bit they screened that Ian Holm mentioned online and it's very intriguing, it's funny how they aren't exactly singing the movie's praises yet, shows how uncertain it was before the success

[@comeondown12345]

Wow how have i never seen this interview till now!?!

[@pinakimukherjee8300]

What makes their performance special is their deep understanding and appreciation for the iconic roles they're cast into. They knew what they're up-to and adopted accordingly while asserting their own unique style to give us thre of the most memorable character portrayal in the history of motion pictures!

[@BeardedDanishViking]

It's quite amazing what can be achieved when people understand the source material that they're being asked to portray.

[@adamseidel9780]

What’s remarkable is Lee was a massive Tolkien fan and had read the books many times over many years while McKellen had read the Hobbit but never read the trilogy until after he was cast!

[@NuisanceMan]

Lovely. Too bad it cuts out at the end. Lee was fascinating.

[@hideshiseyes2804]

Three of the best actors of all time talking about three of the best films of all time.

[@johnroscoe2406]

My left ear enjoyed this more than my right ear did.

[@elck3]

Actors there days know nothing about their characters, this is a masterclass

[@aevox2358]

Where can we find the rest of the interview?

[@Maarten8867]

I absolutely love how big of a fan Christopher Lee is. With people like that you are bound to get good results.

[@johnnyblue3373]

This is a legendary interview

[@bangajohntt]

Ways need to see more of this!

[@fatihdikmen1586]

where is the rest of it, I d like to watch the rest of the interview, please

[@urbanapache2]

Can't believe I haven't seen this! The stories these three would have had, to be a fly on the wall back then!

[@steveb1972]

The video ending mid sentence when a legend was talking!!!! 😒

[@xboxboba1]

I know. It's all I have.

[@xhagast]

@@xboxboba1 Sigh. Lee is too great for this world, it rejects him. Like how they cut his death scene from the theatrical release. Why didn't they cut out Sam as well? Shorten the movie an hour. Makes as much sense to me.

[@visionist7]

Close your eyes and picture Saruman, Gandalf & Bilbo speaking

[@AaronSparvier]

I'm gonna make sure

[@juancarlossanchez2347]

Saruman Gandalf and Bilbo

[@Stormkrow280]

And Frodo as well as it so happens. This isn’t Ian Holm’s first time in this franchise, having portrayed Frodo in the BBC Radio Drama.

[@Ienstien965]

Holy trinity right here

[@R9nikeR9]

Rest in peace Saruman & Bilbo Baggins 🙏

[@chronocommander007]

People, please state the date or dates of the source material that was used for your videos.

[@Tawadeb]

Gosh how young they look

[@watertaco]

my left ear is overworked

[@bimerbomer2241]

imagine todays Rings of Power actors ( and directors) reading Tolkiens books ;)))))) that would be painfull ;)))

[@andrewvincent7299]

To be fair, Morfrydd Clark said she did and was already a huge fan of the books and films. The train wreck though I blame on the writers and directors than on her. She could have played a younger and yet still wise Galadriel but the showrunners were too intent on having a "girlboss" lead the show.

[@vitadelicatus]

Mr. Lee red the trilogy once a year.

[@ellietobe]

They are great movies. I wish that Jackson had not ripped up Tolkien’s story. It could have been even better.

[@andrewvincent7299]

He kept the spirit of the books intact but yeah, there were things he changed that dumbed things down and lost it's nuance. Things like Saruman blindly following Sauron instead of him betraying Sauron because he always intended to find the ring and rule, or having Gimili be the comic relief, or having Denethor be a crazy man instead of a once wise and noble man who is broken because of Sauron's hold on him, or having the ghost army defeat the forces of Minas Morgul instead of Prince Imrahil's forces to name a few. Just a lot of dumb changes.

[@hillehai]

I was so engulfed and so sad when Sir Lee was cut off mid-sentence...

[@xboxboba1]

Yeah, no idea where to find the full interview.

[@TheFriendoftheFunk]

Like 👍 and yet unlike 😩

[@nagantm441]

Could it be a DVD special feature?

[@leadzeppbelly]

@@nagantm441I’ve watched all the theatrical and extended edition bonus content and don’t recall this. Though that was a number of years ago. I shall have to dig them out again and check