Éy à{x - cineplexmediafiles.cineplex.com/famousmagazinearchive/dec2003/...your essential guide to...

canada’s #1 movie magazine in canada’s #1 theatres

december 2003 | volume 4 | number 12

PLUS ELIJAH WOOD � SEAN ASTIN � ORLANDO BLOOM � MIRANDA OTTO � PETER JACKSON

YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ALL THINGS MIDDLE-EARTH BEGINS WITHVIGGO MORTENSEN’S REFLECTIONS ON THE RETURN OF THE KING

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LOTR Famous DPS 16x10.5 11/13/03 7:19 PM Page 1

LAETITIA CASTA IS WEARING JET-SET SHINE IN SPEEDY.For shade advice, go to www.lorealparis.com ©2003 L’Oréal Canada

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famous 8 | december 2003

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29 HOBBIT HEREAFTERThe Return of the King’s heroic hobbits Sean Astin and Elijah Woodare saying goodbye to the Shire, and wait till you hear what they’re doing next | By Ingrid Randoja

34 GIRLFIGHTAustralian actor Miranda Otto reveals how her character Eowyn evolved from lovesick maiden to battle-ready warrior in The Return of the King | By Ingrid Randoja

36 BLOOMING ALL OVERPlaying Legolas, Lord of the Rings’ kinetic, white-haired elf, has turnedOrlando Bloom into a much-in-demand matinee idol. Here he tells us what we can expect from “Leggy” this time around | By Ingrid Randoja

38 PETER THE GREATHe pulled off one of the most mammoth directing jobs ever attempted, but Lord of the Rings’

mastermind Peter Jackson admits he’s still surprised he was hired for the job | By Bruce Kirkland

42 CLASSIC LORD OF THE RINGSWe’ve pulled together the best of our previous LotR coverage, includingchats with lovely Elfin babe Liv Tyler, and young bucks Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen (young in spirit, that is). And we’ve thrown in our popular LotR index that’s full of cool facts and figures

24 36

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24 LEADER OF THE PACKThe ladies love him, his cast matesadmire him and politicians, well, don’t ask. Viggo Mortensen, who plays regal Aragorn in The Return of the King, is also an artist and outspoken political commentator.Find out what he has to say about Return, and American politics | By Ingrid Randoja

C O V E R S T O R Y

D E P A R T M E N T S

12 EDITORIAL

14 SNAPS

18 THE BIG PICTURETrek to Cold Mountain

30 SPOTLIGHTCatching up with Return of the King’s Cate Blanchett

52 ON THE SLATELord of the Rings cast members get going on other projects

54 NAME OF THE GAME

56 BIT STREAMINGIan McKellen, Adam Sandler and Halle Berry do it themselves

58 VIDEO AND DVD

60 HOROSCOPE

62 FAMOUS LAST WORDSWhat the stars want for Xmas

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PAYCHECK FamousPlayers fullpg 10/29/03 3:17 PM Page 1

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W I T H JAMES CA AN

NOW PLAYING INTHEATRES EVERYWHERE!

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WILL FERRELL‘‘TwoThumbs Up!’’

Ebert & Roeper

‘‘Giant-Sized Family Fun.’’Joel Siegel, GOOD MORNING AMERICA

ELF FamousP. fullpg eng 11/11/03 2:42 PM Page 1


editorial |

In the waning days of the 1990s the web was crackling withcinephiles excited over a new trilogy of fantasy films. Fan sitesspeculated about how the characters would look, chatroomshosted debates over whether the director could pull it off, and

contraband photos, often covertly collected from the film’s overseasset, were posted with glee.

Unfortunately that film, Star Wars: Episode One - The PhantomMenace, sucked.

But soon after slinking back from the hall closets where they’dquietly stowed their besmirched light sabers, those same fans — anda bunch of new ones — realized there was another three-picturefantasy project in the works. And fans of this trilogy got to play withreal swords.

Two years after the Star Wars letdown, the world was delightfullysurprised when The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring wasreleased. Although fan sites for this film had been just as active asthose for Phantom Menace, there had been more doubt surroundingthe Rings trilogy. For one thing, devotees of the J.R.R. Tolkien bookswere nervous about how well they’d make the jump from the printedpage to celluloid. For another, director Peter Jackson was untestedwhen it came to large-scale, big-budget pics. To date, he’d only donea handful of smaller films like The Frighteners and Heavenly Creatures.

They need not have worried. Fellowship earned 13 Oscar nomina-tions and won four. Its follow-up, The Two Towers, pulled in just sixnominations, winning two, but many thought the second film evenbetter than the first, especially with the introduction of the marvelously complex CGI-generated character, Gollum.

This month, all across the world, fans are snapping up tickets to Lord of the Rings marathons, with the two previous films — in theirextended versions — being shown on Dec. 16, just hours before thefinal installment, The Return of the King, blows onto screens at 12 a.m.on Dec. 17. In the States, many of the shows are already sold out, andtickets are being scalped on eBay for as much as $700 (U.S.) a pair.

Here in Canada, not only are select Famous Players theatres hostingthe marathon, dubbed “Trilogy Tuesday,” on December 16th, butwill also screen the extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ringfrom December 5th to 11th and the extended edition of The TwoTowers from December 12th to 15th. Visit www.famousplayers.comto see if there are any tickets left.

As cinema’s biggest story of the millennium, we thought Lord of theRings deserved a tribute issue. And so we proudly present you withfresh, new interviews with Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin,Orlando Bloom, Miranda Otto and director Peter Jackson, plusreprints of some of the best Lord of the Rings articles we’ve run overthe past few years, including chats with Ian McKellen and Liv Tyler.

May the force be with you. Wait, wait, wait… I mean, see you atMount Doom. —Marni Weisz

PUBLISHER SALAH BACHIR

EDITOR MARNI WEISZ

DEPUTY EDITOR INGRID RANDOJA

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Decmeber 2003 volume 4 number 12

HONOURINGTHELORD

editorial 11/11/03 3:02 PM

FAMOUS MAGAZINEFULL PAGE, 4/C, BLEEDBLEED: 8 1/4" X 10 3/4"TRIM: 8" X 10 1/2"SAFE: 7 1/2" X 10"133 LINE SCREENDIGITAL FILE

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DIRECTEDBY BILLE WOODRUFF A UNIVERSAL RELEASE

© 2003 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

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UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS MARC PLATT/NUAMERICA PRODUCTIONA "HONEY" JESSICA ALBA MEKHI PHIFER JOY BRYANT AND LIL' ROMEO

SOUNDTRACK ON ELEKTRA RECORDS

snaps |

CAUGHT ON FILM


T H E S T A R S A T W O R K A N D P L A Y

Aussie heartthrob Hugh Jackman shows he’s above any sillymacho pride, playing another Aussie, Peter Allen, in theBroadway musical The Boy from Oz. Allen, the singer/composer who’s best know for tunes like “I Honestly LoveYou” and “I Go to Rio” was discovered by Wizard of Oz starJudy Garland and later married her daughter Liza Minnelli.

Ahhh…a wax sculpture to make a mother proud.Madame Tussauds wax museum in London, England,recently revealed this charming effigy to BritneySpears and a strippers’ pole.

Hey Cameron, look out! Some guy’s stealing a fry! Cute coupledu jour Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz enjoy some snackswhile watching the L.A. Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks in L.A.

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snaps 11/11/03 11:47 AM

FAMOUS MAGAZINEFULL PAGE, 4/C, BLEEDBLEED: 8 1/4" X 10 3/4"TRIM: 8" X 10 1/2"SAFE: 7 1/2" X 10"133 LINE SCREENDIGITAL FILE

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BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster Inc. © 2003 Blockbuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. $5.00 deposit required to reserve your copy. Reservations may be made up to 24 hours before release date. Movie available for pick up on release© 2003 IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co.3 Produktions KG. Artwork and Design © 2003 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. TOMB RAIDER and LARA CROFT are trademarks of Core Design Ltd. THE CRADLE OF LIFE is a trademark of Paramount Pictures. All RightsHome Entertainment, Inc. “Twentieth Century Fox,” “Fox” and their associated logos are property of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. © Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. © 2003 Universal Studios And DreamWorks LLC.

date. Full payment required at time of pickup. Release dates, pricing and availability may change without notice. See store for details. Plus taxes. Limited time offer. © 2003 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved. ® Used under license. TM & © 2003 IMF 3.Reserved. TM, ® & Copyright © 2003 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. © Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. © 2003 Universal Studios. X-Men character likenesses: TM and © 2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox

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BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster Inc. © 2003 Blockbuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. $5.00 deposit required to reserve your copy. Reservations may be made up to 24 hours before release date. Movie available for pick up on release© 2003 IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co.3 Produktions KG. Artwork and Design © 2003 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. TOMB RAIDER and LARA CROFT are trademarks of Core Design Ltd. THE CRADLE OF LIFE is a trademark of Paramount Pictures. All RightsHome Entertainment, Inc. “Twentieth Century Fox,” “Fox” and their associated logos are property of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. © Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. © 2003 Universal Studios And DreamWorks LLC.

date. Full payment required at time of pickup. Release dates, pricing and availability may change without notice. See store for details. Plus taxes. Limited time offer. © 2003 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved. ® Used under license. TM & © 2003 IMF 3.Reserved. TM, ® & Copyright © 2003 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. © Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. © 2003 Universal Studios. X-Men character likenesses: TM and © 2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox

the | big | picture |


D E C E M B E R 5

HONEYWHO’S IN IT? Jessica Alba, Mekhi PhiferWHO DIRECTED? Bille Woodruff (debut)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Honey (Alba) is a youngmusic video choreographer who thinksher talent alone is responsible for how farshe’s come — until her boss orders her tosleep with him or she’s out. So Honeyditches the job and starts her own dancestudio for inner-city youths.

D E C E M B E R 1 2

BIG FISHWHO’S IN IT? Ewan McGregor, Billy CrudupWHO DIRECTED? Tim Burton (Sleepy Hollow)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? As William Bloom(Crudup) sits by the deathbed of his father(Albert Finney), he recalls all the unbe-lievable stories he’d been told about hispa over the years. McGregor plays theyoung version of Finney in flashbacks.

BLIZZARDWHO’S IN IT? Christopher Plummer, Brenda BlethynWHO DIRECTED? LeVar Burton (debut)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? When a 10-year-oldgirl’s best friend moves away, her eccentricaunt (Blethyn) tries to cheer her up bytelling her a story about a reindeer whoflies from the North Pole to help anothersad little girl.

LOVE DON’T COST A THINGWHO’S IN IT? Nick Cannon, Christina MilianWHO DIRECTED? Troy Beyer (Let’s TalkAbout Sex)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Usually, at least a fewdecades pass before a movie is remade.But it’s only been a decade and a halfsince Patrick Dempsey starred in 1987’sCan’t Buy Me Love, on which this one’sbased. This time, Cannon plays the highschool loser who pays a sexy cheerleader(Milian) to pretend to be his girlfriend.

SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVEWHO’S IN IT? Jack Nicholson, Diane KeatonWHO DIRECTED? Nancy Meyers (WhatWomen Want)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Jack plays a cocky senior who only dates women young enoughto be his daughter. But when he meets themother (Keaton) of his current squeeze, hediscovers he’s oddly attracted to her. KeanuReeves co-stars as Nicholson’s doctor who,even though he’s a gorgeous, intelligentyoung man, also finds Keaton’s characterattractive. Imagine that.

STUCK ON YOUWHO’S IN IT? Greg Kinnear, Matt DamonWHO DIRECTED? Bobby and Peter Farrelly(Shallow Hal)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? It’ll be interesting tosee if the public has an appetite for thiscomedy about conjoined twins after allthe heart-wrenching, true-life stories of

conjoined twins that have flooded themedia over the past year. In the FarrellyBrothers’ take on the whole egg-not-completely-splitting thing, Bob and Walt(Kinnear and Damon), who are literallyjoined at the hip, head for Hollywood soWalt can break into acting.

D E C E M B E R 1 7

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURNOF THE KINGWHO’S IN IT? Viggo Mortensen, Elijah WoodWHO DIRECTED? Peter Jackson (The TwoTowers)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? In the final piece of thetrilogy we find out whether Aragorn haswhat it takes to lead Middle-earth into abrighter future. Plus, of course, we seewhether Frodo makes it to Mount Doom,the only place where the malevolent ringcan be destroyed. Turn to page 23 for ourmassive tribute to the Lord of the Ringsfilms, featuring interviews with ViggoMortensen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin,Orlando Bloom, Miranda Otto, PeterJackson, Liv Tyler and Ian McKellen.

D E C E M B E R 1 9

CALENDAR GIRLSWHO’S IN IT? Helen Mirren, Julie WaltersWHO DIRECTED? Nigel Cole (Saving Grace)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? When Annie (Walters)loses her husband to leukemia her best

now in theatresTHE LAST SAMURAIWHO’S IN IT? Tom Cruise, Billy ConnollyWHO DIRECTED? Edward Zwick (Legendsof the Fall)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Cruise plays alcoholicCivil War vet Woodrow Algren whose newjob as a Winchester Guns spokesmantakes him to Japan to train the emper-or’s new troops. The plan is for thetroops to replace the country’s tradi-tional protectors, samurai warriors.Unfortunately, they’ll have to kill all thesamurai first.

HITS THEATRES DECEMBER 5

Take a peek at Calendar Girls, watch Mona Lisa Smileor trek to Cold Mountain

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30275_Moves_FAMOUS 9/16/03 9:03 AM Page 1

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friend Chris (Mirren) comes up with aunique way for their women’s club to raisefunds for research. Instead of featuringfields of flowers or grazing cows in theirannual calendar, the mostly middle-agedmembers will each appear in the buff.Based on a true story — the real calendarbecame a worldwide phenomenon andmade a ton of money.

MONA LISA SMILEWHO’S IN IT? Julia Roberts, Julia StilesWHO DIRECTED? Mike Newell (Pushing Tin)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? It’s the 1950s and anopen-minded Berkeley grad (Roberts)takes a teaching position at the all-women’s college Wellesley. But her frustrations mount when she realizes hersmart young charges have no aspirationsbeyond landing a man.

D E C E M B E R 2 5

PAYCHECKWHO’S IN IT? Ben Affleck, Uma ThurmanWHO DIRECTED? John Woo (Face/Off)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? This is the eighth filmto come out of a Philip K. Dick story. Soif you liked Blade Runner, MinorityReport or Total Recall, you might like thissci-fi flick about an engineer (Affleck)working on a top-secret project, whowakes up one day to find that the chunksof his memory concerning that projecthave been erased.

PETER PANWHO’S IN IT? Jason Isaacs, Jeremy SumpterWHO DIRECTED? P.J. Hogan (My BestFriend’s Wedding)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? The little boy whodoesn’t want to grow up is actually playedby a little boy (Sumpter) — rather than awoman, as is usually the case with the-atrical stagings of the J.M. Barrie classic— in this lush, live-action version.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZENWHO’S IN IT? Steve Martin, Bonnie HuntWHO DIRECTED? Shawn Levy (Just Married)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Expect Martin to coversome of the same ground he did in hisvery funny 1989 film Parenthood, in thiscomedy about a couple (Martin, Hunt)dealing with the trials of raising 12 children and a big dog. This is a veryloose remake of the 1950 film of thesame name, which was, in turn, looselybased on a real story.

D E C E M B E R 2 6

HOUSE OF SAND AND FOGWHO’S IN IT? Ben Kingsley, Jennifer ConnellyWHO DIRECTED? Vadim Perelman (debut)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? A divorcee (Connelly)and a recent immigrant from Iran(Kingsley) battle over the house that washers until the sheriff’s department seizedit. The book was a hit with Oprah fans.

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COLD MOUNTAINWHO’S IN IT? Jude Law, Nicole KidmanWHO DIRECTED? Anthony Minghella (The Talented Mr. Ripley)WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Working on theassumption that everyone was stunninglybeautiful in the 1860s, Jude Law andNicole Kidman play young lovers sepa-rated during the American Civil War. Hewent off to fight for the Confederates,she stayed home and tried to keep theplace in one piece. And now that thewar’s over, he has to make the long trekhome to Cold Mountain, North Carolina.

HITS THEATRES DECEMBER 25

CHECK WWW.FAMOUSPLAYERS.COM FOR SHOWTIMES AND LOCATIONSSome films play only in major markets. All release dates subject to change.

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ike Jim Morrison says,“This is the end, my friend.”

Two years ago we watched four hobbits,two men, an elf, dwarf and wizard setout to destroy a small piece of jewelleryin The Fellowship of the Ring. In lastyear’s The Two Towers we met the bi-polar thing named Gollum, who ledour hobbit heroes into Mordor, and wewitnessed an epic battle at a placecalled Helm’s Deep.

What to expect in the grand finale, The Return of the King? Anyone who’sread the book knows the answer, but non-readers should look for Gollum to set a trap for Sam and Frodo inside themountains of Mordor. And, as is hinted at in the film’s title, Return of the King,Aragorn will take centre stage unitingMiddle-earth’s humans against Sauron’shordes outside the walls of Minas Tirith.

To help get your Lord of the Ringsjuices flowing, we’ve assembled a special Return of the King package,which includes exclusive new interviewswith the film’s cast and extraordinarydirector, plus reprints of some of the best LotR articles we’ve run over the past three years.

_

LOTR cover 11/11/03 3:00 PM

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WITH RETURN OF THE KING,VIGGO MORTENSEN’S NOBLEARAGORN BECOMES MIDDLE-EARTH’S MOST POWERFULHUMAN, UNITING THE FORCESOF GOOD IN THEIR BATTLEAGAINST EVIL. AN OUTSPOKENPOLITICAL ACTIVIST HIMSELF,MORTENSEN DOESN’T BACKDOWN FROM REAL-LIFE FIGHTSEITHER | BY INGRID RANDOJA

manaapart

He may be a king of Middle-earth and acting’s coolestcat, but Viggo Mortensen iswalking around with a really

bad haircut. It’s a cross between a page-boy and a bowl cut, and only a mancompletely unaffected by other people’sopinions would sport such a goofy look.

That’s the key to Mortensen’s seem-ingly universal appeal: He doesn’t carewhat anyone thinks of him and is,instead, driven completely by his ownartistic desires, of which there are many.

He’s an accomplished painter whoworks in various mediums, a noted pho-tographer who has been taking snapssince high school, and a published poetwho doesn’t just write verse, but recordsit, complete with jazzy, beatnik-stylebackground music à la Jack Kerouac.

It’s no wonder this Renaissance manwas chosen (albeit as a last-minutereplacement for the fired StuartTownsend) to play Aragorn in themammoth Lord of the Rings trilogy,which caps off with this month’s highlyanticipated finale, The Return of the King.

Anticipation isn’t a strong enoughword for what LotR fans are feeling,they are craving the last installment, asdemonstrated by the thousands whowill line up for LotR marathons in theatres across North America thismonth. So, what can fans expect fromthe mother of all finishes?

“Joy and sorrow, and hopefully inspi-ration,” says Mortensen. “I certainlyhave gotten all of that from this wholeprocess. You also get from this story avery simple thing, and that’s taking theidea of mercy seriously. Mercy like thatwhich Frodo shows for Gollum. All different kinds of mercy. Those arequalities that not only make for a goodleader but for a good individual and, ina sense, each of us needs to find a way

Viggo Anti-Wartensen 11/11/03 11:57 AM

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to become the best leader we can of our own self in life.”Mortensen is holding court (you’d expect nothing less) dur-

ing the press junket for The Return of the King. Seated at a tablesurrounded by journalists, the actor is clad in a groovy forestgreen shirt and sipping loose leaf tea from a wood and pewtercup, using a silver straw. Add in the hacked Prince Valiant do,and Mortensen looks like he stepped out of a Renaissance fair.

Yet, despite his serene composure, you sense an invisiblethread of unrest hanging off him, just waiting to be pulled.That unrest may be why he paints, writes and takes pictures,and a similar unrest drives his movie counterpart, Aragorn.

“What people like Boromir and others initially saw asdefects and weakness in Aragorn,” says Mortensen, “prove tobe his greatest strength. In other words his hesitation, hisself-doubt, those really are his strengths because they have todo with compassion, they have to do with him consideringwhether he has a right to act. I wish the leaders of the mostpowerful countries these days would have a little bit of that.Unfortunately, they seem to have none of that.”

Mortensen, as you can tell, likes to talk politics. He’s anoutspoken critic of President Bush and American foreignpolicies, and it takes mere moments for him to weave hisviews of real-world issues with those of LotR’s fictional world.

“The thing to remember about Sauron, or the U.S. government or the British government, it doesn’t matter,whoever, is that they want you to feel that you are not in con-trol and never will be,” says Mortensen. “You should justobey, do your thing and it will be easier for everyone if youjust be quiet. It’s easy to feel hopeless against that. We havegrand-sounding, and for some people, intimidating names

for things: Homeland Security, The Patriot Act. Those thingsare essentially like the ring for Sauron, tools with which tocontrol people’s thinking and behaviour from a distance.

“If America has any respect left in the world,” he continues,“it’s for the principles of the nation, which are based in thenotion of government by the people for the people. In theconstitution it says you have the right to overthrow the government if it prohibits that, so I would then say you havethe right to say something. In fact it’s a duty to speak up.”

Mortensen’s liberal political views would seem to stemfrom the fact that he’s lived an unorthodox life. This 45-year-old son of a Danish father and American mother was born inNew York City, but moved to South America with his familywhen he was a toddler. His father’s business failed, his par-ents divorced, and when he was 11 he headed to upstate New York with his mother and two brothers. After university,Mortensen moved to Denmark, where he waited on tables,sold flowers and led a laidback existence. But by 1982 hedecided to return to New York and become an actor.

He studied, got a few small roles, and in 1987 married punkrock diva Exene Cervenka, the lead singer of the band X. Theyhad a son, Henry, and moved to the wilds of Idaho. Gettingacting jobs based out of Idaho proved difficult, but Mortensenfound work in films such as The Indian Runner, Boiling Pointand Crimson Tide. However, when his marriage ended,Mortensen relented and moved to L.A to jumpstart his career.It worked, and one fateful day he got a call out of the blue asking him to decide, within 48 hours, whether or not to spenda year (it turned out to be more like two) in New Zealand tomake LotR. His son Henry helped convince him to go.

Mortensen will forever be linked with Aragorn, and youwonder if he’s had difficulty shaking the role, considering hecompletely immersed himself in the part. “Yeah, I had achance to work on him longer than any other, but I’ve never,with any part, wanted to shake anything,” says Mortensen. “Ihear other people say, ‘Oh geez, it was hard to shake the skinof that character. I was playing a psycho killer, or a milkmaid,and man it took me the longest time to stop drinking milk.’

“Look, it’s my point of view that life is short and we areeither going to die or be senile and not remember anythingsoon enough. Why would I want to forget something that wasa significant part of my life?”

However, he’ll now have to deal with the fact that he’s aninternational star and desired acting commodity. How will aman so private and consumed by his various artistic pursuitsmanage the demands of success?

“Each of the film’s actors have to face how they deal withit. Do they remain group-oriented or do they start to careabout their own interests? Some have done better than others dealing with it. You can’t ever be sure you’ve got it allfigured out and it might take a friend saying, ‘Hey, you’ve gotten pretty big-headed there.’”


THE THING TO REMEMBER ABOUTSAURON, OR THE U.S. GOVERNMENTOR THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT...ISTHAT THEY WANT YOU TO FEEL THATYOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL

“

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cover | story |Mortensen wears a

home-made T-shirt at arecent book signing

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Viggo Anti-Wartensen 11/13/03 11:53 AM

john st.client - n/a project name - Aromatherapy ad publication - Famous Magazine

description - magazine ad docket name - SPJ SCO P30459 pub. contact - n/a

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F rodo and Sam have been steppingover each other’s huge feet for thepast three years, as have Elijah

Wood and Sean Astin, the actors whoplay the inseparable hobbits.

But that’s going to change — both inthe series finale, The Return of the King,and in real-life as the devoted duo lookto life beyond The Lord of the Rings.

It was especially hard for Wood totransition into the post-LotR world.

“When the experience was over, therewas definitely a sense of going intohibernation for a while,” Wood says dur-ing the New York press junket for Return.“I had to go back home and reevaluatewhat my life, as me, meant again. I wastalking to my mom recently and shesaid, ‘You didn’t really wake up until fiveor six months after you got home.’”

But, eventually, the 22-year-old cameout of his L.A. den and went back towork. He made a few films, includingJim Carrey’s Eternal Sunshine of the SpotlessMind, and decided it was time to moveout of mom’s house and set up shop inNew York City, where he plans not onlyto act, but to start his own record label.

Wood is a complete music geek. Heowns more than 2,000 CDs and evendresses like a musician. He walks intothis interview sporting a Mohawk, longsideburns and a cute little love patchunder his bottom lip. He completes thelook with black-rimmed, ’50s glasses.

Asked what kind of label he wants torun, Wood replies, “I don’t really know,it’s going to be based on what I hear.I’m not really going to go out andsearch for anything in particular. I’mkind of looking forward to sitting downwith a bunch of demo tapes. I think that

may sound overly optimistic becausemost people who work in A&R at recordlabels hate demo tapes [laughs].”

As for Astin, he’s looking toward afuture behind the movie camera. The32-year-old father of two has been per-forming since he was nine. Acting runsin the family — he’s the son of actorsJohn Astin and Patty Duke — but hefeels directing may be his calling.

“I’ve totally wanted to direct, andnow I’m starting to see the pathways toachieving that,” Astin says. ”I’m startingto understand the mechanics of thebusiness and to develop relationships.

“Right now I’m in the process of com-peting to direct a $100- to $130-millionmovie, which the studio wants releasednext year. The odds of me getting it arepretty nil, but I have a meeting with thehead of a studio.” [He won’t divulge thetitle, but there are rumours that it’s acomic book adaptation.]

“I do have a tremendous level of confidence,” continues Astin. “When Italked to Peter [Jackson] about it hedidn’t scoff, but I could see he was waiting, wondering, ‘Is he there yet?’”

Astin has directed three short films,including The Long and Short of It, whichis on The Two Towers DVD, and a few TVshows. But he considers his time spenton LotR especially educational.

“During the long makeup hours forLord of the Rings, I brought a stack ofbooks with me, all about film history,”he says. “So between 4 a.m., when weshowed up for work, until 9:30 a.m.,when the sun came up, I was givingmyself what I thought was the equiva-lent of a grad-school education in filmtheory.” —Ingrid Randoja


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LITTLE GUYS WHO

THINK BIG

ELIJAH WOOD AND SEAN ASTIN ON LIFE AFTER MOUNT DOOM

interview-frodo/sean 11/11/03 4:15 PM

famous 15 | november 2003

UMA’S ZIPPERIn your September 2003, volume 4,number 9 magazine, there is a smallerror. It’s on page 18. It is about Kill Billand Uma Thurman, saying that she iswearing an exact replica of Bruce Lee’sGame of Death outfit. Bruce Lee’s outfitwas one-piece and was zippered fromthe back, but on the other hand, Uma’ssuit is a two-piece and opens from thefront. Close.

Mike Brehon — Dorval, Que.

Point well taken, Mike. Thanks for pointingthat out. Now, let’s play a little game. If youwere a character from The Simpsons,which character would you be?

MARSTERS PIECEI just wanted to thank you for includingthe quote by James Marsters in the article“10 Male Stars Reveal Their BeautySecrets” [August 2003]. I am a big fan,and it’s great to see him mentioned insuch a widely available magazine. I wassad to see, however, that his name wasmistakenly written “James Marters”(not Marsters). But it’s great that youincluded him nonetheless. Your maga-zine is one of the best movie magazinesavailable, I have almost every one sincethe 1999 Sleepy Hollow issue [Volume 1,Number 1].

Kyla Whitnall — Pickering, Ont.

Ummm…what we were trying to get at wasthat in the last episode of Buffy the VampireSlayer, Marsters’ character, Spike, martyred

himself in order to save Buffy and the rest ofthe…oh, who are we kidding? It was a typo.

WE DO IT ALL FOR THE GOOD OFTHE NATIONI love your magazine! I make sure I getit every month. It’s totally awesome howyou guys provide the low-down onmovies and the people in them forCanada. Even better is how you have afeature on some Canadian actor oractress in every magazine. With themany Hollywood hunks there are, youget ’em all in “Caught on Film!” And,like most Canucks, you’re politeenough to admit you make mistakes inyour letters section. Keep up the good work.

Zoe Preston — Corunna, Ont.

We’d like to take this opportunity to swear onthe bible (or The New York Times Guideto the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, theclosest thing we have here) that we did notmake this letter up. Plus, we just wanted topoint out that the subject line on the emailwas “YOU GUYS ROCK.” That’s it.

> Uma Thurman in her yellow jumpsuit from Kill Bill

Address them to: Letters to the Editor,Famous magazine, 102 Atlantic Ave., Suite 100, Toronto, Ontario, M6K 1X9;

or fax us at 416.539.8511; or drop us anemail at [email protected].

Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Please include your full name, city of

residence and contact info (phone or email).

FAMOUS WELCOMES YOUR COMMENTS10

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letters 10/7/03 3:07 PM Page 15

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NOW APPEARING IN…the third and final instalment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, as Galadriel, theluminescent, wise old elf queen.

BIO BITS: She’s been called her generation’s Meryl Streep, andtogether with Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett has transformed theimage of Australian women from rugged and tomboyish to regaland chic.

She was born Catherine Elise Blanchett on May 14, 1969, inMelbourne, Australia to a Texan father and an Australian mother.The second of three children (she has a brother, Bob, and a sister,Genevieve), Blanchett’s childhood was marred by the death of herfather from a heart attack when she was 10. As a youngster sheattended Methodist Ladies College where she both acted in, anddirected, school plays.

However, she put her childish acting ways aside when sheenrolled in Melbourne University to study economics and fine arts.But she was soon bored and left school after a single year to travel. She eventually found herself broke and in Egypt, which ledher to take a job as an extra in a boxing movie (she was a face ina cheering crowd). She hated the job.

Yet, when she returned to Australia she decided she must follow her heart and take up acting. She was accepted to the

National Institute of Dramatic Art, where she established herselfas a rising star. After graduation she moved between stage and TVwork, winning a slew of theatre awards.

Blanchett made her film debut as a nurse in the 1997 women’sPOW drama Paradise Road. It was her gutsy performance in thatfilm that convinced producers to cast her, opposite establishedstar Ralph Fiennes, in Oscar and Lucinda. When Indian directorShekhar Kapur, who was searching for an actor to portray QueenElizabeth in his film Elizabeth, spied Blanchett decked out in afrizzy red wig and period piece clothing in a trailer for Oscar andLucinda, he knew he had found his queen.

Elizabeth sent Blanchett’s career skyrocketing. She won aGolden Globe for her astonishing turn, and many thought she wasrobbed when Gwyneth Paltrow picked up 1998’s Best ActressOscar instead of her. Aussies watching the telecast across thenation booed Paltrow’s win, which led Paltrow to whine, “I don’tthink I deserved that.”

Since then Blanchett has played a dizzying assortment of characters, from the big-boobed New Jersey wife in Pushing Tin,to the psychically gifted southerner in The Gift, to the etherealelfin queen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

SAMPLE ROLES: Galadriel in the LotR trilogy, Maggie in The Missing (2003),Veronica in Veronica Guerin (2003), Philippain Heaven (2002), Charlotte in Charlotte Gray (2001), Kate inBandits (2001), Petal in The Shipping News (2001), Annie in The Gift (2000), Connie in Pushing Tin (1999), Meredith in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Elizabeth in Elizabeth (1998),Lucinda in Oscar and Lucinda (1997)

LOVE LIFE: Married screenwriter Andrew Upton in 1997. The couplehas a two-year-old son, Dashiell John, named after the Americancrime writer, and they are expecting a second baby this spring.

TRIVIA: Has a weakness for Diet Coke. • Served as a guest editorfor fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. • Named 1999’s Australianof the Year. • Kept, and bronzed, the pointed elf ears worn in theLord of the Rings movies.

ON THE FILM BUSINESS: “I feel at times that the way people talkto me about work, I should be carrying a briefcase and have a laptop. It actually kills the intangible, inexplicable reasons whyyou do something.” [Time, January 1998] —IR

Cate Blanchett as Galadriel

CateBLANCHETT

Spotlight-Blanchett 11/11/03 11:51 AM

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HEW_04002_T1_HEW_M_04_002A_SK 10/30/03 7:15 PM Page 1 Edit: 25 min 14 sec Name: lrevzin Machine: lrevzin Bleed: 1"; 4"; 1"; 1" Scale: 100% .

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A ustralian actor Miranda Ottoplays Eowyn, The Lord of the Rings’lone female warrior. Eowyn’s

heroic nature is alluded to in The TwoTowers, yet instead of fighting she isasked to herd women and children intoHelm’s Deep. But in The Return of theKing, Eowyn gets to ride into battle.Here, Otto tells us what it feels like to bethe toughest chick in Middle-earth.

EOWYN IS ONE OF THE MORE COMPLEXCHARACTERS IN THE BOOK. DOES THATCOME ACROSS IN THE FILM?“When you first read the book youthink Eowyn’s story may be a romancestory, that’s what I thought at first —‘Ah, she meets Aragorn, right, I get it,there’s going to be to-ing and froi-ngand eventually they’ll get together.’And then you realize that it’s not reallya romance story, but rather a journey ofdiscovery for her, finding out who shereally is. Here’s a woman character whois not just driven by romance, but isdriven by her ideals, her willpower andher courage. After all, you don’t justwant to be mooning around looking atAragorn all the time thinking, ‘Please,love me, love me, love me.’”

IS IT TRUE YOUR PART KEPT CHANGING?“When I originally accepted the role thescript was quite different to what endedup happening. I got my script in bits aswe went along. You’d be doing scenesnot knowing what had happened before,and there were even times when, geog-raphy wise, I was completely confused

about where I was — ‘If I’m in Edoras,why did I watch everyone leave Edoras?And now I am at Dunharrow, but I saweveryone leave to go to Dunharrow...Idon’t understand.’ [Laughs.]”

DID YOUR PART BECOME BETTER?“Oh definitely, no disappointments, itwas much better for me. Originally,there was more stuff between Liv and I,jealous stuff about Aragorn. I was like,‘No!’ But when I got there they said,‘Don’t look at that stuff, we’re not doingthat stuff,’ and I said, ‘That’s goodbecause there are so few women in thisso don’t make us fight over the boy.’”

YOUR ACTION STUFF TURNED OUT TO BEMUCH MORE COMPELLING THAN LIV’S.“At one stage Liv did have some moreaction, but she felt it wasn’t true to thebook and her character in the book.I’m speaking for her here, and I hopeI’m speaking correctly, but I think shewas worried, reading on internet sitespeople saying, ‘That’s not what Arwen

does. What are they trying to do toArwen?’ And I think she felt responsibleand worried that all the fighting wouldn’tbe in line with who Arwen really is. Shereally pushed for the return to the lovestory that’s in the book.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE FILMING THE BATTLES?“Pete [director Peter Jackson] reallylikes all the actors to do all the fightsthemselves, as much as possible, but Ican’t do all the horse work myselfbecause some of it is just too dangerous.When you hit the battlefield things ampup 100 percent and Pete really pushesyou. He wants it to seem real and desperate, and the Battle of PelennorFields is the battle where everyone isbasically riding to their deaths. It’s amore emotional battle than Helm’sDeep. Helm’s Deep is a victory and it’sexciting, but there is a lot of grief in thePelennor Fields. I felt completely over-whelmed when we were doing it.”

HOW DID IT FEEL TO BE ALONE AMONGSTTHOUSANDS OF PUMPED-UP MEN?“Actually, we needed as many horse peo-ple as we could get, so they called forpeople across the country to come tothe Pelennor Fields and a fair amount ofthem were women. They put beards onthem and the guys seemed to getstrangely excited by these women withbeards. The women weren’t very excitedabout having them on, with all thatsticky stuff, but, gee, it did somethingstrange to the guys, especially Bernard[Hill] and Viggo, look out.”

MAIDENAS TOUGH-AS-NAILS EOWYN, MIRANDAOTTO GOES TO BATTLE WITH THE BOYS| BY INGRID RANDOJA

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W ith his long white locks, grace-ful lope and doe-eyed stare,Legolas provides the yin to

Aragorn’s manly yang in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Actor Orlando Bloom,who plays the arrow-firing elf, isn’tquite as ethereal as his movie counter-part, however he’s just as dishy.

Asked about what kind of heroic anticsLegolas will be up to in Return of the King,Bloom wisecracks, “You know, the sameLeggy sh-t.” After a pause, he elaborates.

“What Pete [Jackson] said to me wasthat he really liked the way the audi-ence responded to Legolas runningover the cave troll and shooting it inthe head in the first movie, and slidingdown the stairs and flipping onto thewall in the second movie. In the third

movie he wants to combine somethings that top all of that. Just wait tillyou see it.”

The dark-haired actor, who’s joinedhis cast mates for the Return of the Kingpress junket in New York, is lookingtanned after a stint in Mexico where hejust finished filming Troy with Brad Pitt.

With Pirates of the Caribbean also underhis belt, 26-year-old Bloom is the actionstar/matinee idol du jour, a miracle considering that in 1998 he almost died.

“I’m grateful to be able to do any ofthis,” he explains. “I fell three storiesout of a window and broke my back.They thought I’d never walk, but a yearlater I’m in New Zealand riding a horseand using a sword. It’s amazing, I’mvery lucky.” —Ingrid Randoja


interview |

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PLUCKED FROM OBSCURITY TO PLAY MIDDLE-EARTH’SMOST GRACEFUL WARRIOR, ORLANDO BLOOM IS SUDDENLYALL THE RAGE

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Peter Jackson walks into the room bare-footed. He is adelightfully short, pot-bellied, shaggy-haired Kiwi. Withhis mischievous grin, he looks like he could snuggle

into the cozy den of a Hobbit hole and make himself athome. So it only seems natural that this is the lovable eccentric whose 25-year passion and eight years of dedicationturned J.R.R. Tolkien’s fabled novel The Lord of the Rings intoa $280-million-plus trilogy of films.

Yet, originally, Jackson seemed like an unlikely choice forthe job, despite his love for the novel — “one of the greatestbooks ever written,” he claims. He says he first delved intothe books as a teenager after seeing director Ralph Bakshi’sfailed 1978 animated version.

Before directing The Lord of the Rings, Jackson, who hailsfrom Pukerua Bay on the North Island of New Zealand, hadnever had a hit Hollywood movie. His best-received film wasthe drama Heavenly Creatures, and his early work includedsome wacko schlock, such as the horror comedy Bad Tasteand the twisted adult animation Meet the Feebles.

“I think one of the interesting things about the project isthat it breaks all the rules,” Jackson says. “Because, if you’remaking The Lord of the Rings for this sort of budget, youdon’t hire me!”

Miramax Films, for one, did not trust him with such a risk,offering to do Lord as one film only, with the story mashed

down. In an ugly Hollywood squabble, New Line Cinemawrested the project away from Miramax and gave Jackson histhree films and a budget of $90-million per film (which hassince grown through re-shoots and CGI work). The criticaldecision was made to shoot all three films simultaneouslyand only in New Zealand, which meant the trilogy cost amere 50 percent of what it would have in the U.S.

Now the 42-year-old Jackson’s dream is almost fully real-ized. The final instalment, The Return of the King, is expectedto generate huge box office worldwide starting this month.Return of the King is also an early favourite for a slew ofAcademy Awards nominations, putting the trilogy back onthe Oscar map after The Two Towers garnered only six nomi-nations and two wins, down from 13 nominations and fourtrophies for The Fellowship of the Ring.

“It’s my favourite of the three films,” Jackson offers. “Ithink we are saving the best Lord of the Rings film for last. It isthe most emotional of the three. Frodo [Elijah Wood] andSam [Sean Astin] are just extraordinary in the third film.They are just so brave.”

One advantage of the final instalment, says Jackson, is thatmost of the major characters have already been establishedin the first two films. That meant Jackson could focus on thestorytelling, particularly with Gollum (Andy Serkis) leadingFrodo and Sam into Mordor while the One Ring that bindsthem all has even more of a disturbing, psychological effecton both Gollum and Frodo.

But the director also had to worry about the logistics of theepic battle scene at the city of Minas Tirith (which was builtin the same Kiwi quarry as Helm’s Deep of The Two Towers).Thanks to the staging, and to CGI, this fight is at least 10times bigger than the enormous battle we saw at Helm’sDeep, with all the massed armies of Middle-earth finally fighting it out — Good vs. Evil.

The story’s climax and completion — as readers of thethree-part book already know — is complicated, huge inscale and mixed in emotion.

“It is more optimistic, yes, yes,” says Jackson, when askedto compare the tone of Return to that of The Two Towers.“The third film obviously has a resolution and it has a triumphant, sort of Biblical-sized climactic action ending.But it also has incredible sadness. I mean, I cry in three orfour different places in the third film. The sadness emergesfrom intimate passages,” says Jackson. “I like the mixture ofthe epic and the intimate, which I think is one of the reasons why people like the book.”

Jackson also stays true to Tolkien by refusing to makethings nice or superficial. “Tolkien’s themes, I think, arebased to some degree on human weakness. He didn’t havemuch faith in the human race. That’s why he regards theElfin race as the ideal race and men are weak and flawed.”

Jackson, who confesses to his own weakness and flaws,appropriately calls his production company Wingnut Films.One sterling quality this wingnut does possess is that he haslittle ego about his extraordinary accomplishment.

Filmmaking is a collaboration, not a one-man show, hesays. “That’s why I don’t put: ‘A Peter Jackson Film’ on thefront of the movie. I don’t believe in those possessor credits,especially for a film like this!”

Bruce Kirkland writes about movies for The Toronto Sun.

Missionaccomplished

HE WAS AN UNLIKELY CANDIDATE, BUT PETER JACKSONGOT THE GIG AND PULLED OFF ONE OF FILM HISTORY’SMOST DARING ENDEAVOURS | BY BRUCE KIRKLAND

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Height of the average hobbit: THREE-FOOT-SIXHeight of Elijah Wood, who plays hobbit Frodo Baggins: FIVE-FOOT-SIX

Time it took John Ronald Reuel Tolkien to write the three books (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King) that comprise The Lord of the Rings: 11 YEARSTime it took Peter Jackson to film the three adaptations: 18 MONTHSNumber of days in those 18 months they were actually shooting: 274Books Elijah Wood read during those 18 months: AMERICAN PSYCHO, HIGH FIDELITY, I AM LEGENDNumber of previous times three modern-day films have been shot at the same time: 0

Birthplace of J.R.R. Tolkien: BLOEMFONTEIN, SOUTH AFRICABirthplace of Peter Jackson: PUKERUA BAY, NEW ZEALANDCountry where Lord of the Rings was filmed: NEW ZEALANDNew Zealand’s leading exports: BEEF, MUTTON AND WOOLNumber of copies of Lord of the Rings sold worldwide: 50 MILLIONNumber of languages in which it is available: 25Number of languages invented and used by Tolkien in his books: 37Number of languages in which you can read the movie’s official site: 9How you say “Lord of the Rings” in Norwegian: RINGENES HERRE

Number of sites Google returns for “Fellowship of the Ring”: 31,500Time it takes Google to perform that search: 0.1 SECONDSNumber of people who downloaded the first snippet of the movie thatwas posted on the internet, in the first 24 hours: 1.7 MILLIONMovie that Fellowship’s first theatrical trailer appeared before in North America: THIRTEEN DAYSMovies that Fellowship’s first theatrical trailer appeared before inAustralia: LITTLE NICKY AND BRING IT ON

Number of books by J.R.R. Tolkien: 34Number of movies by Peter Jackson: 9Number of diary entries actor Ian McKellen posted to his website during shooting: 14

Number of people on the Lord of the Rings payroll: 1,700Percentage of them who are New Zealanders: 98Number of characters who comprise the “fellowship”: 9Number of those nine actors who were born in the U.S.: 3Number of those nine actors who were born in the U.K.: 5Number of speaking parts: 77Character who is completely computer generated: GOLLUMMost prominent character from the book that did not make it into The Fellowship of the Ring: TOM BOMBADIL

Cast member who appears on the cover of Paul McCartney’s 1973 album Band on the Run: CHRISTOPHER LEE

Budget for the trilogy: $270-MILLION (U.S.)Terabytes of computer storage used by special effects team: 10Cost of coffee consumed by cast and crew each month: $86,500Cost of alcohol consumed after a single location shoot on New Zealand’s North Island: $6,400Cost of building the set of the fortress Cirith Ungol: $86,500Number of nails it took: 30,000And litres of paint: 2,040Material used to build “wooden” sets: POLYSTYRENELength of time before filming started that the vegetable and flower gardens were planted on the Hobbiton set: 1 YEARApproximate number of hand-made suits of amour used: 1,200Approximate number of pairs of prosthetic feet and ears used: 1,600Number of orc heads used: 200Kind of hair used on those heads: YAKApproximate number of horses used: 250Type of horse used to play Gandalf’s mystical white steed: ANDALUSIANNumber of props that were rented for the shoot: 0

Number of rings made by the Lord of the Rings prop jeweller: 40Number of rings made by the villain Sauron: 17Number of those rings intended “to rule them all, to find them…to bringthem all, and in the darkness bind them”: 1

rings | reprint | REPRINTED FROM THE NOVEMBER 2001 ISSUE OF FAMOUS

making[Éuu|à 52 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY

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rings | reprint |

Neo takes on the Smiths

Take a quick look at Liv Tyler,and you’ll instantly under-stand why director PeterJackson cast her as a radiantprincess in his Lord of the Ringsmovies. Even dressed in funky

modern-day garb — skin-tight leatherhip-huggers and a chic silk top — Tylerlooks regal. It’s difficult to imagine shehas ever been anything but attractiveand charming. But the 24-year-old starcan easily remember being a “dorky little girl” from Portland, Maine, withbraces, a pudgy face and no self-esteem.

“I was gangly, I had this horribleperm and my teeth were covered insteel,” she recalls as she sits in herBeverly Hills hotel suite. “And to top itall off, I had the worst case of attentiondeficit on the face of the Earth. I wasloud and obnoxious. I was no picnic.Boys would just look at me and chuckle, thinking, ‘What a loser.’”

But a makeover, and a few words ofencouragement from family friendand supermodel Paulina Porizkova,steered a teenaged Liv into modeling— a brief but successful career thatquickly led to Hollywood. A decadelater, the ugly duckling is a bona fide

movie star, appearing in Stealing Beauty,Empire Records, Armageddon, Onegin and,most recently, as the “sex on legs”seductress in One Night at McCool’s.

This month she makes her first appearance as the elf princess Arwenin The Fellowship of the Ring, the initialinstalment of Jackson’s ambitiousadaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord ofthe Rings trilogy.

But Tyler admits she has yet to cometo terms with her metamorphosis fromgeek to chic. “It’s still weird to look upat the screen and think that people consider me beautiful,” she says with agrimace. “I’m always embarrassed whenI see myself trying to be sexy, because I still see my dorky teenage self.Sometimes, I still see that young girlwho would look in the mirror andthink, ‘Will I ever be attractive?’”

The Lord of the Rings films cast heralongside Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen,Viggo Mortensen and Cate Blanchett,who play a gaggle of hobbits, elves and other Middle-earthlings on anepic quest to destroy a magical ringand defeat the forces of darkness. Alongtime fan of Tolkien, Tyler was elatedabout being in the movies — but also

IT TOOK A MAKEOVER FROM FRIEND PAULINAPORIZKOVA TO GET HER INTO MODELING AND APEP TALK FROM PETER JACKSON TO GET HERTHROUGH HER ROLE AS AN ELF PRINCESS INTHE LORD OF THE RINGS. AFTER YEARS AS ACOVER GIRL AND LEADING LADY, LIV TYLERSTILL WORRIES THAT SHE DOESN’T HAVE “IT” | BY EARL DITTMAN

worried that her acting abilities weren’tup to the task.

“Every movie that I do, I feel like it’smy first, I’m terrified,” she confides.“Even before I did Lord of the Rings,for a whole month before, I was worried I might be biting off morethan I could chew.”

It took the encouragement of Jackson(Heavenly Creatures) to convince Tylershe could tackle the demanding role. “Iwas really homesick when I first starteddoing Fellowship of the Ring,” she says,recalling the arduous 18-month, three-film shoot in New Zealand. “Finally[Peter] sat me down and asked me whatwas wrong. After I told him I was home-sick, he said, ‘Is that all?’ That’s when Istarted crying and spilling my guts,telling him I didn’t know if I had what ittook to play Arwen.”

Jackson gave her a pep talk, assuringher that she was a great actress, and rightfor the part. “I’ve had people tell methings like that all the time, but it wassomething about the way that Peter saidit that made it stick. He made me realizeI didn’t have to be scared anymore,maybe I was talented.”

After a few days of shooting, Jackson

REPRINTED FROM THE DECEMBER2001 ISSUE OF FAMOUS

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with Tyler that they decided to beef upher presence in the trilogy.

“[They] thought that there wasn’tnearly enough female energy in thefilms,” she explains. “There’s really threemain female characters — the big blackspider that kills everybody, my motherGaladriel [Blanchett] and mine. But mycharacter’s not in the first book thatmuch. There’s a couple of scenes whereshe appears, but in the back of the book,in the appendix, there’s a huge chapterabout the love story between Aragorn[Mortensen] and Arwen.

“So, Peter asked me if I was up formore with my character, and I was like,‘Are you kidding? Yeah!’ The story ofAragorn and Arwen is this amazinglyromantic kind of love story. It’s beautiful.They are willing to give up their lives tobe together.... It’s an amazing story. Eventhough I complained about being awayfrom home for so long, I really loveddoing the three movies. I guess I’vealways dreamed of living in a world filledwith love, passion and make-believe.”

While Fellowship of the Ring is Tyler’sfirst foray into large-scale fantasy, herreal-life story often sounds like a day-time soap opera. Back in Portland, shegrew up with her mom, former modeland Playboy Playmate Bebe Buell, androck star Todd Rundgren. Tyler wastold that Rundgren was her father and,for 12 years, all three lived in Maine asone big happy family.

But that happy home life was turned

upside-down when Tyler went with hermom to a New York concert headlinedby mega-rockers Aerosmith. After theshow she went backstage where she wasintroduced to the group’s flamboyantlead singer, Steven Tyler, and his daughter Mia. Liv was immediatelytaken aback by how closely she resem-bled the rock star’s child and later askedher mom if they were somehow related.Buell kept trying to change the subject,but finally told the truth: Rundgren washer stepdad and Steven Tyler was herbiological father.

“Of course, I was shocked at first, butI wasn’t mad at anyone for having keptit from me,” she says. “I think I wasmore worried about how Todd wouldfeel. He had been the father I hadknown since I was a little kid, and Ididn’t want him to think that I, all of asudden, didn’t love him because I knewwho my real father was. Todd and I hada long talk. And afterwards he said,‘You will always be my little girl. Justconsider yourself lucky because youhave two dads that care about you.You’re one fortunate gal.’”

Now there’s another important manin Liv Tyler’s life — her fiancé RoystonLangdon, lead singer and bassist for thealternative band Spacehog. They met in 1996, after her much-publicizedbreakup with actor Joaquin Phoenix.But while Tyler and Phoenix had beenvery open with the press about theirlove for each other, she has decided tokeep the kiss-and-tell to a minimum

when it comes to Langdon. “All I can say is that the most impor-

tant part of being in a relationship isthat you love the person for who theyare deep down, and not who you wantthem to be,” she says with a smile. “Ofcourse, I would love to tell the wholeworld that I’m ecstatic, I’m happy andthat I’m in heaven about it. But it’s notsomething that I feel I want to share inany great detail.”

Rumours that they plan to exchangewedding vows before the end of the yearhave leaked out. And while nothing hasbeen confirmed, Tyler admits she mightsoon be a married woman, at the tenderage of 24. But is she rushing to the altar?

“I’m getting married because I’m inlove with someone who I have beenwith for a really long time,” she says.“For me, that’s what makes me happy,and I’m not that young. I’m 24, andI’ve certainly been working for a longtime. So, in a sense, I think that mademe grow up a little quicker than mostyoung people my age.”

With work on the Lord of the Rings filmsfinished and a possible wedding to plan,Tyler is clearly focusing all of her energyon the future. It may be slightly haphaz-ard preparation, however, since she likesto play things pretty much by ear.

“I don’t really have a strategy to mylife and career,” she says. “Hopefully, Ican continue to do anything I want.”

Earl Dittman is an entertainment journalistbased in Houston, Texas.

rings | reprint |� �

rings reprint 11/11/03 2:45 PM Page 45


rings | reprint | REPRINTED FROM THE NOVEMBER 2002 ISSUE OF FAMOUS

It’s been almost a year since 63-year-old stage and screen veteran Sir IanMcKellen thought he’d discoveredthe secret to reversing the agingprocess. It was right after the first of

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies,Fellowship of the Ring, had been released.

“Every time we would make personalappearances, there’d be so many peo-ple screaming my name and asking forautographs, I started to feel like ayoung pop star,” says McKellen, whoearned an Oscar nomination for hisrole as Gandalf the Grey. “It was anincredible feeling. I’ve done a lot ofmovies, but besides X-Men, this is myfirst gigantic hit film. Some folks knewme from things like Gods and Monsters[for which he also snagged a Best Actornomination], but that was only an art-house hit. So Fellowship of the Ring hasnot only raised my profile in Hollywood,but has introduced me to several gen-

erations of moviegoers who had neverheard of me before. I mean, my face isnow on 40-cent postage stamps DownUnder. All that has given me a newlease on life. I feel 30 years younger.”

McKellen’s reinvigorated attitudecouldn’t have occurred at a bettertime. Although Gandalf makes anunexpected exit in the middle of The Fellowship of the Ring, in The TwoTowers his character makes a triumphantreturn. And, this time, his prowess hasincreased tenfold.

“After the first film, a lot of peoplewould say to me, ‘Is that it? Are we notgoing to see Gandalf again?’ — theythought I was done for,” the Britishactor recalls, settling into his New YorkCity hotel suite for our conversation.“If you are one of the millions whohave read the book, then you know,yes, Gandalf does appear again.Basically, he’s moved up from Gandalf

the Grey to Gandalf the White. He’sgone up in the wizard hierarchy. He’ssent back because the job is not com-plete, he’s failed the Fellowship. But hecomes back looking younger, deter-mined, with a trimmed beard and he’swearing some really cool, white samuraiclothes. He even rides a white horse.He’s no longer a bumbling wizard, he’sa commander. He’s even mistaken forSaruman [Christopher Lee] becausethey can’t believe Gandalf has comeback to life, and looking, shall we say,absolutely stunning.”

While it may make good copy,McKellen’s newfound feelings ofyouthfulness and Gandalf’s rejuvena-tion are purely coincidental since allthree Rings pictures — The Fellowshipof the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King — were filmedtogether over an 18-month period inPeter Jackson’s native New Zealand.

A MONTH BEFORE THERELEASE OF THE

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This four-disc set includes all three classic films: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, plus a bonus fourth disc

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(“Actually, being in such a nice quietplace for so long is probably what reallymade me feel 20 years old again,”McKellen jokes.)

Surprisingly, though, the long shoot,coupled with being in a virtual wilder-ness half-a-world away from Hollywood,caused many of Tinsel Town’s hottestteen actors to pass on the role of Frodo,the young Hobbit who leads theFellowship on a quest to defeat evil.

Twenty-one-year-old Elijah Wood,however, wasn’t about to let the role ofa lifetime pass him by just so he couldstay home in the States to party with hisbuddies. Best known for roles in The IceStorm and Deep Impact, the Americanactor beat out several bigger-name starsby making an audition tape — in fullHobbit regalia — to send to Jackson.

“Believe it or not, I didn’t have anyreservations about going down there,”Wood says from his own lavish suite.“This was something I couldn’t pass up.I thought, ‘I’m still a kid. Time is one ofthe few things I have on my side. EvenIan said to me, ‘Don’t give up the proj-ects you really want for some extra timewith your girlfriend or because youdon’t want to miss a holiday with yourfamily. They’ll understand. Just don’thave any regrets.’”

But filming three movies at once wasno easy task. Wood admits that, at times,it seemed like “absolute madness.”

“There were three individual scripts,although it’s one story,” he explains.“One day, we might be shooting thefirst film, then the next day we wouldshoot the other two. There were actuallya couple of days where I would film ascene from Fellowship in the morning,The Two Towers around noon and Returnof the King at dinnertime. It was crazy.”

“It was an experience I’ll never forget,”McKellen recalls. “But Peter really triedto film in sequence as much as he could.That allowed the actors the chance tofeel how their characters evolved.”

Both McKellen and Wood promiseThe Two Towers will be even moreintense than its predecessor. “If youknow anything about the story, Battle ofHelm’s Deep is a big part of the secondone, and it’s got a battle sequence thatwill kick your ass,” boasts Wood.

McKellen explains, “While the firstone was essential in introducing all thecharacters, The Two Towers begins todefine what their destinies are, and Ithink a lot of people will be surprised bythe direction these characters take.”

Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, OrlandoBloom, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen andJohn Rhys-Davies all reprise theirFellowship of the Ring roles in The TwoTowers — the continuing saga of FrodoBaggins and the Fellowship in theirquest to get the One Ring to MountDoom where it can be destroyed, andstand against the dark lord Sauron inthe process. But the Fellowship has beendivided, with its members on differentpaths to defeat Sauron and his allies.Their destinies now lie at two towers —Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where thecorrupted wizard Saruman waits, andSauron’s fortress at Barad-dur.

Wood is particularly anxious to findout how audiences will react to the fullintroduction of Gollum, the mysteriouscharacter who lurked in the shadows ofThe Fellowship of the Ring.

“I think Gollum is the real star of TwoTowers, he’s very much a CGI character,but don’t expect another Jar-Jar Binks,”Wood says, laughing. “Actually, he’s a bitof good and bad. He’s a tortured char-

acter. It’s incredible to watch him.Honestly, I can’t wait to see what hap-pens, even though I’m in the movie, andI know what’s next. I’m that excited.”

For the openly gay McKellen, anadvocate of same-sex civil rights, theartistic and financial achievements ofThe Fellowship of the Ring, and the anticipated success of the next twoinstallments of the trilogy, represent amajor shift in our society’s views towardsthe acceptance of homosexuals.

“I think it’s pretty ironic that a gayman is the star of two of the biggest filmfranchises of this millennium — X-Men and The Lord of the Rings — a pairof so-called ‘family films,’” beamsMcKellen. “It is a bit ironic, but peoplehave been terribly supportive. Whenthe first film opened, I got an emailfrom my good friend Armistead Maupin[gay author of Tales From the City], andhe wrote, ‘Can you believe an openlygay man is on a mug that Burger King is giving out? We’ve really come a longway, baby.’ So, if Burger King is okaywith an openly gay man helping to selltheir fries and shakes, is there anythingleft to be worried about? If millions ofLord of the Rings fans don’t mind, I thinkthings can only get better.”

And, as Wood has learned, The Lord ofthe Rings followers are a loyal lot. “Ourfans are pretty dedicated, and I reallyrespect that,” he says. “It’s something Ican understand. I don’t understandTrekkies. It’s like, ‘Sorry, but it’s lame.’ Iguess everybody has their own thing.With The Lord of the Rings, though, I getit. It’s a massive part of my life. So I getexcited by their excitement.”

Earl Dittman is an entertainment journalistbased in Houston, Texas.

“”

IT’S GOT A BATTLE SEQUENCETHAT WILL KICKYOUR ASS,BOASTS WOOD

� �rings | reprint |

Sean Astin (left) with Woodin The Two Towers

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on | the | slate |


NEXT UP FOR THE LORD OF THE RINGS CREW: MORTENSEN SADDLES UP, BLANCHETT FLIES HIGH

AND ASTIN BENDS TIME | BY MARNI WEISZ

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For Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson’s next trick, he’llhelm a remake of King Kong slated for release in 2005. � ElijahWood (Frodo) will provide the voice of a musically inclined penguin in the animated feature Happy Feet, due out in 2006. � Orlando Bloom (Legolas) will next be seen as Prince Paris inthe Brad Pitt epic Troy. Paris was the one who started the war bystealing the lovely Helen away from her hubby. The film hits theatres in May.

MCKELLEN GETS PSYCHEDGandalf the White, a.k.a. Ian McKellen, will see his powers considerablyreduced when he plays a psychiatrist at a maximum security institutionin Asylum. The film was recently shot in England, and centres onNatasha Richardson’s character, the wife of another doctor, who fallsin love with a patient. McKellen will follow that performance with aturn as Antonio, the wealthy outsider, in a new version of Shakespeare’sThe Merchant of Venice. No release date has been set for the adaptation,which will be directed by Michael Radford (Il Postino) and filmed inVenice, Luxembourg and Czechoslovakia.

MORTENSEN HORSES AROUNDViggo Mortensen’s first post-Lord of the Rings role seeshim back atop a trusty steed — this time playing a real-life Pony Express courier who travels to the Middle East,rather than a hobbit guide in Middle-earth. The based-on-a-true-story Hidalgo tells of American Frank T. Hopkinswho travelled to Saudi Arabia with his horse (the titularHidalgo) to take part in what sounds like an 1890s versionof Mark Burnett’s Eco Challenge — a trek around theArabian peninsula with a huge prize for the winner. Themovie was directed by Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III),co-stars Omar Sharif, and was shot in locations fromMorocco to Montana. It should hit theatres this March.

ASTIN MAKES TIMEOf all the Lord of the Rings cast members, it’s Sean Astin, who playsindustrious Sam, who’s been the busiest. Fifty First Dates, a comedy inwhich he plays Adam Sandler’s brother, will be the first out with aFebruary release. He’ll also team with Lord co-star Christopher Lee(Saruman) for The Riding of the Laddie, a horror flick about a born-again couple (Astin and LeAnn Rimes) who move to rural Scotland andpreach their beliefs with disastrous results. Astin will play H.G. Wellsin Mark Twain’s Greatest Adventure: It’s a Matter of Time, a time-travelpic in which Wells chases a mad scientist through time. And he’ll doSlipstream, an indie flick which, strangely, is also about time travel,with Astin inventing a machine that sends people 10 minutes back intime. Plus, he’ll play an ad exec in the Kim Basinger pic Elvis Has Leftthe Building. So far, Fifty First Dates is the only one with a release date.

BLANCHETT PLAYS HEPBURNCate Blanchett will follow upher LOTR role of an elf wholives in the trees, with partsthat take her to the air andsea. She recently wrappedthe Howard Hughes bio-picThe Aviator (shot in Montrealand L.A.), in which she playsa young Katharine Hepburnopposite Leonardo DiCaprio’srendition of the eccentricmovie mogul/airplane enthu-siast. LOTR’s own Ian Holm(Bilbo Baggins) also has arole as a meteorologist. And,right now, Blanchett’s in

Rome shooting The Life Aquatic under the direction of WesAnderson (The Royal Tenenbaums). In the first film thatAnderson wrote without usual partner Owen Wilson, Blanchettplays a reporter for the magazine Oceanographic Explorer, whois writing about a bumbling French oceanographer’s (Bill Murray)quest to find a mythical shark. The Aviator has a tentativerelease date of December 2004, but there’s no word yet whenThe Life Aquatic might be done.

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AND THE WINNER IS...Mark Magee hands out the awards for 2003’s best, worst and weirdest videogames

BEST SCRIPT – STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THEOLD REPUBLIC (PC, XBOX)Love Star Wars, but can’t stand Jar-Jar’spatois or Anakin’s moping? Then pick upthis game and revel in the joys of tight dialogue, complex plot arcs and epicmorality-driven storytelling. In some won-derful alternate universe, George Lucas isletting these guys pen Episode 3.

BEST HERO – VOODOO VINCE(XBOX)Who needs muscle-bound goons, gun-totingsoldiers or plucky kids when you’ve gotVince, a heroic voodoo doll who defeats hisenemies by torturing himself? After all,anyone can pull a trigger or swing a sword,but it takes guts to throw yourself into ablender in order to purée the bad guys intoa fine mist.

BEST GRAPHICS – VIEWTIFUL JOE (GAMECUBE)Sure, this game is basically just an updatedDouble Dragon-style side-scrolling beat-’em-up. But it’s the eye-poppingly beautifulgraphics (think “Japanese manga come tolife”) that make this one of the most innovative and groundbreaking games ofthe year.

BEST WEAPON – GRABBED BYTHE GHOULIES (XBOX)When you’ve just got to take down a roomfull of vampires, nothing beats a garlic-firing blunderbuss. Of course, it helps that“blunderbuss” is possibly the best word inthe history of the English language.

BEST WISH FULFILLMENT –THE SIMPSONS: HIT & RUN(GAMECUBE, PS2, XBOX)Thanks to this thinly veiled Grand TheftAuto rip-off, thousands of Simpsons geekscan finally fulfill their dream of visitingSpringfield by hopping behind the wheeland going for a virtual tour of Homer’shometown. Not surprisingly, geographicalnitpicking about the exact location of theQuik-E-Mart has already begun online.

BEST EVIDENCE THAT GAMEDESIGNERS DON’T HAVEGIRLFRIENDS – DEAD OR ALIVEXTREME BEACH VOLLEYBALL(XBOX)Billed as a titillating v-ball experience, thisD-cup laden jigglefest just proved that thereare still guys out there who apparently getturned on by groups of pixels shaped like anoverstuffed Lara Croft. And people wonderwhy more girls don’t play videogames.

BEST MISSED OPPORTUNITY –PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN(PC, XBOX) It was the biggest movie of the summerand the biggest videogame disappointmentof the year. Hyped as a free-roamingpirate simulation that would let you livethe life of a fearsome buccaneer, thisbuggy snore-inducer took a potentiallygreat concept and made it walk the plank.

WORST GAME –AQUAMAN: BATTLE FORATLANTIS (GAMECUBE, XBOX)Every year brings a bumper crop of terriblegames, but in 2003, nothing stunk up thejoint like a week-old halibut more thanAquaman. The problem is, aside from amean doggy-paddle and the ability to chatwith carp, Aquaman doesn’t really have anysuperpowers. Add to that a boring gamethat’s so blurry it looks like it really wasfilmed underwater, and you’ve got a titlethat should be sent to sleep with the fishes.

Mark Magee is a Toronto-based freelancewriter.

BEST GAME – LEGEND OFZELDA: THE WIND WAKER(GAMECUBE)

The Zelda franchise has always beenthe gold standard of videogaming,and this latest offering is no exception.The story has genuine emotion and

fleshed-out characters, the worldis huge and filled with hundreds

of nuanced details, the game-play is as fun as it is challenging,

and the vibrant cartoon-y graphicsare nothing short of stunning. A truedelight of a game.

Viewtiful Joe

Star Wars: Knights of the OldRepublic

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ADAM SANDLER [www.adamsandler.com]Best thing: Most sections of this well-designed site were constructed to givesomething new and creative to Sandler’sfans, with no apparent ulterior motive.

Under “Features” you’ll find more thana dozen short films, both animated andlive action, that were written or narratedby Sandler. And even if they’re not to yourtaste (there are lots of poop and bonerjokes) you have to admit that there’s some-thing admirable about the megastar’seffort to give his fans something for nothing.

Under the “Message from Adam” banner you’ll find, among other things, acache of passive-aggressive letters pur-portedly written to Sandler by his dad.They all start out nice enough, with plati-tudes about the weather and such, thendevolve into angry sniping about Sandler’scigar smoking, his slacker image andeverything that’s wrong with the site: “Youcould be a positive influence to so manypeople, and yet you choose to put forth thepersona of a HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT.”

And for pure enjoyment you can’t beatthe flicks under the “Meatball” banner —half-a-dozen short films featuring Sandler’sbeefy bulldog walking alone along abeach, visiting San Francisco’s top touristspots or hanging out on the couch withcharacter actor Luis Guzman. Of course,being Sandler flicks, Meatball also poops a lot.Worst thing: Isn’t one. Unless you can’tstand Sandler.Stuff you can buy: Absolutely nothing.Kudos to Sandler for not making a grab formore of your money.

IAN MCKELLEN [www.mckellen.com]Best thing: Coming to the realization thatrefined, genteel, brilliant British actor IanMcKellen is also a bit loopy. The daddy ofall official celebrity sites, this one has beenmaintained by McKellen since 1997, to thedelight of Lord of the Rings and X-Men fansalike — and, quite possibly, to the horror ofpublicists for both those movies, as thesite’s most famous sections are his surpris-ingly honest diary entries. While the filmmakers were trying to keep mum,McKellen went online and fed ravenousfans juicy bits from that week’s shoots,revealing everything from how LOTR’sRivendell looked to how the Ontario weatherput a crimp in X-Men’s filming schedule.

There’s also a great “Rumours” sectionwhere McKellen responds to bits of gossiplike last year’s scorcher that he was goingto marry his boyfriend (false). And thereare lots of photos, like the above pic ofMcKellen (left) with X-Men director BryanSinger (centre) and co-star James Marsdenat Universal Studios. Worst thing: The site is about as easy tonavigate as the mines of Moria. Eventhough it has both a contents page and asite map, it’ll take you a good few minutesto even find that famous diary. Stuff you can buy: Skip over the requisiteDVDs, and go to “Souvenir T-Shirts.” Thereyou’ll find a couple of copyright-skirtingwhite cotton T’s (16.95 [U.S.]) sportingsquiggly illustrations by the actor himself— one titled “Sir Ian as a certain unnamedand mysterious wizard-like person” andanother called “As a certain unnamed andmysterious helmeted superhero.”

HALLE BERRY [www.hallewood.com]Best thing: You can leave.Worst thing: When she’s not trying to promote the makeup line she represents(Revlon) in the “Beauty and Fashion” section, Berry promotes the idea that she isthe most beautiful princess ever to trodupon our good Earth and that there is anunbound demand for her to reveal herbeauty secrets. While that demand maywell be true, Berry shouldn’t give in to it,because the result makes this Oscar-caliberactor seem shallow and vacuous.

Other sections include “Halle’s Closet,”where you can peruse some of Halle’sfavourite clothes, complete with commentslike this one about a red Gucci blouse:“This shirt is very light and when I want tofeel sexy I put this little red number on! :)”There’s also “Halle’s Workout,” where youcan watch her do crunches, and the requi-site “Inner Beauty” section with “Lettersfrom Halle’s Heart.” That’s where she shareswhat nourishes her spirit (“The biggest thingthat I’ve done is becoming a mother…”), lessons she’s learned (“Children see thingsso purely…”) and what she’s looking for inthe future (“I look forward to the future offamily life and adding to our family…”).Ahhh, well that balances out all that shallowstuff, now doesn’t it?Stuff you can buy: Autographed photos($9, or two for $16), Hallewood baseballcap ($18), Hallewood mouse pad ($15),Halle Berry sticker ($4). Or, you can get allof it for just $39.95 — “You save $9.00!!”All prices are in U.S. dollars and excludeshipping and handling. (An unspecifiedportion of proceeds does go to charity.)

While the vast majority of celebs do all they can to erectwalls between themselves and their adoring public, thereare a few who go out of their way to keep in touch via theirown websites. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’redoing it all for you. Here are a trio of the most interesting— and diverse — official celebrity sites | BY MARNI WEISZ

MASTERS OF THEIR OWN

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bitstream 11/11/03 10:45 AM

THE LEAGUE OFEXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMENStars: Sean Connery, Peta WilsonDirector: Stephen Norrington (Blade)Story: A hunter, a scientist, a vampire,an invisible man and an immortal —all characters from Victorian novels —take on a masked supervillain. Basedon a comic book series. Because somany comic book and action moviefans love that 19th-century literature.DVD Extras: “Making of” featurette, 12deleted scenes

SEABISCUITStars: Tobey Maguire, Chris CooperDirector: Gary Ross (Pleasantville)Story: The inspiring true tale of ahomely, bad-tempered racehorse thatbecame a beloved champion during theGreat Depression. DVD Extras: Two-discgift set includes archival race footage,plus an acclaimed documentary

FREAKY FRIDAYStars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay LohanDirector: Mark Waters (Head Over Heels)Story: A mom and her teen daughterwake up in each other’s bodies. Manymerry mix-ups ensue. DVD Extras: Musicvideos, alternate endings, behind-the-scenes stuff, “freaky” bloopers

D E C E M B E R 2 3

ALEX & EMMAStars: Kate Hudson, Luke WilsonDirector: Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men)Story: In this romance, an author(Wilson) must finish his novel in 30days or loan sharks will kill him. Hissassy typist (Hudson) inspires hiswrite-to-life campaign.

ANYTHING ELSEStars: Jason Biggs, Christina RicciDirector: Woody Allen (Celebrity)Story: Two young New Yorkers (Biggs,Ricci) fall madly in love, then try towork out their complex relationship.

D E C E M B E R 3 0

S.W.A.T.Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Colin FarrellDirector: Clark Johnson (Drop Squad)Story: Two tough, wise-ass SWAT teamveterans (Jackson, Farrell) train rookiesand guard a high-risk prisoner. Basedon the ’70s TV show. DVD Extras:Eight deleted scenes, “making of”doc, bloopers, theatrical trailers


newRELEASESGO HOME WITH PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN,

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DIRTY DANCING: ULTIMATE EDITIONIn this two-disc set, Baby and Johnny dirty dance theirlittle hearts out one more time. Starring Jennifer Greyand Patrick Swayze, this beloved 1987 romance hitsstores on Dec. 9, just in time to promote the sequel,Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, and stuff a fewChristmas stockings. Special features include newlyremastered sound and visuals, audio commentary withthe producers, a text trivia track, behind-the-scenesfootage, new interviews with Jennifer Grey and othercast, a director’s featurette, Grey’s screen test, trailers and music videos.

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PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THECURSE OF THE BLACK PEARLStars: Johnny Depp, Orlando BloomDirector: Gore Verbinski (The Ring)Story: Strutting like Keith Richardscrossed with Pee Wee Herman, Deppanchors this yarn about undead piratestrying to return a treasure. DVD Extras:Star audio commentaries, 19 deletedand alternate scenes, blooper reel

D E C E M B E R 9

BAD BOYS IIStars: Martin Lawrence, Will SmithDirector: Michael Bay (Pearl Harbor)Story: Two rule-breaking cops(Lawrence and Smith) pursue awhacked-out drug lord. Bullets fly,blood spatters and cars crash as thebad boy detectives crack wise. DVD Extras: Visual effects featurette,deleted scenes, music video, trailers

GIGLIStars: Ben Affleck, Jennifer LopezDirector: Martin Brest (Scent of aWoman)Story: Seems to be a “comedy” orpossibly a “drama” about the mob,kidnapping, yoga and lesbianism. Shotin colour and mostly in focus. Butcome on — you KNOW you’ve GOT tosee it for yourself.

D E C E M B E R 1 6

RUGRATS GO WILDVoices: Lacy Chabert, Bruce WillisDirectors: Norton Virgien and John EngStory: Two bratty TV cartoon families— the Rugrat babies and the WildThornberrys — meet on a desert island.But at least Bruce Willis shows up asa singing dog.

Alex & Emma

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star | gazing |

decemberHOROSCOPE | BY DAN LIEBMAN K

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4th Marisa Tomei5th Frankie Muniz6th Tom Hulce7th Ellen Burstyn8th Kim Basinger9th John Malkovich10th Kenneth Branagh11th Teri Garr12th Jennifer Connelly13th Christopher Plummer14th Patty Duke

15th Don Johnson16th Liv Ullmann17th Eugene Levy18th Brad Pitt19th Jennifer Beals20th John Spencer21st Kiefer Sutherland22nd Ralph Fiennes23rd Susan Lucci24th Ricky Martin25th Sissy Spacek26th Jared Leto

1st Bette Midler2nd Britney Spears3rd Julianne Moore

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27th Gerard Depardieu28th Denzel Washington29th Mary Tyler Moore30th Eliza Dushku31st Val Kilmer

sagittariusNovember 22 >>> December 22 You could be too impatient about reachinga goal before year’s end. Don’t hesitate toextend your personal deadline by a month.The holiday season is a good time to intro-duce a new tradition. It has only taken ayear or so, but a difficult family memberbecomes supportive.

capricornDecember 23 >>> January 20Relatives seem judgmental, but their com-ments are open to interpretation. Stresslevel improves when you try relaxation tech-niques. The holidays aren’t the best timefor making controversial announcements.

aquariusJanuary 21 >>> February 19 You’re unusually motivated and productivefor this time of year. Your appeal level isalso high, and you may be invited to one ofthe season’s hottest parties. A friendship isheading to a new level. Catch your breathbefore making a major commitment.

piscesFebruary 20 >>> March 20 Overall, this is a good month for playingyour hunches and being an independentthinker. After a series of small disappoint-ments, you begin a period of significantaccomplishment. Take the initiative in settling a dispute that’s gone on for fartoo long.

ariesMarch 21 >>> April 20 That noise you hear? It’s the clash ofegos. And there’s no avoiding it; the onusis on you to back down. Romance isheightened as one year ends and anotherbegins. Your partner becomes more tender,or perhaps a budding relationship burstsinto full bloom.

taurusApril 21 >>> May 22 Public relations is your current strong suit.You’re especially gifted at selling ideas orbeing interviewed. In money matters, thekey is to look at the big picture rather thanat details. Your competitive streak surfaces,but try to be gracious, not aggressive.

geminiMay 23 >>> June 21Continue to think creatively, particularlywhen tackling family issues. You’ll be handling more than your share of legaldocuments. Be sure to get the answers youneed before signing your life away. Bondsstrengthen between you and a new friend.

cancerJune 22 >>> July 22Gossip you hear is unreliable and possiblydangerous. Send out good vibes by arranging a truce between feuding parties.Your timing may be off around the 15th,when you bump into someone you’ve beenhoping to avoid.

leoJuly 23 >>> August 22Don’t throw away a single document, pre-pare to back up statements, and go easywhen it comes to making commitments.Look forward to meeting a fascinatingindividual over the holidays. And watchout for a tendency to overdo things afterthe 20th.

virgoAugust 23 >>> September 22As the curtain comes down on the year,take stock of your accomplishments andmake a list of people you want to thank. Asluggish relationship shows signs of comingback to life. Count on making at least oneimportant decision after the 21st.

libraSeptember 23 >>> October 22Your role is to create a comfortable ambience — a challenge, given thismonth’s roster of visitors. Self-confidencesoars after a recent setback. Though hardlya typical month for resolutions, it’s a goodtime to make personal commitments.

scorpioOctober 23 >>> November 21This is a good month for reaching a settle-ment, finding new forms of relaxation, anddesigning a health plan that actuallyworks. Seek sound financial counsel beforeinvesting even small amounts. A mysteriousgift may arrive late in the month.

horoscope 11/11/03 11:22 AM

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famous | last | words |

Will Ferrell gets tospend time at theNorth Pole in Elf

NICOLE KIDMAN “My favourite perfumeis Chanel #5. I always wish for it.”

SALMA HAYEK “My Christmas wish is always for art, pieces of art. They’respecial.”

JENNIFER LOPEZ “What I value issomething homemade. That shows the person put some thought and effort into it.When I was a kid, my aunt made a compli-cated collage with lots of family photos. Tome, that’s the most thoughtful kind of gift.”

MARCIA GAY HARDEN “I wish for awinter wonderland. We have a place inthe Catskills, and I love the feeling thereat holiday time. The lake is frozen overand we can skate all week.”

VIGGO MORTENSEN “For the U.S. to getout of Iraq would be my Christmas wish.”

JACK BLACK “I celebrate Hannukah, soI don’t really wish for much at Christmas,except peace on Earth and goodwilltoward all men — and women.”

RAY ROMANO “A different birthday. Mybirthday is December 21, so I always getburned.”

LIEV SCHREIBER “I wish I could havea happy holiday. I usually have crappyholidays because I’m always working atthat time of year.”

SANDRA BULLOCK “I always wish forcold weather. I want to be where it’s coldfor Christmas. I’m an East Coast girl, so Ineed snow and frost for Santa.”

WILL FERRELL “I WISH I COULD BE AT THE NORTH POLE. MYLOUSIEST CHRISTMASES WERE GROWING UP IN SOUTHERNCALIFORNIA WHERE IT CAN BE 85 DEGREES ON CHRISTMAS DAY.”

10 | BY SUSAN GRANGER

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