The Two Towers focuses on Frodo's relationship with Samwise, so how did that affect your friendship with Sean Astin?

We had a great time. That relationship became a reality, and that's the beautiful thing about what you see on screen. Because we were there for so long, what you see is often what was really happening, in terms of the friendships. There's so much for me that's so authentic and so right and so in the moment, because it was really happening to us.

You also, of course, have many scenes with the computer-generated Gollum. How were they?

There were a lot of different elements in play when we shot those scenes. Obviously, it was a CG character, but we had Andy Serkis playing Gollum both physically and as the character's voice. Ultimately, it's a pretty realistic character. And that God it was! I think all of us were a little scared. It's one thing to have a cave troll, but to have a character that speaks and interacts and that you can actually care for is very difficult, and I don't think it's ever been done before. It's yet another groundbreaking aspect of Lord of the Rings.

You went back to New Zealand for reshoots last summer. What exactly did you do?

We just wanted to get more involved in the relationship between Frodo and Sam, and how that's being threatened by Frodo's obsession with the Ring. You'll actually see Frodo folding the Ring and being more involved with that. You'll see his connection to Gollum a little more and find out why they're close. He wants to save Gollum so that he can believe he can he saved. We added a little bit more darkness to Frodo, to show he's deteriorating more. The new scenes are great. The stuff they wrote this time around to enhance what we'd done is some of my favourite stuff. It's going to make the journey much more interesting.

How was it being back in Kiwi-land?

It was like going home. Every time we go back, we feel this overwhelming sensation of not having left. Suddenly you're in your trailer and you're in make-up and you're wearing your feet and you're like, "What the f**k have I done with the last two years? Have I been here all this time?" It's bizarre.

How hard was it, after you finished the initial, 14 month bout of filming, to adapt to being back home again?

There is a safety net in having those relationships and working on something for that length of time. That becomes your world and you don't know anything else. When I got home, trying to reassimilate was difficult. I just wanted to go into hibernation. I had very little communication with friends. It took me a while to get used to what my life meant again, instead of my life in Lord of the Rings. And then going back to work was hard because the idea of leaving that safety net, of jumping out of that bubble and doing something else was weird. I felt trepidation for no reason. But once I made the jump, I was fine.

How was the Rings trilogy influenced what you're being offered? What kinds of scripts are you getting now?

There's a movie called Thumbsucker that I'm going to be doing. We're just waiting for when that will start. Thank God no one has had the balls to send me any other fantasy scripts. Either that or they've just been filtered out. I'm getting offered certain things, a lot of older roles. As I get older, things are moving in a different direction.

What's the most unexpected result of being a part of this phenomenon?

Obviously, being associated with the movies has been amazing, but the attention associated with it isn't the greatest. I must say that one of the oddest by-products, and yet one of my favourites, it that I've been able to meet some of my favourite musicians in the last two or three years. I've met Elvis Costello, who was awesome. I met Beck, and he was lovely. I met The Strokes... What's so nice about those interactions is that I hate going backstage, because I feel like an idiot and I don't want to bother people. That's the last thing I want to do because I understand what it's like. But now there's that thing where I'm recognisable and they're recognisable and we can meet each other on the same level. That's really cool.

:: back ::