00:00 So every person in that wheel then is very important,
00:04 they're a very important cog to it,
00:05 and it just wouldn't revolve
00:07 without any one of those characters.
00:09 I just repeated myself.
00:11 (laughing)
00:13 - But what about the characters though?
00:16 (laughing)
00:19 (upbeat music)
00:21 Rob, I'll start with you.
00:31 I just wanna know when you guys
00:32 are approaching your own production,
00:34 whether you touch the Peter Jackson films at all
00:36 just to set the tone or for preparation at all,
00:39 or do you really wanna separate yourselves
00:40 and do your own thing?
00:42 - Well, you know, the Peter Jackson films
00:44 were like a big part of my life.
00:45 - Sure.
00:46 - You know, I used to watch them as a kid,
00:48 and Lord of the Rings in general
00:49 was a huge part of my life.
00:51 And so when you go into it as an actor,
00:53 it's like a different sort of perspective, really.
00:55 And so I went to, you know,
00:57 discovered all of this material
00:59 that I didn't even know existed about the fair stage,
01:01 and so I just really dug into that,
01:03 and like a historian, you know.
01:05 - To that end, you can get swallowed up
01:09 researching the lore that comes with this.
01:13 And so how much of that did you rely on
01:15 just the script versus branching off of it
01:18 and sort of digging into further materials?
01:21 - I think everyone was different, really.
01:23 You know, I mean, he is a lore master, you know.
01:27 So part of the research for the character,
01:30 I felt like, was learning as much as I could.
01:33 And I think that was more necessary for some people
01:37 and less necessary for others.
01:38 - Yeah, very true.
01:39 Tristan, when a series has this many characters
01:42 and potential subplots,
01:44 it can be tough for an audience to keep it all straight.
01:46 And I'm just curious how this series is tackling that.
01:49 Are there different ways that the storylines are broken up,
01:52 whether it be visually
01:53 or just the way the characters are grouped?
01:55 - Well, I think every character is integral
01:59 to the telling of the story.
02:01 So it wouldn't be the same without any one character.
02:04 So it needs all those characters, you know.
02:06 There's so many worlds in it and stuff,
02:09 and a fantasy world anyway is a very heterogeneous place.
02:14 And this is just true to type.
02:16 So every person in that wheel then is very important.
02:20 They're a very important cog to it.
02:21 And it just wouldn't revolve
02:23 without any one of those characters.
02:25 I just repeated myself.
02:27 (all laughing)
02:29 - But what about the characters, though?
02:32 (all laughing)
02:34 Honestly, are they important for this?
02:38 Megan, what was the moment on set
02:40 when the enormity of what you guys were doing
02:42 finally hit you, when it finally felt real?
02:44 - I think one of the moments that was most poignant to me
02:48 was seeing one of our sets for the first time.
02:53 We worked on location a lot,
02:54 and we were on this farm that had this huge forest.
02:58 And the set designers were incredible.
03:01 They built all of the Halfords' homes,
03:02 which are these carts,
03:03 and they're decorated so beautifully.
03:05 And they are camouflaged to the environment.
03:08 But when I first walked in,
03:11 there's a scene that you'll see in the show,
03:13 which is really beautiful.
03:15 And it had all of our background artists
03:17 who had been working very closely with Lara,
03:19 who was our movement director.
03:20 And they were creating the sequence,
03:22 and they were rehearsing it for J.A.,
03:25 who was also there.
03:26 So they were doing a camera rehearsal
03:27 to see how it fit in the space.
03:28 And that's when I first walked in and saw the set.
03:31 So I got to see the set as a live,
03:34 literally a live art form.
03:36 And that was when I really was like,
03:39 "I'm in Middle Earth here."
03:40 And it was just, yeah, it was just gorgeous.
03:43 - And people talk about going to New Zealand,
03:44 you know, to take tours of the sets that exist,
03:47 and how immersive it is.
03:48 I can't imagine.
03:49 Is that what the experience is like
03:51 when you're on those sets there?
03:52 Is it that you just feel like you're part of another world?
03:54 - Absolutely.
03:55 It's really similar for me.
03:57 One of the first times I was on the set,
03:59 and there were all the background people,
04:01 and there was, but there was also just everyone around,
04:04 and all working so hard to create this
04:07 very real, moving, vibrant beast.
04:10 And I was standing there going, "This is incredible."
04:13 I've said before now that I felt like I was cosplaying.
04:16 I was just like entering the space
04:18 and just being completely overtaken.
04:20 It was just extraordinary, really extraordinary.
04:22 - New Zealand is beautiful.
04:24 - I love that you mentioned cosplaying,
04:25 'cause we're here.
04:26 Have you guys had a chance to see
04:27 any Rings cosplayers at all?
04:30 - I am desperate to.
04:31 I haven't yet.
04:32 Is anyone else?
04:33 - Oh, yeah.
04:33 Yeah, yeah.
04:34 Yeah, they're everywhere.
04:36 - We haven't got out.
04:37 We've been there.
04:38 (all laughing)
04:39 - He's making free.
04:40 - I might touch these.
04:41 - He's doing so much.
04:42 - You're doing your one.
04:43 (all laughing)
04:44 - He dressed up like someone.
04:46 And we're now exploring.
04:47 - Yeah, I've seen quite a lot of elves.
04:50 But I've not actually, I've not seen a dwarf.
04:53 - No. - Okay.
04:54 - You'll have to fix that by tomorrow.
04:55 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:56 (all laughing)
04:58 - Wayne, when Tolkien's works came out,
05:01 it had a lot of parallels to World War II.
05:03 And so I'm curious how you think this show, this series,
05:06 if it does at all, reflects and comments
05:08 on our modern culture.
05:09 - I think we can relate to the world that we live in now,
05:16 certainly with Middle Earth.
05:19 - Sure.
05:20 - Being out in New Zealand felt like Middle Earth
05:23 'cause it's an island in the middle of the ocean, you know?
05:26 And certainly with Khazad-Dum,
05:28 I related Khazad-Dum to Wales, to where I'm from.
05:35 I grew up on the side of a mountain
05:37 and slate quarries and coal mines as well.
05:42 So it's a big part of it.
05:45 I'm looking at Tristan here 'cause we're both from Wales.
05:49 (all laughing)
05:50 So yeah, so I can relate to Khazad-Dum
05:54 quite fondly because of Wales.
06:01 And yeah.
06:03 - Gotcha.
06:03 - That makes sense.
06:05 This is for anyone.
06:06 The show comes with so much anticipation
06:09 that the internet is flooded with theories.
06:11 So how much have you guys allowed yourself
06:13 to maybe dip some toes into what people are speculating
06:17 before the show even drops?
06:18 - Do you know what's wonderful about it
06:20 is that no two imaginations are the same,
06:23 like fingerprints.
06:24 So you've got to allow people to have
06:27 their imaginations run wild and stuff.
06:30 And then when they come and see the show,
06:32 it'll be similar in some respects
06:35 and then different in others.
06:36 But then it's consigned to memory.
06:38 So all they've got then is the memory,
06:40 unless they can watch it again, of course.
06:41 (all laughing)
06:42 They can if they can do.
06:43 But then they go back and it'll be all in memory
06:45 and there'll be like a sort of a mesh, I guess,
06:47 like a marriage of these two imaginings of this world.
06:52 And that's a lovely thing just to sit down and mull over.
06:54 - Yeah. - That'll be wonderful.
06:55 - That's very true.
06:56 I heard recently that you guys all got together as a cast
07:00 and watched the first three episodes.
07:02 Was that, were you guys able to participate in that?
07:05 What was it like?
07:05 What was it like seeing it come to life?
07:07 - It was gorgeous. - There was a lot of shouting.
07:09 - There was a lot of shouting.
07:10 - A lot of emotions. - Yeah, often when someone--
07:12 - Cheering. - Cheering.
07:12 - Oh, cheering. - Because also we would see,
07:14 because we were obviously so immersed in our own worlds,
07:17 occasionally we would get to see other worlds,
07:19 but not often 'cause we were working very hard.
07:22 And so, and we spent so long together
07:24 and know each other really, really well.
07:26 And to then see all the hard work
07:28 that we've been doing up on the screen was just,
07:31 I mean, we would see people and we'd be like,
07:32 "Oh my God," you know, like all that stuff.
07:34 But then, equally a minute later,
07:35 we'd be in absolute tears as a character,
07:37 something happened to a character.
07:39 So it was an odd experience of being,
07:41 "Oh, there's Matt, oh my God, is that, oh my God."
07:44 (laughing)
07:46 We were so excited.
07:48 - Yeah, I very quickly, sorry, oh, right.
07:50 - I was just gonna say, it's a rollercoaster.
07:52 - Yeah. - Yeah.
07:53 - I very quickly forgot that I was watching my friends.
07:56 - Yes, yes. - You know?
07:57 Which I think was, you know, I'm obviously,
08:01 you, very, very quickly, I was just invested
08:05 in the other world that I was watching.
08:07 - Yes. - Best compliment.
08:09 - Yes. - Yeah, it was a compliment.
08:11 I'll get to Eddie on this.
08:12 How do you all feel about the binge model
08:16 versus, you know, being everybody on the same page
08:18 with each episode dropping?
08:20 I personally prefer when everybody's
08:22 in the same point in the conversation
08:25 because it's so hard when you get to a full season drops
08:28 and the first question you have to ask is like,
08:29 "Where are you in the show?
08:30 "What have you watched?"
08:31 - I agree.
08:32 - You guys feel that way as well?
08:33 - Absolutely. - Yeah.
08:34 - I think it's brilliant how they're doing it.
08:36 - I think it needs a week to kind of absorb it.
08:38 - To absorb it, yeah. - Yes.
08:39 - And maybe go back on it.
08:40 - There's so much information within each episode
08:43 that, yeah, you do need to absorb.
08:45 - And so much richness and, yes.
08:47 - And it offers people an opportunity to then,
08:49 you know, halfway through a week go,
08:50 "Oh, I actually need to maybe rewatch that again
08:52 "and absorb it and then be ready for the next episode."
08:55 And also to sort of maintain that, hopefully, excitement.
08:58 - And anticipation, like how wonderful to see something
09:00 and go, "Oh my gosh," and have theories with your friends
09:02 and chatting and all that.
09:04 And then you all get to sit down and watch it the next week.
09:06 And I think it's great, this model.
09:08 - I'm so happy to have you guys come through.
09:09 Thank you very much.
09:10 We're excited to see you. - Thank you.
09:11 - Thank you. - Yes, appreciate it.
09:12 - Lovely to be here. - Thank you so much.
09:14 (upbeat music)
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