00:00Everybody, it's Peter, my little war horse.
00:02There you go.
00:04A first.
00:05I got you.
00:06It's a first.
00:07I'm surprised to overhear you say that you don't get recognised by Lord of the Rings, Rings of Fire fans.
00:11Never.
00:12That can't be true.
00:13No, never.
00:14Why would they?
00:15I'm a dwarf with a big nose and big ears.
00:18I wouldn't recognise... I don't recognise me.
00:20I'd probably be insulted, I guess, if they went...
00:24Are you that big-nosed dwarf guy?
00:27You have obviously been involved in so many fantastic films and TV series over the years.
00:32How has Rings of Power compared to all of those previous projects?
00:35I would have assumed it would be fan reaction, but I guess not for yourself.
00:37No, I don't get any of the fan stuff.
00:41It's a tough old gig physically.
00:44I mean, you're not working down a...
00:46Well, actually, that was the thing.
00:48I used to...
00:49Normally as an actor, you say it was tough physically.
00:52And then you say...
00:53I mean, it's not like working down a mine.
00:56In this thing, you go...
00:58Actually, I'm working down a... mine.
01:01I'm stuck in a mine for, like, months.
01:04So it was tough.
01:05And I was working down a mine.
01:07But I was working down a mine with a false nose and false ears.
01:09It's a tough one physically.
01:11It's a great one to do because of the lads I'm working with and the lassies.
01:15Like Sophia and Owen and Rob and Kevin.
01:20I mean, you have a really nice time.
01:22But physically, getting up at 3 a.m. and then sitting in a make-up chair,
01:27with the smell of the glue and all that.
01:30So that when you walk on set at 7.30,
01:34you're halfway through your day.
01:36Everyone else is just starting.
01:38So everyone else is up.
01:40And you're...
01:42Physically, it's demanding.
01:44But I didn't work.
01:45I mean, I think in total, I did maybe 12 days.
01:48There's the famous story.
01:49There's the famous story.
01:50I don't know if you know it, of Jim Carrey when he's doing the Grinch.
01:52And he, like, went through that training where his mind would go.
01:54Well, he had a breakdown and then he did the training.
01:56How would you cope when you were up to six on set for something?
01:59I used fans.
02:02Like, two air fans to push away the smell of the glue.
02:07And two things saved me.
02:10One was beautiful Sarah who did the make-up.
02:13Because she had the same energy level as me.
02:15So at 3 a.m., we're chatting away.
02:18That's our energy levels.
02:20If she'd been a more quiet kind of waking up, I'd have struggled.
02:24Because I like to go...
02:26I pretend everything's rosy in the garden.
02:28Because it gets you through it.
02:30Some actors like to sleep and stuff.
02:33I couldn't do that.
02:34And the other thing that got me through is a thing.
02:36It's a cool vest.
02:38And believe it or not, Lord of the Rings is one of the very few productions that have them.
02:43Because the company went bust, apparently.
02:46And it was really hard to get one.
02:48And a cool vest is like an electric blanket in reverse.
02:52And I know it sounds terribly boring and technical.
02:54It saved our lives.
02:56It was Owain who said to me, put the cool vest on.
02:58Because in New Zealand, I was going to pull out.
03:00I last did my first day and I thought, I'm going to have to say to these guys,
03:04I'm really sorry, but I can't do this.
03:06It was too suffocating.
03:07Then you put this cool vest on and they plug you into an ice...
03:11Do you know them?
03:12I've never heard of them, but honestly, it sounds like a great invention.
03:14You get plugged into an ice bag and the ice water goes through you.
03:19And you go from overheating to being genuinely really cool.
03:24And you can think straight.
03:26And suddenly you don't feel as claustrophobic.
03:28You don't feel as trapped.
03:29And I know it sounds like...
03:31But literally me, Owain, ask any of the lads about the cool vest
03:35and they will tell you they couldn't have gotten through it without it.
03:38And sadly, the company, I'm told, has gone bust.
03:41I don't know why.
03:42I know.
03:43My final question for you is,
03:44I imagine that you've played kings and royalty before,
03:47but when you're playing royalty, I know you're a dwarf,
03:49but royalty within a fantasy genre,
03:51does that give you more room to really hammer the royalty in your character?
03:56No, I was lucky I didn't, no.
03:59Because as the old adage says,
04:02you don't play royalty, everybody around you plays it.
04:05You don't.
04:06They're doing all the work for you.
04:08If they doff a cap, you're a royal.
04:10If they don't doff their cap,
04:11you're just...
04:12You know, who thinks he's a royal?
04:14Which is an interesting character, but you're a different character.
04:17So you're completely dependent on everybody else being subservient
04:23in a creditable fashion.
04:26But I was lucky in this one because I'm a junkie.
04:29So he's a junkie king, and that's interesting.
04:32You know, a guy with all the power, all the crowns,
04:35but the truth is he needs his head.
04:37And if he doesn't get his head...
04:39Because the first day, everybody was tiptoeing around that word,
04:43that concept, and we were in the middle of doing it,
04:46and I had to say to the director,
04:48because you only get little bits of script.
04:51And I said, so I'm a junkie.
04:54And there was this silence, and everybody went,
04:57because I wasn't being cheeky or facetious or flippant.
05:02I meant it, because I didn't have the full script.
05:05I don't have any backstory.
05:07And out of nowhere, I think it was Patrick or J.D.,
05:10one of the showrunners, just bawled,
05:13yes, yes, Peter, that's what you are!
05:17And I know it sounds, again, it sounds basic,
05:21but then you've got a through line.
05:23Then it's interesting.
05:25It's like, wow, I'm a little dwarf king,
05:28and the first season's kind of down to earth.
05:31Nice wee guy, but now he's addicted,
05:34and now he's capable of being deeply unpleasant
05:38because he needs this hat,
05:40and if you take that from him, he'll hurt you.
05:44And that's obviously, from an acting point of view,
05:47more fun than just being the nice dwarf.
05:50I am not one of those people.
05:52Oh, pleasure, pleasure. Take care.
05:54All the best, man. Take care.
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