David Wenham and Billy Boyd Discuss the Extended Version of "Return of the King"
From Rebecca Murray,
Your Guide to Dramatic / Romantic Movies.
David Wenham ('Faramir') and Billy Boyd ('Pippin') made an appearance at the 2004 San Diego Comic Con to promote the upcoming release of the Special Extended Version of the "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" DVD. Before the screaming mass of fans got a chance to talk to the two "Lord of the Rings" cast members, Wenham and Boyd sat down for a more intimate chat to discuss the longer version of the final chapter of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
BILLY BOYD AND DAVID WENHAM INTERVIEW:
Last year must have seemed like the end of an era, and now with the Extended DVD coming out soon, it must feel like it's prolonging the experience.
BILLY BOYD: Yeah, I think we felt a little bit like that. You feel like, “Wow, you know, I’ve got to do this because this will be the last thing.” And then something else happens (laughing). I think people have enjoyed the film and not wanted it to end. You want to go on and do other things, but it was such a fun time.
Do you think once this DVD’s out that it will be the definitive end?
DAVID WENHAM: Yes.
BILLY BOYD: Yeah. I mean, what else can there be?
DAVID WENHAM: But we still see each other a lot.
What can fans look forward to with the extended version? What did you want to see in this?
DAVID WENHAM: I think...how many minutes of extra footage are in this? 50? I might be wrong. It’s a huge amount of extra footage, which really does assist in, obviously, fleshing out storylines but also assists in character development as well. From my point of view, playing Faramir, it gives a great deal of context to some of the dramatic scenes that occur in the film. It helps the relationship – the very strained relationship between Faramir and his father. In this extended version, it shows the romance, if you like, with Faramir and Eowyn. It goes into The Houses of Healing. It gives the audience an opportunity to see how they actually got together.
It must be tough to make a film and see so much of it cut out when it hits theaters. Is it refreshing to know that with a project like this, the extended version will have so much put back in?
BILLY BOYD: Yeah, I think it helps, you know, because that’s what everybody wants to see. Even though you know that in six months time or whatever, there’s a good chance that most of those people will buy the extended version and see that stuff. But you know when you make a film, you make it to be seen in a cinema. And then it’s not so much that you miss your stuff in the film, it’s more like you feel like it could have added to the film. You think, “Oh, God,” knowing that that scene is missing and that that scene doesn’t make that much sense. You’re like, “Oh no,” because you thought that scene was going to be in there. I think that the extended version makes a lot of sense of a lot of stuff.
When you watch it in a theater, you might not really notice that some things don’t make sense.
BILLY BOYD: Yeah, yeah. You don’t really notice it until you see the [cut scenes] back in.
Did we lose much of Pippin the first time around? Do we see more of him in the extended version?
BILLY BOYD: There’s a couple of things, like there’s some stuff with Faramir, which I think really helps because at the end when he’s saving Faramir, you just have more of a sort of emotional connection with him. And also [there's] the scene, I found it really interesting, with Faramir talking about when he was a boy and you’re talking about your dad, and you’re talking to Pippin. I think that should be interesting to see. Yeah, even things like when Pippin finds Merry. In the extended, it’s amazing how they did this because it’s daytime when he finds him in the theatrical version, but in the extended, Pippin’s been looking for Merry all day, and everybody has left. And it’s nighttime when he finds him. Just that – it makes it more like everybody else has given up on Merry.
As far as you can remember, you shot just one version of the scene?
BILLY BOYD: Yes.
Having footage cut from the theatrical version, can you sympathize with Christopher Lee’s stance about having Saruman cut out completely from the final film?
BILLY BOYD: Yeah. I mean, because it meant that he wasn’t in it. The trilogy – it meant that he wouldn’t be in the trilogy. You can see both sides, you know. It does look like you’re finishing the second movie at the start of the third, and what Pete wanted was the third one to start. So you can see both sides. But as an actor, you can see yeah, I wanted my character to finish it. You can see both sides.
Did you record commentaries for the extended DVD?
DAVID WENHAM: Yes, we did record commentaries. I must say I found that a rather weird experience. There was a great deal of time passed between when we actually shot the original footage and when we went back to talk about it. And I have a shocking memory. I have a terrific short term memory but my long term’s very bad. I also did mine by myself. It would have been probably easier if I’d had somebody else there to bounce off of and to sort of say, “Do you remember when…?” I didn’t have that so my commentary, if they just ran that, there would be a lot of air because there’s a lot of parts I don’t remember.
Were you just sitting in a chair with headphones on, watching TV?
DAVID WENHAM: That’s exactly what it is. It’s a very cold [thing]. I think they’re different for different people. For me, it was absolutely extremely difficult. I had to go back into the dark recesses of my mind and you know, I don’t want to go there (laughing).
Have you watched all the extras on all the DVDs?
DAVID WENHAM: No, I haven’t sat down and watched all three.
BILLY BOYD: Do you know that I’ve never seen any of them in the cinema, besides what I’ve seen at a premiere? I’ve never seen them with just an audience.
DAVID WENHAM: I did. There was a press day or something coming up that I needed to freshen up on. It was like one of the last days of “The Two Towers” and I thought I better go and have a look at it. And it was great – I loved it.
BILLY BOYD: I wish I would have done it. Elijah [Wood] and Dom [Monaghan] and them did it, and they said it was great.
Can you watch yourself onscreen?
DAVID WENHAM: Yeah, I don’t have any problem with that at all. I can be extremely objective.
What was the Oscar night like?
BILLY BOYD: It was a riot. The coolest thing was, a lot of these guys – a lot of the New Zealanders probably haven’t even left New Zealand before. And there they are hanging in Hollywood, and up on the stage getting an Oscar. It was just the weirdest thing – because you know them. These shows can sometimes be a bit boring, you know? [The winners] go up and thank a lot of people you’ve never heard of. But because “Lord of the Rings” won so many and there were people that we knew, and they were thanking people that we knew, it made it a really exciting night. You’re like, “Ohhh, that’s great! He got mentioned.” It was cool. Plus I got to sit real close to Prince.
Was that like a wish fulfilled?
BILLY BOYD: Pretty much, yeah (laughing). I love listening to his music.
Did you introduce yourself to him?
BILLY BOYD: No, I didn’t. I wish I had. I’m always scared that I’m going to be disappointed. I’ve heard too many sort of horror stories of people meeting their idol and [being disappointed].
What are you working on now?
BILLY BOYD: I just finished a film called “On a Clear Day” – a British film. I just finished it [two days before this interview].
Did you miss the wrap party?
BILLY BOYD: No. We were filming it on the Isle of Man – an island between Scotland and Ireland. It's about a couple of guys who try to swim the English Channel. Peter Mullan is in it and Brenda Blethyn. We had the wrap party on the Isle of Man and then we had two days filming down in Dover.
Is the Isle of Man an interesting place?
BILLY BOYD: It’s weird. There are a lot of people living there just not to pay tax, so that's a weird thing. Everyone you meet has had some sort of windfall or sold a business and made a lot of money and just went and lived there. There’s no other reason they’re there. And also the water’s freezing. We're doing a movie about swimming the Channel in water that's even colder than the Channel. We’re swimming in the Irish Sea, it’s like you've got icebergs passing you. You could only go in the water for about ten minutes.
Are they doing another “Master and Commander?”
BILLY BOYD: I don’t think so. There was talk of it very early on and I’ve not heard anything.
David, what are you working on?
DAVID WENHAM: I’m working on just having a little bit of time off at the moment. I finished something a little while ago called “Three Dollars.” A film in Australia based on a great novel, actually, of the same name. It’s about a man who one day – his life is falling apart around him – and he finds out that he’s only got three dollars to his name. And he has two options: he can go down the road of homelessness or he can go back through his life and work out how he got to this point and then change. It’s a good film.
Is there any word on a "Van Helsing 2" being in the pipeline at some point?
DAVID WENHAM: I don’t know. I don’t know.
Since you're both keeping so busy with films, have you thought about moving to LA?
DAVID WENHAM: Australia is my home and I love living there. But I’m always prepared. I commute, I don’t mind the plane ride. I’m always open to work anywhere. I don’t feel the necessity to actually physically be here 365 days a year.
BILLY BOYD: Dom lives in LA, which is great because it means I have somewhere to stay (laughing). It’s even more great now that he’s doing “Lost.” He’s in Hawaii so I get his house without him being there. He lives here, but I still live in Scotland. Scotland’s my home. I don’t mind the commute. I have to go to London all the time.
You’re not a two homes-type of person?
BILLY BOYD: No, I don’t have the money (laughing). If I had the money, I’d be like a five homes-sort of a person. Maybe some day.
But the conception is that these movies made so much money, you guys must be rolling in it.
BILLY BOYD: (Laughing) That’s really one of the worst things about it, is that people think you have millions of pounds – and you don’t. You go to a pub or something and everybody expects you to buy the drinks…
DAVID WENHAM: Or at a restaurant, pick up the bill…
So you don’t go out to pubs very often?
BILLY BOYD: I don’t go out at all anymore. I stay in the house and I cry (laughing).