LOTR Castmember Quotes
Peter Jackson
(Director) |
||
Speaker |
Topic |
Quote |
| Andy BBC Newsround, 3/21/03 |
Abilities | He's an amazing man, he's a titanic man in all senses of the word. He's a great leader but he also is great fun and just brilliant working with the actors - he knows how to get the best drama out of a scene but also technically he's wonderful in his vision with the shots is just extraordinary and his storytelling is fantastic. Apart from anything else he's just great fun on set, he's always playing practical jokes and he always keeps it light, it never gets too serious with Peter. So he's a good all rounder. |
| Christopher | Appearance | When you meet Peter Jackson all you see is a beard and a mass of black hair and some large spectacles. Eventually you see the eyes and that's about it. |
| Christopher Brussels International Festival of the Fantasy Film, 3/27/02 |
Strength | Jackson is very hardworking with a great vision. Very strong physically, he had to be: he made three films at the same time, which no director has ever done in history. And he made these films over a period of about fifteen months. And I think he had something like between six and ten units working at the same time. That demands mental stability and terrific physical stamina. He’s a very strong man, physically, very strong. He’s also a New Zealander and every nation is different from another nation, so he’s completely different from other people. |
| Dom | Energy | Peter's much more of a hobbit than he is any other character or creature, I love how much fun he gets out of it. He's not making this movie to look back on it and say he did it. He's enjoying the making of it. And it makes everything fresh." |
| Dom | Hobbit-like | We work so well with (Peter Jackson) because Pete understands Hobbits so well. Because he is a Hobbit. He has so many Hobbit qualities to him. |
| Dom | Directing | Peter's a very hands-on director and he likes to feel what the characters are feeling. After you've done a scene, you realize that he's been feeling it with you the whole way through. A terrible Uruk-Hai will be hovering over you, and you see him doing the monster himself, growling; then you see him being you, too, in a panic. |
| Elijah | Meeting Peter | Oh, my God. It was wonderful. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time and he had seen my audition tape that I sent in, and he was in Los Angeles for a few days to meet with people, and I got to meet with him and read for him. And being such a fan of his work, I was so excited to meet him, and his partner Fran, who wrote with Peter, one of my favorite movies: ‘Heavenly Creatures’. It was just a joy to meet them. They’re both really delightful and Peter was showing me all sorts of concept drawings and pictures of various locations that they had in mind for the film and we had a really long chat on what it meant to be a part of this, the plans that he had for bringing these books to screen. It was just a wonderful meeting. It was really quite wonderful to be able to meet him and chat about these films…Great. |
| Ian M | Clothing | Pete wears the shorts! And he only owns two shirts. They're both pink. You can never be certain which one he's got on. But there's a lot of energy under there and willpower and ambition. |
| Liv Tyler | Dedication, Studio Freedom | Peter never seem stressed making three movies at once which I found amazing because we were all stressed out and he wasn't. He was very calm and very in love with what he was doing. Very dedicated and completely committed ... I was floored, too, by the fact that we weren't ever bothered by the studio. There was so much space given and I suppose that Peter demanded that. I've worked on films before where I've watched the directors get really bombarded by producers and studios and it really stifles your ability to make the film that you want, and it's very imposing and it's sad to watch. That did not happen on this in any way. They gave Peter a lot of freedom. |
| Miranda Otto | Personality | Miranda on Peter Jackson, "He's Unflappable. Determined. Dogged. Unemotional. Always telling jokes and things. I'm the kind of person who, if I'm really concentrating and someone says to me, "Where did you put that thing?" I would be, "WHAT?!?" He never raised his voice or snapped at anybody. It was quite incredible. |
| Orlando | Shooting Schedule | Peter had up to 10 units going at one time, it was ridiculous. You could have done a shot for the third movie in the morning and a shot for the first movie in the afternoon. Keeping on top of everything was like juggling balls, it was like a nightmare in terms of keeping it all in your head. And multiply that by a hundred for Peter. |
| Peter | Frodo and Sam | The friendship between Frodo and Sam is a very very powerful friendship. I see it really as being an example of pure friendship, of friendship without strings attached. That I am here for you, I am here to help you, and I don't expect anything in return. |
| Peter | Kids | "They're very grounded children. They're very down-to-earth kids. They're great. We showed them The Two Towers before anybody else saw it. Really, they were, like, the first people that ever saw it. The second it was finished, we ran it for our kids. I said to Billy at the end, "What'd you think?" And he said, "Yeah, Dad, that's pretty good. It was better than Spider-Man." And Spider-Man is his favorite film! He's got Spider-Man stuff all over his bedroom and everything, so really, the biggest compliment he could think of to give me was to say that it was better than Spider-Man. It was incredibly touching. Our kids were on the set. They cuddled the Orcs with their rubber masks and they know the names of the stunt guys that are wearing those masks, so they can see through all that. They know exactly what they're seeing. |
| Philippa | Personality | Peter is incredibly kind, he's got a wicked sense of humor. Don't put him and Ian McKellan in the same room because they'll be plotting something dastardly. They're both evil creatures! But he has this bright joy of life. He is incredibly brave. He can be very very stubborn. |
| Sean A Official Fanclub Magazine, 2001 |
Working With Him | Yes. My father worked for him on The Frighteners, and
when he got back from New Zealand, he described this experience of putting
these prosthetics on, and what it was like to transform into the Judge.
Then he described Peter and Fran, these two really cool artists who have
the world by the tail, and he created in my mind's eye this idyllic working
environment. I learned so much from Peter. He's truly a genius. I think he and I saw Sam a little bit differently, ultimately. But it was my job to give him what he wanted, and I think I was able to do that, and make sure I was reconciling that with my own vision. I think he pushed me into places I didn't expect to go, and I'm glad he did. |
| Sean B | Directing | Lord of the Rings was just so much enjoyment. It was over about the space of a year that I was filming. It's one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done...so emotional. Peter Jackson is an incredible director. He's very on top of things and thoroughly researched...and he knew exactly what he wanted and what was happening at any particular time on any set. He had a little bicycle so that he could peddle to the next set.... |
| Viggo | Teamwork | Pete counted on all the actors and the crew really bringing as much as they could to it. Rather than being somebody who was nervous over the budget and was like, 'Just do it. Just stand here,' Pete didn't do that. He was always looking for detail. |
| Canon Index | Quote Index |