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LOTR Castmember Timeline

Canon Timeline 1980s 1980s 1990s 1990s 1999 1999 2000 2000 2001 2001 2002 2002 2003 2003
2000
Date
Location
Event
Castmembers
Notes
1/1-1/17   Holiday Break!   Continued from December 1999.
1/8   Ian Arrives Ian Flies to NZ to start shooting schedule.
1/13   Orlando's 23rd birthday Orlando  
1/18-3/? Quarry outside Wellington Helm's Deep   Set constructed.
1/18-3/? Upper Hutt River, Wellington Rivendell   Set constructed.
1/18-3/? Hinuera in the Waikato (near Matamata) Hobbiton Billy, Dom, Elijah, Sean A Lasted two months. Shooting in the Shire in January.
1/23 South Island Edoras Bernard, Billy, Dom, Ian, John, Orlando, Viggo Edoras shots in Erwhon, on the South Island. In ski resort country.
1/25 1 hour from Wellington Hobbiton arrival Elijah, Ian Ian M.'s first day on set in Hobbiton, an hour's drive from Wellington, shooting scenes on horse-drawn cart. He sees clips that have already been shot: Boromir's death, the Fellowship's grief at losing Gandalf. Billy talks Ian into sliding down a fireman's pole later that evening.
1/?   Vanity Fair shoot Billy, Dom, Elijah, Ian, Sean A Ian: "In January when Vanity Fair sent Hugh Stewart to New Zealand, the aim was to present the first images of the hobbits and Gandalf in their natural setting of Hobbiton among the rolling hills of the North Island near Hamilton. The hobbit actors had been shooting for 4 months, accustomed to their prosthetic ears and feet, but I had only just started and my pointy hat and the rest of the wizardly outfit felt a little uncomfortable, particularly when posing for an alien camera. When Gandalf didn't appear in the April "Hollywood" edition, I presumed that Vanity Fair were unhappy with him in some way. Now, belatedly, I needn't have worried and can reassure you that Gandalf not only looks like these shots but feels like them too."
1/28   Elijah's 19th birthday Elijah

Cornfield meeting/tumble? From Extended DVD Commentary:
Sean A: This is when I knew DOM didn't like me, 'cause he hit me so hard when he came out of the cornfield.
Elijah: Wasn't it my birthday this day?
Dom: It was close to it. I was in a really bad mood this day because being in a field surrounded by plants and things, I've just got really bad hay fever. I was just sneezing and my skin was going crazy. I was in a very bad mood.

2/1   E! Interview Elijah Elijah says he's just moved from an apartment into a house, as have the other hobbits (different houses) and notes that the hobbits had gone from shooting everything together to being broken up more.
2/6 Three Foot Six Interiors   Bag End, Orthanc, misc
2/?-5/? Dry Creek Quarry Helm's Deep Shooting John, John Noble, Orlando, Viggo Night shooting for over three months straight.
2/13 North Beach, San Francisco IGN Interview Harry, Karl Urban and Sinclair are in town promoting the latter's new romantic fairy tale The Price of Milk. Interview was at Francis Ford Coppola's Niebaum-Coppola restaurant.
2/19 Three Foot Six Fireworks Billy, Dom, Ian, Liv Dom: "Billy and I had a big studio day filming the fireworks scene. We were covered in soot and we hung out with Ian McKellen (who plays Gandalf the wizard), which was great, as he has fascinating stories. The lovely Liv is here now. I am convincing her to go out for a quick bite. I'm sure she can't resist."
2/27 Auckland Dragon Boat Festival Billy, Dom, Elijah, Orlando Celebrity Bath Tub Race. Adoring look between Billy and Lij in newsclip of event, very cute; also Orli biting Dom's neck (Dom squirms). The bath tubs turned out to be rather difficult to manoeuvre and the event degenerated into a swimming race. Elijah seemed to be the weakest swimmer as all thoughts of fellowship were abandoned, bath-tubs were boarded, pirate style and the contestants swam for the finish line. The actors happily posed for photo ops with fans and seemed to enjoy themselves tremendously. Orlando claimed victory but Elijah seemed to think that Billy had taken the gold medal.
[Pictures]
2/29-3/? Camperdown Studios, Miramar Helm's Deep and Rivendell interiors    
3/1   Misc Gandalf Christopher, Elijah, Ian, Ian Holm, Sean A Ian finishes shoot sending Sam and Frodo off from Hobbiton. Shoots Orthanc scenes with Christopher Lee, Bag End scenes with Ian Holm. Ian H. is only around for a month, but falls in love with NZ.
3/?   Rivendell   Some Rivendell scenes shot
3/?   Merry and Pippin separated Billy, Dom "It will be stranger still when Boyd and Dominic Monaghan (Merry Brandybuck) head off shortly for separate sets. Monaghan finds the Merry-Pippin split interesting. 'At the start of the film, you see Merry and Pippin at a party, having fun, living it up in the town where they live, where everyone knows them. They're the Fonzies of the town. Everyone thinks they're cool, they're the Danny Zukos of the Shire.' For Merry, Dominic adds, losing Pippin is like ''losing his strength, the other side of his personality.' But it's interesting to see his character 'grow up, split up from all the people he loves and trusts and relies on, and then to be put back together with them again.'"
3/? Sydney Visit to Star Wars set Billy, Dom, Elijah, Orlando, Sean A

Elijah: Our world in New Zealand was rugged and kind of dirty and messy, and you know, it was this passionate kind of experience. Star Wars was like sterile and clean and they were shooting digitally and they had like editing stuff on set... it was very strange. But we ended up hanging with the cast, and they just thought we were this rogue group of people.
Conan: They thought you were strange?
Elijah: Yeah they did, 'cause we referred to ourselves as hobbits, again and uh... and they're like, 'look, you know what? I'm not the Princess of whatever world, I'm, you know, Natalie Portman.' And I'm like, well, I'm Elijah, but I'm Frodo as well.
3/11? Wellington Edinburgh Military Tattoo Billy, Dom, Elijah, Viggo

The three "hobbits" attended an event held at a place which was built as a reproduction (I think!) of Edinburgh Castle (a beautiful Scottish landmark) within New Zealand . Billy wore his own kilt, and Dominic and Elijah rented kilts (with Dominic also renting - and wearing - a red wig for some reason!). Viggo Mortensen also attended the event, not in Scottish garb, but wearing Aragorn's belt. An interesting incident happened when the hobbits (driving in the same car) returned from the event. The passed a playground. Consensus was reached that everyone wanted to stop the car and go playing in the playground.... they particularly wanted to go sliding on the slides. In their kilts. Billy relays that when he slid on the slide, his kilt rode up, he continued down... and he "burned his bum", causing him discomfort on the set for days!
3/12 Wellington Bilbo bluescreen Ian Holm Ian shoots bluescreen Bag End scenes near Wellington, 5 minutes from Seatoun (sic), where Peter has a house.
3/20-3/30 Stone Film Studios Orthanc Ian Gandalf's imprisonment
3/?-4/15 Kaitoke Regional Park Rivendell    
4/1   Party   Peter throws a party.
4/1   E! Interview Liv, Orlando, Viggo E! interviewer speaks with Liv, Viggo, and Orli on Rivendell set in Kaitoke Regional Park, 1.5 h. north of Wellington. Liv smokes, makes herbal tea, and anticipates a visit from her fiancee (then boyfriend). She's been there four months. Viggo is stubbly and into Aragorn. Orli's focused on being elflike.
4/1-4/21   Break   Three week break for main cast.
4/11-5/2 Tongariro National Park Last Alliance   Army scenes shot on a volcanic plateau in the middle of the North Island. Last Alliance close-ups with Isildur shot.
4/?   Black Gate Viggo Aragorn shot confronting the armies at the Black Gate here.
4/? Stone Film Studios Bluescreen   Unspecified
4/?   Caves of Orthanc   Unit 1
4/22?-6/? Whakapapa National Park Mordor Andy, Elijah, Sean A Two months of shooting.
5/1 Whakapapa National Park Cliff Scene Elijah, Sean A E! interviewer sees Elijah and Sean A. shoot cliff scenes heading towards the Marshes of the Dead; during these, Sam encourages Frodo with happy thoughts of strawberries, and they both end up craving strawberries at the end of the shoot. Sean's wife and daughter are on set.
5/1-5/3 Rangipo Desert Black Gate Elijah, Sean A  
5/2 Whakapapa National Park? Mordor Elijah, Sean A E! interviewer sees grim shots of Sam and Frodo posing as orc-soldiers, sees gruesome makeup designed to show the ring's toll on Frodo.
5/?   Moria   Gates of Moria
5/?   Helm's Deep   Second unit films non-battle scenes in Helm's Deep
5/? Stone Film Studios Rivendell   Rivendell Council interiors
5/15? Dunharrow Paths of the Dead    
5/15? Wingate and Lower Hutt Black Gate?    
5/?   Windy Day Dom Dom: "We tried to get in a helicopter to fly to another set, but it was so windy that the pilot had to meet us at the bottom of the hill. Got back, did block-through for a scene, but the weather closed in and we wrapped for the day."
5/?   Raw Cake Billy, Dom Dom: "Went home and tried to make a cake, but the oven broke so I ate raw cake mix, watched TV, felt sick and went to Billy's. Victoria Sullivan from production came round. We drank wine and laughed at my cake-making skills."
5/? Methuen Edoras   Set constructed
5/?   Helm's Deep   Filming continues.
6/?   Cate arrives Cate  
6/? Park in Lyall Bay Paths of the Dead Viggo tents, horses, and Aragorn are seen.
6/6 Wellington Olympic Torch Peter Peter carries the Olympic torch on its last leg through Wellington.
6/11-6/21 Fernside Lodge Lothlorien Cate 50 min. north of Wellington near Featherston. Last Lothlorien scenes.
6/? Wairarapa Unknown   Something shot at the Caterton Clairville Showgrounds.
6/24-7/24   Summer Break   One month break for cast and crew.
6/? or 7/? Australia Summer Break Billy, Dom, Elijah, Orlando 1 week during break
7/? Thailand Summer Break Billy, Dom, Orlando 1 week during break
7/21 Millennium Hotel, Queenstown Hollywood Ball Billy, Dom, Elijah, Orlando, Sean A It was a veritable who's who of Hollywood stars at Queenstown last night. It was just that nobody knew who was who - well not just yet. Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Sam), Billy Boyd (Pippin), Dominic Monaghan (Merry), and Orlando Bloom (Legolas) nevertheless played their parts, arriving in a limousine to the squeal of an overcome fan. The four hobbits and one elf cut a dash in tuxes.The stars have just returned to continue filming in New Zealand after a month's break. 'I've been like on a plane for the last 20 hours but I'm alright, I'm good,' Wood said. The cameras were not allowed beyond the foyer of the Millennium Hotel and the stars were whisked off to dance the night away. Certainly the Millennium Hotel rose to the glittering $140-a-head occasion, providing a red carpet, lashings of bubbly, nibbles and music by The Roger Fox Big Band.
7/22 Queenstown Snowboarding Elijah, (other hobbits?) The curious may be able to catch a glimpse of the little men on the ski slopes of Queenstown today. "I'm going snowboarding", Wood said. 'I'm an inexperienced boarder, I'll probably fall a lot. I've only done it once.'
7/? Wingate, Wellington Orthanc exteriors    
7/25-8/? Wellington Cirith Ungol Elijah, Sean A  
8/1   E! Interview Sean A Sean Astin interviewed. At this point, he reports, shots had been done of Lothlorien, the crack of Mt. Doom, the Pass of Cahadras, the swamps of Mordor, and (in January) the Shire. They hadn't yet done the scenes with Shelob or the internal scenes at Hobbiton.
Sean: "I've been reading, like, one book every three days, and last week Elijah [Wood] took me CD shopping. I'm this unhip married guy, but now he's got me listening to Ween and Travis and Bjork."
8/1-8/9, 8/? Upper Hutt Anduin   Fellowship on Auduin river
8/5 Wellington Bledisloe Cup Rugby Match Dom, Elijah, Ian, Sean A.

Faces painted.
At the match in Wellington yesterday six Lord of the Rings cast and two producers were guests of Wellington mayor, Mark Blumsky.
Rings' associate producer, American Rick Parras described the cliffhanger result as a 'total tragedy'. But Los Angeles producer Barrie Osborne said even though the Blacks lost, 'it had to be one of the most exciting games of all times'. He also admitted it was the first rugby game he'd seen and one he would never forget. Geared up for the big game were hobbits Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin and Elijah Wood. Osborne and Parras had been terrified they would miss kick-off after filming all morning and raced to the stadium to get there in time, said Rings' publicist Claire Raskin. 'They didn't want to miss a beat because they said it was as big as an American Super Bowl final', she said. Manchester United Football fan Bloom said he was blown away by the game. British actor Sir Ian McKellen (who plays the wizard Gandalf) said the game was thrilling.

8/? Upper Hutt Isengard   Flooded Isengard
8/? Closeburn Amon Hen    
8/? Methven Battle   unspecified battle scenes
8/8 Ohakune, Whakapapa National Park Unspecified Gandalf Ian, other Fellowship  
8/21-8/26 Central Otago Battle   unspecified outdoor battle scenes. (Poolburn or Manitoto)
8/? Wingate, Wellington Dead Marshes Andy, Elijah, Sean A  
8/28   Billy's 32nd birthday Billy  
8/28-9/1 Golden Bay, South Island Fellowship   All fellowship in the hills above Takaka; Mount Olympus.
9/? Southern Island Unknown Shooting   Shooting done on a misty lake at the southern tip of the Southern Island, near Te Anau.
9/?   Edoras casting begins   Quotes on Casting, Edoras
9/1-9/5 Manapouri Hall 2nd Unit shooting   Second unit shooting cliff face and tunnel
9/7 Near Queenstown Southland Times Interview Billy, Dom, Elijah, Sean A The four hobbits were somewhere near Queenstown yesterday, waiting to film their next scene in the Peter Jackson trilogy Lord of the Rings. Secrecy and security prevented a face-to-face interview, but they were prepared to talk to The Southland Times about the growing bond between them, and about becoming Kiwis.
"Well it's slowly seeping into my blood," Elijah (Frodo Baggins) Wood said in his heavy Californian accent. Wood said he was sitting in fellow hobbit Billy (Pippin) Boyd's trailer along with Sean (Sam) Astin and Dominic (Merry) Monaghan, wearing their hairy hobby feet, robes over their costumes and watching a movie.
After a year of filming together, the four actors were inseparable, Monaghan said. They spent up to 14 hours a day on the movie set, went on holiday together in Thailand and Australia, spent time off together at weekends and had all started surfing.
Wood had a house in Wellington, which he now considered home, while Astin's wife and three-year-old daughter were also living in New Zealand. Astin joked his daughter was bilingual: she spoke American and Kiwi. Although filming at times seemed a blur, Astin said he was still having a ball. "Every other day you're in a helicopter to the top of some amazing mountain."
Wood said the role of Frodo had become second nature. "Initially I was less comfortable. Now Frodo has been in so many different situations . . . the world of the Middle Earth has become innately familiar," he said.
The foursome were scheduled to head back to Wellington early next week, but the intense filming regime won't end until Christmas.
Wood said he expected to be back in New Zealand next year for "reshoots." After that, he was sure he would come back just to visit. "I feel like a local. I've made good friends." Queenstowners might catch a glimpse of the actors during the next few nights. Astin was especially interested in dinner. "Thank God we're in Queenstown, it has great restaurants," Astin said.
9/11-9/29 Mt. Potts Station, Mt. Sunday Edoras    
9/12-9/? Mavora Lakes Breaking of Fellowship   Frodo and Sam leave the Fellowship
9/15-9/21 Porirua, Whitirea Park Battle   Pickup-shots for unknown battle scene
9/20   Cadrahas? Billy, Dom Dom: "Picked up at 5 a.m. and were driven to Mount Cook for a scene where we get buried in snow. We rode down the slopes on shovels."
9/21   Vanity Fair Dom Dom: "Vanity Fair came out today. Mixed reviews at work. I felt a bit strange that they chose a shot of me for a full page. I didn't want to come across as bragging."
10/?   Edoras    
10/2-10/13 Wellington Unknown   something or other shooting
10/3   Gandalf misc   Ian reports working on scenes with Bill the Pony. Not much slash potential there, I hope. Also recalls recent-sounding scene on Shadowfax with Pippin, facing down Saruman.
10/4   Viggo's Messages Dom, Liv, Viggo Dom: "Hungover...Very funny: at lunch, we were all wearing black sunglasses! Rang Mum and Liv when I got in. Viggo left a long message on my machine. He leaves these kind of stream-of-consciousness messages on your machine, like "Yeah, this is Viggo, I'm eating chicken, I'm wearing blue trousers, the sun is shining..." I always save the messages."
10/4   Beach Dom Dom: "Went to the beach for the day and wrote as much as I could about this incredible experience and where my life seems to be taking me, etc. I fell asleep, and when I woke up the papers were blowing down the beach and into the water. I sat up and watched until I couldn't see one piece of paper left. I drove home and felt happy."
10/5-11/1 Deer Park Heights TTT   unspecified Fellowship material for TTT
10/9-? Twizel Horses   "huge" scenes with horses
10/13 Barrie Osborne's house Party   1 year shooting anniversary; party with fireworks at producer Barrie Osborne's house, the one with the fabulous fire pole.
10/16-11/2 Te Anau Pellenor   Battle of Pellenor Fields
10/? Ida Valley, South Island Construction   A village set is built near Poolburn Dam.
11/1-11/4   Misc   Witch King scene (Merry/Eowyn?), oliphaunts shot in QE park, Rivendell council scenes with Hugo shot,
11/2-12/22 Wellington Bluescreen   bluescreen work and unspecified interiors
11/11-11/16   Battle   Merry/Eowyn preparing for battle
11/?, 12/4-12/22 Dry Quarry Creek Minas Tirith    
12/8   Dom's 24th birthday Dom  
12/12-12/22   Harry Knowles   Harry Knowles arrives, meets Elijah at airport. Spends 10 days watching the end of principal shooting.
12/13   Minas Tirith   Harry sees Pippin/Gandalf scenes at Minas Tirith.
12/14   Minas Tirith   Harry watches shots of Minas Tirith, in a rock quarry outside Wellington. Ian McKellen has a large blue and red umbrella to ward off the rain. Harry sees Ian astride a huge animatronic eagle, and strolls through Fangorn forest.
12/15   Moria Watcher   Scenes at the door to the Mines of Moria, with Lij, Dom, Billy, Sean A., and a contraption simulating the Watcher in the water attatched to Lij's ankle. "He was hitched up to a towering rig and jerked all over the place . . . Elijah loved it."
12/15   Hobbits at coronation Billy, Dom, Elijah, Sean A Final shot with all 4 hobbits; champagne celebration.
Dom: "The four Hobbit boys filmed their last scene as a foursome on Friday, reacting to the coronation. Pete and Fran were on set which was great and bottles of Boli were cracked open and we filmed a gag reel in which we all drank from the bottles in the scene."
12/16-12/19   Treebeard Billy, Dom Dom: "This week we have finished off Treebeard scenes. Sad to get down from the old guys shoulders for the last time, he's become a good friend. Billy and I would sit up there for hours above the crew drinking from bottles of water and eating cakes, singing songs, stretching our backs out as it's quite uncomfy."
12/16-12/23   Packing Dom Dom: "In the evening all the gang are frantically packing away nearly two years of stuff and for me it's a nightmare as I am a hoarder, how do I transport 12 pieces of art? I had my last training session with my personal trainer, Dave Nuku, who is a great, great man and a awesome trainer. That was very sad as I have spent every day off practically training so we have become very close. I gave him a photo of Billy and I messing around, and Dave got a me a gorgeous piece of greenstone."
12/17 Wellington Various ROTK   (AICN) Studio shooting near Wellington. Denethor/Faramir confrontation. Faramir/Eowyn's wedding shot. At a different studio, Aragorn's coronation shot; Ian and Viggo, likely others, are there.
12/17   Tattoos   The Fellowship get their tattoos on the 17th, except for Sean B, who has to be tracked down in NYC by Orli. Harry Knowles tears up when he sees 'em.
12/18   Final Sam/Frodo   (AICN) Bluescreen work with Elijah and Sean. Sean calls up Harry, invites him to shoot. Sean and Elijah are shooting blindfold scene with Faramir. The actor playing Faramir isn't actually there. Last shot between Sean and Elijah. Lots of hugging.
12/22   Last Day Billy, David, Dom, Elijah, Sean A, Viggo Principal photography ends. Harry runs clacker board. Pippin/Faramir scene, Aragorn girt with armor scene, Elijah and Sean on-set running clacker board.
Dom: "The last day (Friday) is gonna be insane. I am on a few units and on a normal Friday the energy in the air is amazing to experience so on wrap day people are gonna be losing there minds. The wrap party is looking to be coming together smartly with a few surprises along the way. " "Finishing was insane. It felt for a long time like we never would. We had a lot of 'fake' finishes."
Billy: "I was never that good at reading schedules and didn't realize it was my last day until Peter announced it to the crew. It was only then that I realized the adventure was coming to an end."
12/22   Wrap Party Dom Wrap party. Dom sings with his band, "classic songs," per Harry. Peter given hobbit-doppleganger statue. Orlando sad at leaving NZ at the end of shooting.
Dom: "I was in the band at the wrap party, and the next day I was flying away for Christmas. Wild, wild, wild."
Quotes on Leaving
12/23-12/31? Manchester Xmas Home Dom Dom flies home for Xmas.

 

Canon Timeline 1980s 1980s 1990s 1990s 1999 1999 2000 2000 2001 2001 2002 2002 2003 2003