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DISCLAIMER: This transcript is provided on an "as is" best efforts basis and is based on a MiniDisc recording made where speech was not always legible because of noise in the room and placement of the microphone at the back of a large room. Any errors made in transcribing what was actually said are mine, and not those of the speakers quoted, and may include spelling mistakes, incorrect names and other minor typo's. Readers should also bear in mind that statements read in cold print can often convey a completely different meaning from that intended by the speaker and perceived by the original audience. WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE!
Showmasters spokesperson: I want to thank you all for coming. I really hope you're having a good time. You're going to have a great evening, you're going to enjoy yourselves with a nice film. Before the film we have a couple of nice guests for you. You may recognise them. We have in here, Sean Astin ... and Elijah Wood.
FX: loud, piercing shrieks and screams followed by applause. Elijah Wood: 90% women FX: says something indecipherable over the audience applause! Sean Astin: Hellooooooo Elijah: Well, how exciting! I've, literally, I've just woken up everyone! FX: audience goes 'Aaaaaaaaaw' in sympathy Elijah: And let me tell you - what a wake up call! Sean: I was pounding on his door. 'Get up! Go! The women are waiting! They wanna watch the movie!' FX: Indecipherable shouts amidst screams
Sean: My friend was calling Elijah to wake him up and Elijah kept picking up the phone and hanging up. Elijah: I didn't know what I was doing. I was sleeping and I just.... aaargh! Instinct! Hang up! I didn't want to wake up FX: Indecipherable shout from front audience member Elijah: If I knew it was you it would've been different! Sean: pointing to rest of women in first few rows of audience You're making all of them jealous! Elijah: I'm sorry!.. So y'all are about to watch 'The Fellowship', yeah? Has everyone seen it before? FX: Audience shouts out affirmation Elijah: Obviously! Sean: There's a lot of good energy in this room. We can talk about anything you want to talk about. What do you wanna talk about? FX: Audience shouts out 'You'. Indeciperable shouts.
Elijah: Talk about what? Matches? I've got matches. Sean: You mean like fire? Flame? That kinda thing? FX: more indecipherable shouts Elijah: Primal! Sean: Intense! Elijah: Women bring fire... are fire!
FX: screams and shouts. Sound of transcriber in back row banging head against wall, wondering if anybody in the first five rows actually has enough intelligence to ask a question Elijah: (adopting cartoony voice) Does anybody have questions?
Question: I know Billy Boyd has been asked this but what really excites you? FX: audience laughter Sean: What really excites... what? Elijah: What really excites us? What.. just.. in general?... What turns me on?... Heh now! Probably music. Music and women. I'm kind of a music addict myself, so.... FX: Audience members shouts out indecipheable ... 'music geek' Elijah: Yeah I'm a nerd - such a nerd! Sean: That was better than what I came up with! Elijah: What did you come up with? Sean: I was going to say video games! Elijah: Sure! That's equally nerdy, Sean! That's alright! Sean: Maybe five degrees a little more nerdy!
Sean: (pointing at hand raised away from group at front) You up there - do you have a question? Question: Hi! I'm from Munich, Germany and I'd like to know, are you going to be at the Berlin premiere in Germany and ... Elijah: Definitely! Are you going to be there, more importantly?... Yeah, we're going to be there. It's going to be fun. We're going to be going all round the world in like two weeks! FX: Audience members shouts 'Thank you' Elijah: You're welcome - it'll be fun! Sean: Not two weeks from now, but when we start.. for a duration of two weeks. There's somewhere I have to be in two weeks so... Elijah: Right! I'm tired... I'm sorry!
Showmasters repreentative: No more flash photography please Sean: .. unless Elijah makes a really interesting gesture and then they can... Question: Firstly, nice hair!... Elijah: Thank you. Sean: I knew she wasn't talking about me! Question: Indecipherable.. Elijah: Wicked! Cool! Thanks!
Question: Indecipherable.. You've both got good hair! I'm ... indecipherable... so basically through the Internet and stuff I've got the impression that you're both interested in film-making. So if you could've directed any film, what would it be?
Elijah: A film that has passed already? Sean: Patton... or Lawrence of Arabia... Elijah: Delicatessen... or er Goodfellas?... Sean: Cool question! Elijah: .. or Bottle Rocket. Has anyone here seen Bottle Rocket? Ooh. Has anyone here seen Rushmore? OK. So if you've seen that go see Bottle Rocket, because it's the director's first movie. Good stuff! Question: Hello! Elijah: Resident guy! Answer him! Question: Anyways... this is a question for you Sean. I hear that .. we are a group that.. indecipherable Sean: Were you there at the thing in Portland? Question: I wasn't there Sean: Are you American? Where are you from? FX: group occuping first few rows shout out 'Chicago'
Sean: You're from CHICAGO! Come on! You met Elijah in Chicago? You met me in Chicago? Question: indecipherable - something about having handed over a script to Sean? Sean: Oh OK. I remember where we met and you signed the thing and I've got it now and so eventually I'll get around to reading it. FX: Elijah laughs Sean: Actually, you know I did read some of it .. it's sort of Danté-an, it's like.. it's sort of going to hell. Question: Anyways, I hear that you're writing a book on your experiences making Lord of the Rings. Could you tell us a little bit about it? Sean: Yeah, I'm writing a book about my experience on Lord of The Rings. The tentative title - I don't know if we can use it - but it's 'There and Back Again - An Actors Tale' by Sean Astin. No.. it's just a way to... it's actually amazing because we talk about the movie so much. We travel all over the world, we do all the press.. we just finished... we just flew in from New York FX: manic laugh from Elijah, where we did three and a half or four days of it. But whenever you are talking on a chat show or to a journalist, or something like that, the way you answer the questions... you can't help but take into consideration who the audience is, so this is just a chance for me to... with a collaborator... go back through the whole experience and look at pictures.. And he's been asking me questions chronologically and just dredging up memories - and it's just a way for me to re-live the experience, put a button on it, and be able to kind of .. because you know at the end of next year... move on and say 'Ok - Here.' And I can give it to my Mother. I can give it to my... I can give it to anybody who's, you know. I mean, a lot of people will pay - at these conventions I went to ..$20 just for a signature. I think, well if they pay $23 they can have the signature and a lot of my thoughts and ideas and feelings and emotions about what the experience was and that seems, by degrees, maybe more meaningful. Elijah: I think it will be a great way to encapsulate the experience of the whole anyway. Not only for just your perspective, but just to get an idea of what it was like to be down there in New Zealand for that length of time and working on these movies. It's a pretty extraordinary experience and to be able to encapsulate that in a book will be pretty amazing. FX: applause FX: Stuff cut out as someone fannies around asking to come up on stage and have photo taken with hobbit stand-up and Sean and Elijah agree :-( Question: Do you remember the first time you were asked for your autograph, and I don't mean this weekend! Elijah: It was really weird. It is kinda fucked up. I think I was …I had to be 8 or 9 years old.. Ahhhh! Oh really? I knew there was this whole thing about actors and getting autographs from actors.. and that someone would want my autograph freaked me out! I was kind of excited by it! ... Until I realised what it would become!!! Sean: My daughter refers to it, when people come around asking for autographs, as 'a people storm'. 'Oh Daddy, it's going to be a people storm - let's go!'. What do you wear in a people storm?! (replying to comment from audience member) I said 'what' not 'who'! So anyway I think when I was 12 and we were doing Goonies… (FX: loud cheers) I understand Corey Feldman will be in attendance? Elijah: Everyone.. you have to understand.. Corey Feldman did a song, years and years ago, called 'What up with the youth?' It was on the Howard Stern cable access television show. Listen - if any of you meet him.. OK does anyone know that song? OK when you meet him.. you have to go up to him and say 'What up with the youth?'. OK - I've got friends who have been following him for years.. And if all these girls from England suddenly come up to him, it will be a big deal! You'll be helping me out - thank you! Sean: I just remember we had a…. you know, the movie kind of took over this little community of Astoria, Oregon, for a few weeks and… FX: lots of sound problems so we went to a gymnasium on Halloween and there were tables set up and we did a sort of autograph signing for a few hundred people ..and I remember thinking... at that point feeling like.. it was a little strange, you know. And it also wasn't specific to me - it felt like it was more about the movie. It wasn't like 'Oh we know you and we want your autograph' it was 'Oh the movie's here and we want to participate with whoever....' It was more about what their ideas of show business might be..and the fact that the movie studio had set the ... you know what I mean? and the idea was it was a fund raiser for like, I dunno, something... homeless people, I don't remember - it was like a 'say No to drugs' thing, or something like that.
Question: (indecipherable) people pay hundreds of dollars for your signature... Sean: : It's going down - the more signatures we give, the less it costs actually to acquire it. We're hoping to have signed something for everybody on the planet, so eventually it's only worth like 20cents! Question: My question is for Elijah. I'm a big fan of your role in 'Chain of Fools'. What I want to know is if you are interested in having more roles like that..? Elijah: .. roles that are more edgy? Question: .. with guns and things? Elijah: Oh that was a blast! I mean to play a 17 year old hitman who's completely
unsuccessful at what he does. It was awesome! I had a blast. I'd love to do more things like that. I'd love to do more comedies you know. Especially comedies like that, that are so sort of strange and weird and brilliantly written. It was wonderful. Unfortunate that it didn't come out in theatres. FX: delay while Showmasters' Jason sorts out a device in his pocket that is causing sound interference, with banter between him and Sean Carry on to page 2 of FOTR Panel transcript
Don't forget you can check out reports of lots of other Lord of the Rings -themed events in the Web Logs section

Email: ian@iansmith.co.uk