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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. 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 typos. 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. The transcript starts midway through a question asking Billy about his Fellowship tattoo...
		Billy Boyd: ... about a week before we finished filming principal photography. When we'd worked there for a year and a half and had this amazing experience and were trying to find some way to remember it so that 20 years from now if I meet Ian McKellen in a pub or I meet Elijah doing a play or something, that you know we can say 'We did that! We experienced that experience together'. We said on the day in the tattoo parlour that we would never show the tattoo where there were cameras, and I don't know if there's any cameras here tonight.. it's either that or people keep putting on and off their torches! Question: But Elijah showed it on TV Billy: Elijah's shown it. Ian McKellen has shown it. We have a list of The Fellowship and every time someone shows it they get knocked off! FX: Applause Billy: So there's only seven in The Fellowship! And also I'd need to take off my shoe - and my shoes are stinking! Question: Something you said in 'Fellowship of the Ring' has become something of a term in our family and I would like to ask about that. Does this hotel serve a good second breakfast? Billy: (laughs)I really loved it when that line appeared. They just wanted the idea that... Tolkien said that hobbits like to eat at least six meals a day. I loved it when in the movies we had real nods to the book - real associations to the book, and that was one of them. In this scene we just wanted an audience who hadn't read Tolkien to know that these beings, these little hobbits, loved to eat. So it started off with second breakfast and then as we went on Pete would come out from behind the cameras and say 'Why don't you say 'elevenses' as well' and he'd go back and I'd say 'Breakfast. Second Breakfast. Elevenses' and he'd be giggling and he'd come back out and say 'Say lunch.. and supper.. and...' We just kept adding to it until it was this long list of meals that hobbits would have. I really liked that and there was one moment when it struck me that 'Lord of the Rings' had sort of entered pop culture when I was reading the newspaper. I read that an American politician on Air Force One - the president's airplane they'd been offered 'Freedom Toast' because they'd changed it from 'French Toast' to 'Freedom Toast' because the French weren't supporting the Americans in the war and they changed French Fries to Freedom Fries... Anyway, in the press conference afterwards someone had heard that he hadn't eaten the French Toast and they asked him 'Is there a reason why you didn't eat your Freedom Toast?' and he said 'Unlike a hobbit, I don't need second breakfast'. I thought 'That's amazing. We're being quoted by politicians on the president's plane'. That was a real moment in Lord of the Rings history I think. But keep using it.. and keep eating it! You can't eat enough. In fact, can we order some pizza? Pizza for 2000 people please. One without Pepperoni. It's on Craig Parker. Thanks Craig - what a guy! Question: Hi Billy! I want to ask you about a particular scene that you did from 'Return of the King'. It's one of the most emotional moments in the entire trilogy. That's the separation of Merry and Pippin. I want to ask how did Dom and you prepare for this scene? Bily: Yeah, erm... It was a very emotional moment. We knew it was going to be emotional because it was filmed sort of in real time that one, so we knew that when we finished that scene Dom was going to The South Island to keep filming with Bernard Hill and Miranda Otto and filming the Edoras stuff, and I was going to Minas Tirith with Ian. So we knew that once we finished that scene in real life we wouldn't be able to hang out. Me and Dom, as well as being in the movie together a lot, we also hung out together a lot. We would go and play pool after we finished work. We would go for dinner. We lived very close to each other in New Zealand. So there wasn't that much preparation needed really because we were going to miss each other in the same way that Merry and Pippin were. It was actually quite a simple scene. Like all acting scenes if you can put truth into it it's always better, and there was a lot of truth in that. Thank you. Question: Hi Billy. I have two questions for you... Billy: OK. I have two answers! Question: The first one is what was your thought or what did you feel when you knew it was your last day you were shooting for Lord of the Rings? Billy: There were a lot of last days! The very last day? Which would have been the pickups of the third movie. Yeah, it was a very emotional day. Me and Ian McKellen finished on the same day. My last scene ever was when I stabbed the orc that is about to kill Gandalf. It was a really poignant moment because although he's been involved in battles it's the only real sort of moment when you see Pippin actually killing something, and I think that's a real moment of losing innocence and yet saving a friend. It's a really kind of important moment and it was nice to have that as my last shot. After that it was such a weird sort of evening to think 'That's it - finished!', you know. We had a party and I was given hobbit feet and my last clapperboard and a sword - my Gondorian sword. So it was a great night, but yeah it was sort of weird. And you have another question? Question: Yes. When you are at a convention like this and there are very much people and they are doing photos with you for money and they are paying money for autographs, do you sometimes think we are all very mad people? Billy: Yeah! I mean it's like... (FX: applause) People have things that they like and people have hobbies. People like Lord of the Rings. If we can have days like this then I think that it's great. It's better than not having them I suppose. I've met so many people who have told me that they've met very close friends through this film, and through things like my web site or internet they organise. Someone from California can be talking to someone from London who will organise to meet in Bonn and have a weekend. I think that's a great thing. That's what humanity's about surely? Making friends and having a good time. Having a few drinks. Eating pizza. Thank you. It's getting quite warm. I'm going to take one sleeve off.. (FX: girly shrieks). Oh I like that so much I'm going to take the other one off. And now I'm going to take my trousers off.... Only joking! Question: Hi Billy. I'm Jamie. I know you've been doing a lot of stuff in the Scotland Theatre and you've been doing some films up there. Are we going to be able to see you on the big screen again anytime soon? Billy: Yeah. You'll be able to hear me on the big screen next month because I did a voice for 'The Seed of Chucky' movie, which is out next month. It's kind of fun - to be part of the Chucky thing - it makes me giggle to think I'm a part of that. And then I've just finished a film called 'On A Clear Day' which is out, I think January, about a couple of guys who try to swim The English Channel. That was a lot of fun, with Brenda Blethyn who's a great actress, and Peter Mullan - so great actors involved in that. So yeah, there's a few things and I hope you like them. Question: Hi Billy. In your real personal life could you identify yourself with a hobbit or could you take any aspects of hobbit life after filming Lord of the Rings? Billy: Yeah. I suppose the hobbit that I'm closest to would be Pippin because I normally do the wrong thing, get into trouble and stuff. I took a lot of stuff... I think living in New Zealand, as well as being part of this story, helped me take up a sort of hobbit-type life. The simple things in life are very important: a good meal with friends is as important as anything you know. Going out and enjoying the mountains and the beach or whatever is very, very important. I think I took that with me after making these films. Thank you. Question: Hi Billy. I have two questions as well. The first one: Last year at the world premiere in Wellington I just wondered how was your impression and your feeling at the premiere because it was so huge and everything with all the fans and the parade. Billy: Yeah. It was a mad, mad day. You never think as an actor you're going to be involved in a ticker-tape parade, sitting in the back of a Mustang you know with thousands of people lining the streets! So yeah, it was kind of weird, and fun. A place that we'd spent two years was now involved in this huge night. So it was a fantastic day - a day that will stay with me forever. Thank you. You also have another question? Question: What is the funniest thing what you can remember while shooting... a special moment or...? Billy: The funniest thing was when Dom got a splinter in his foot! (FX: Crowd shrieks and applause). Watching Dom hurt himself is always funny! I don't understand comedy - I just laugh at it! Question (in Scottish accent): First of all let me congratulate you on being from Glasgow, the greatest town in the world... Billy: Are you trying to put on my voice? Question: Yes... Billy: You're doing a good job! Question: .. It's just a put-on accent. Billy: I like it. You're actually from Berlin! Question: Yes. And I was sorry to hear about when you were flying in you lost your luggage. I hope you got it back... Billy: Yes I did. Hence the new shirt and the clean socks! Question: As a Scot I hope you're enjoying the wine and the beer here... Billy: I haven't seen any beer. Question: Oh! That's a shame FX: Crowd expresses sympathy Billy: Sssshh! It was a lie! I've just had one! Question: ... and I have a question for you. You had some fight training for the film. Do you remember a lot of it? Do you have any stories about cuts and bruises, that kind of thing? Billy: Yeah. We did a lot of training for it. One of the great things that came from it is when I went to do 'Master and Commander' I was the greatest swordsman in Mexico, so that was fantastic. Yeah, there was a lot of stories. Bob Anderson's a very interesting guy - the guy who did all the sword fights. My favourite things was, even though you're one of the hobbits - before we'd worked out that the hobbits would not be doing huge fights because if a seven foot Uruk Hai swings a sword at a hobbit it doesn't matter if he holds a sword up - the sword just ends up twenty feet away you know - so we didn't have those huge fights. But before we worked that out we used to have fights where we would take on 20 Uruk Hai and 10 orcs and I really enjoyed that, you know, because you get a little glimpse of what it might be like to be Aragorn, which was good. Then later on I kissed Viggo, so I got to know what it would be like to be Arwen as well. So I got to be like most people. I really enjoyed the sword fighting it was one of my favourite things! Question: Hello! What was the funniest thing that happened while you were making the movie? Billy: There was a lot of funny stuff. We used to laugh a lot. This is the thing about being an actor is that when you tell something that was funny on the day it's not that funny now. It's only through what was happening that day. So there was always funny stuff happening. I really laughed when Sean Astin gets really panicky about things - he sees death everywhere! We were flying in from helicopters because there was a storm coming in. These helicopter pilots who have probably been doing their jobs for twenty years, and know the New Zealand landscape like the back of their hands, were flying everyone off this mountain. We came off first and sitting in a tent trying to stay warm with a cup of tea while everyone else was being flown out. Sean Astin was out guiding the helicopters in, doing stuff from movies like going (FX: does arm motioning directing helicopters in). And I was thinking 'These guys have got radios and they're talking to each other. You don't need to say 'There's another helicopter there!''. That made me laugh a lot! A lot of funny stuff happened. A lot of funny stuff happens in life, don't you think?! Question: Hello. I have one question. What scene do you think was the most difficult for you to perform as Pippin? Billy: Errrm.... there was a lot of kind of difficult scenes for different reasons. One that sticks in my head is when Pippin goes to swear allegiance to Denethor after Gandalf says 'Don't say a word when we get in here' and Pippin goes and swears allegiance to him. To do that scene we did a huge blue screen shot that was... basically I was standing somewhere like this with Denethor's throne supposedly there. But there was nothing - just blue everywhere, and I had to kind of walk up, and Ian was supposed to put his arm out to try and stop me and I go round him, and there's a little mark on the wall where Ian's eyes would be and there's a mark here where Denethor would be, and there's a mark where I had to stop. I remember doing this scene and it was so technical that I was looking at all these things and thinking 'I have no idea what I'm doing'! Just kind of kneeling down where I was supposed to. I found that really difficult. And the really strange thing was I was at a party in London and I started talking to this guy, and the guy turns out to be the guy who played Pippin in the famous BBC radio version of Lord of the Rings. We were talking about different scenes and 'What was your most difficult scene?', and I asked him and he said the scene where he swore allegiance to Denethor. And there's no reason why that scene should have been difficult to him because there was no blue screen - it was on radio. But how weird that we both had the same scene as the most difficult. And it's not the kind of scene that you would think it'd be as difficult as some of the others. So it's weird. There must be something about Pippin swearing allegiance to Denethor that was kind of hard for us to do. But that's what it was. (FX: Applause). Ooh, and I got a round of applause! Question: Hi Billy. A few months ago I bought a CD 'Pandemonium from America' that you made with Viggo and Elijah. My question is 'Who had the idea for this very intelligent text?' Billy: The story behind this is... we were playing Laser Quest in L.A. and Viggo was there, and he said he was going to a studio to play some music and he said 'Buckethead's going to be there' who's this amazing guitarist. I said 'I'd love to meet him' and he said 'Come along'. So we went along and we met Buckethead and then we went into the studio and just started playing around - you know, hitting things and ... Viggo, being Viggo, taped it. And then Viggo, being Viggo, released it as an album! We had no idea - we were just playing around. I also had a look at the album and we're all said to be playing the wrong things! I think some of the songs it says I'm playing drums when I'm playing bass and.. you know. You know Viggo - he's crazy! Question: I think it's a very funny as a CD... Billy: Did you listen to it? Learn all the words and tell them to me! Question: Hi! I have two questions. First when you remember back, how was your first scene in Lord of the Rings? Billy: As I remember it the first scene was the four hobbits jumping behind.. underneath the tree root to hide from the Ringwraith. It was great because the four hobbits had all hung out together for two months while we trained and rewrote the script and we had a lot of fun sword training and canoeing and doing all this. Then it just happened that the four of us were now in costume and doing stuff that we'd already been doing anyway. We were already friends so it was great - it was just good to start filming at last because we'd done so much homework and so much kind of getting ready for the film that it felt good to have a camera there and to be filming it. It was a good day. And you have another question? Question: I was at 'The Lord of the Rings' premiere last year in Berlin. My question is how it went? It was very cool... Billy: Yeah, it was great. We had a great time in Berlin. I remember there was a big sort of balcony where we sort of came out and waved to everyone. Yeah, it was great. We had a lot of fun and it was Dom's birthday and I went out and bought him a really cool camera which I think he's lost but he's not telling me. We had a great time. And Dom was really excited because that's where Dom was born, so he showed everyone around but nobody likes him so we didn't go! Question: I wondered... the hair on your hobbit feet. What kind of hair was it? Billy: (FX: laughs) To be honest, I don't really know! I could make up something... it was a horse's pubic hair! Sorry! I've no idea but I do know that they sewed them in one by one. Not with us like that - it was done beforehand and they just glued the thing down. I don't know what kind of hair it was to be honest. I know our wigs were human hair. Not from a dead human! Just from someone who decided to have shorter hair. We did not kill anyone! Question: I'd like to ask you where do you see yourself in ten years time from now and do you have any specific career dreams that you'd like to realise? Billy: I think I see myself living in Bonn running a little cheese shop! But what I'd like to see is myself living in Bonn running a sausage shop, which is across the road but makes much more money! Question: I'd just like to know who do you think is the most interesting character in Lord of the Rings? Billy: Character or actor? Question: Character! Billy: Interesting character...I would think Gollum is the most interesting. Just how he manages to keep that little pair of pants on! I think we all have little different bits of our personality, you know, and his are quite far apart! I think that's really interesting that this guy.. he was a hobbit and he's been eaten away by this evil and he's had to split his personality to be able to deal with it. So he's got, you know, Thomas -the lovely part of his personality - no, that was another guy altogether! I think that's a really, really interesting character and I think Andy did an amazing job. I don't think anybody could have done it better. (FX: strong applause) Question: Who are the other actors who inspired you most? Billy: Inspired me? I think, kind of, everyone inspires you in some way.You have a kind of connection... so many.. for different reasons. The way that Elijah deals with his fame I think is incredible. He's such a grounded, beautiful man. Viggo with how kind of artistic he is. Dom with .. what a humorous, lovely person he is. So many different people for different things that it would be hard to pick one out. I've met some very special people on this film! Question: I heard there is an organisation where people from all over the world can buy trees in New Zealand to protect woods. Is that true? Billy: Yeah. There is an organisation called Future Forests, which is a wonderful, fantastic organisation. No matter how good we try to be in our lives with the environment or whatever we do produce carbon dioxide and there has to be trees to deal with that. So try and life and think 'I'm buying so many albums that make carbon dioxide, I have a car, I go by train or whatever' and then try and buy enough trees to kind of offsetthink of your that. Future Forests will let you do that. I don't know if they actually have one in New Zealand at the moment. But they do have some in Scotland and they do have some in India. Myself and Dom, Elijah and Viggo and a few others are trying to set up a Fellowship Forest where people will be able to buy a scroll which will have some art on it - some art from Dom, and some pictures from me and some art from Viggo and from other people and so every time you buy one of these you will buy a tree in The Fellowship Forest. So we're trying hard to make that happen. Hopefully we'll get it working soon but until that happens you can still go to Future Forests and buy a tree for the Coldplay Forest or maybe for Joe Strummer from The Clash who has one. You'll help the environment and you'll feel better about yourself and if you go to the place you can climb the tree and if you dress as Merry and Pippin you can pretend that it's Treebeard if you want. Just basically have a nice time and buy trees or plant a tree or plant a plant. Everybody after this week go and buy a plant - it's going to help us all out! Question: I want to know if you're planning on doing any theatre plays any time soon? Billy: Yeah! I've been talking to a few theatres about maybe doing something. So the answer is kind of yes, but I think I'm going to be doing a couple of films first, so hopefully the middle of next year I'd hope to do something. It'll probably be in Scotland, just because I like to go home at night. I might go somewhere else, who knows?! I hope you'll come and see it - it'll be good! Question: I definitely will and I'll bring my friend with me who kissed you on the hand. Billy: She kissed me on the hand? I haven't washed it since! Which is a shame since we were at school together - so it's been fifteen years since I washed that hand! Question: Hello Mr Pippin! I've got a question, no two questions sorry. First, please tell us about make-up again, and second what do you think about all the custom hobbits and the other fans about costumes and so on? Billy: Well first things first. There's not enough Pippins! I mean come on, Pippin's costume's cool because you get to wear a scarf which in Bonn at the moment could come in handy. As you walk home you can wear your scarf wrapped around tight, because it's freezing, OK?! So we need more Pippins and less Frodos. There can never be too many Elven princesses - well done all the Elven princesses! And the guy who looked like Sean Bean was really cool as well. Costume and make-up ... yeah make-up just took forever. It was such a slow process. I remember when we first started to work out how big the hobbit feet were going to be... because you've got to remember when we went to New Zealand all those things weren't completely.. there wasn't a decision on them until the four of us turned up and we started putting on feet and putting on wigs. Pete and Fran would look at them and say 'The feet look a bit big. They look a bit silly'. Tolkien said they had to have big feet, but how big, you know? Are they like six feet? So all these things we were still working out. I remember as we were working them out the idea was to have the technicians to have different levels of how they put the feet on. There was going to be a fifteen-minute foot if they knew we were going to be quite far away from the camera. There was going to be like a half-hour foot and if there was going to be a close-up there would be an hour foot that would take an hour to put on and to paint just right, to put the hair on just right so that there could be a close-up. But Pete, being the way that he works, could start off with a long shot, and see something and say 'Actually let's get a close-up of the foot' and the technicians would be like 'Oh no! We've only put a fifteen-minute foot on - it's going to look terrible!'. So it got to the stage that every day that we went in we had to spend an hour and fifteen minutes putting on feet, and most of the time you didn't see them. That gets annoying at half past four in the morning when you're down in Queenstown in the Winter and it's freezing cold and you're exhausted and you're putting on feet going 'You're never going to see them. I know about the shooting today and it's all close-ups and you're never going to see these feet' and they put them on every time. So that got very tiring. Thank you. More Pippins! Remember, next time! Question: I have a question because you've been to drama school. I just wondered how many auditions you had to go to before you got taken? Billy: I was really lucky - I only went once! (FX: applause) I honestly didn't think I was going to get in. I hadn't done any acting. I was working at a printer's - I was working in a factory. I auditioned for drama school and then I went to America, thinking I was just going to hang out in America for a while. I was down in the Florida Keys, just hanging out on beaches and stuff. And then I got a letter saying I'd been accepted for drama school. So I came back to Glasgow and I went to drama school and I've started working ever since. So yeah, a bit weird. I think they got me mixed up with another guy called Billy Boyd who didn't get in, who's much better than me. Do you want to go to drama school? Pick a good one. For me it was a great time - just to have three years of doing nothing but reading plays and reading screenplays and enjoying poetry - it's a great time! Question: Pippin goes through a lot of changes during the three films. Especially in the last film he has some very, very touching scenes. Especially the one with Gandalf where Gandalf tells him about death. I was just wondering which one was the most challenging or touching scene for you to play? Billy: I think the most touching was probably that one - the one that you were talking about - the one with Gandalf talking about death. That was written very late - we only got it like the day before we did it. Just reading it on the page - and it's only like one page long - I was in tears just reading it. It was very touching, and it was quite an easy scene to do as well. Ian is such a great actor that just being able to stand there and look in his eyes while he gave that beautiful speech was enough to bring anyone to tears. So yeah that was a really touching, and one of my favourite scenes. Billy: Smoke! Last question! I know how it works now. They fooled me last night, but not again! Here it is - the last question! Question: Oh yeah, I'm the winner! I would like to know, after all your experience with Lord of the Rings, can you say whether you prefer playing in movies or acting on stage? Billy: No, I really don't have a preference - I love both! When I do one for two long I really crave doing the other one. For different reasons I love both of them. Playing on stage is kind of like what we're doing just now - having a kind of relationship with an audience is something very special you know. If the play's great and it goes well that night you and however many people are in that audience shared that, and nobody can ever take that away from you and it can stay with you for the rest of your life if you go and have a great experience in the theatre - there's nothing like it in the world. But movies is how our generation tells stories - and it does it so well you know - and I definitely want to be involved in that! So I kind of love both. I also love roller-skating. But that's probably for a different reason. Panel ends Click here for main Ring*Con 2004 report Click here for web logs index page
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