Quotes

To play one of the main characters in it, it's not the kind of thing you don't do. Oh, I'd rather not play Pippin in Lord of the Rings..., In fact, what else would you rather do, you know? I can't actually think of another job that I'd rather do.

Hobbits are a lot like Scots. It's all about nature and enjoying their land, which is a very Scottish thing.

"I realised that it was just about Pippin and some other people!" After reading 'Lord of the Rings' for the first time.

On being asked if he could relate to his character, Pippin: "Strangely enough, the first time I tried to read the book I was on holiday in Florida. I dropped it in the pool my first day there. If that's not a Pippin thing to do, I don't know what is."

[on collaborating with Dominic Monaghan on a script:] I don't really think I'm a good writer. I think I'm too lazy to be a writer. There's always a Playstation or a movie or something to pull me away. Dom's better at writing and being that kind of guy. When I was filming in Mexico, we did a lot of it on tape and then Dom would write it later. Now we're working with a writer called David Gregg to finish it off and polish it up a bit, I guess. It's looking really good, and there are a lot of people interested in making it, and that's even better. So, hopefully, I'd love to work with Dom again and do a couple of different characters. I think it could be fun if we manage to keep a career going, to have this kind of two actors working together, but always playing different parts. It would be fun, I think. [December 11, 2003]

[on filming LOTR:] It was a tough shoot, you had to be there six days a week and it was absolutely exhausting. Peter Jackson has a really good bullshit monitor; if you're just acting that you're acting, he will know it, and he won't allow it. But that's great, because one of the main reasons that this film works is because, though it's a fantasy movie, it's so real. And although I'd do it all again tomorrow, by the end we were absolutely exhausted. I remember one time after doing a scene, an emotional scene, I was exhausted, having a headache and all, and coming in the next day, and Pete said, 'Okay, get yourself back to where you were yesterday', and I just thought that I could do anything but work myself up to that emotional peak again. [December 11, 2003]

[teasing a journalist who asked about the hobbits' popularity in the gay community:] We had to learn how to canoe. I don't know why, because we don't do it in the movie, but it was part of our training. And there was a group shower. All the Americans, though, they were quite scared. Elijah and Sean just, like, didn't have a shower and left, but me, Orlando and Dominic, in our British way, all got involved in showers. But it was just a shower. [December 18, 2003]

[on cast camraderie during shooting "The Lord of the Rings":] There was a lot of pranking, but that was more Dom (Dominic Monaghan) and Viggo (Viggo Mortensen). With Viggo, they were normally quite violent, aggressive ones. You would see Sean Bean walking across to his caravan, and then see this figure of Viggo running across the plains and rugby tackling him. Dom and Viggo were attacking each other's trailers for quite a while, redecorating inside and out with whatever they got their hands on. It was a very happy set, a very constructive set. [December 14, 2003]

[on the bond between the four hobbit-actors:] We're really good friends. We spent last New Year together. Sean's married and has children, so he has other things that he has to do, but me, Dom, and Elijah all spent New Year in the borders of Scotland and England. [December 14, 2003]

[on his favorite cartoon character] "Daffy Duck, because he's funny and sarcastic."

My worst habit is whistling while I sleep.

I think I have a gift... but I haven't really opened that gift yet and given it to myself