The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will bring audiences back to Middle-Earth this September. There is much anticipation for Amazon's prequel series, considering how monumental and successful Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and to a lesser extent The Hobbit trilogy were.
There is a plethora of comical behind-the-scenes facts, like the birthday cake catching on fire during Bilbo's birthday speech or getting a glimpse of a car in the background of a medieval-type film, both found in The Fellowship of the Ring.
Ow, My Head!
Gandalf visits the home of Bilbo Baggins on Bilbo's 111th birthday. Bilbo's hobbit hole is built for hobbits, not tall wizards. The comedy of the scene speaks for itself, as Gandalf struggles to bend and maneuver around the home, as he is more than twice the height of his hobbit friend.
There is a moment when Gandalf bumps into a chandelier and immediately steadies it. However, the humor doesn't end here. As Gandalf turns to enter the next room, he lets out a painful "Oohh" as his head smacks into a beam (via Screen Rant).
A Gondorian Needs Snowshoes
In The Fellowship of the Ring, the fellowship crosses the Caradhras, a mountain range above the Mines of Moria to evade Saruman's spies.
Because of the remote shooting location, the cast and crew had to take helicopters to the set. Sean Bean (Boromir) is afraid of flying and as a result chose to walk 2 hours to the set instead, according to TheThings. The crew no doubt had a good laugh upon seeing Bean, in full costume and lugging a heavy shield, trudging through the snow.
An Apple A Day
A running gag in The Lord of the Rings is how hungry the hobbits, namely Pippin, always seem to be. While Aragorn is leading the hobbits to Rivendell, Pippin wants to stop to eat. When Aragorn protests, Pippin lists all the times of the day that he eats, including the now-famous "second breakfast".
Aragorn proceeds to toss him an apple from behind the bushes, and it comically hits Pippin in the head. It is Viggo Mortensen pitching the apples at Billy Boyd (via Tumblr).and it took 16 takes to get it just right.
Watch Where You Swing That Thing
Viggo Mortensen is known for never breaking character, including when playing Aragorn. His dedication would sometimes get him into trouble.
According to Cheat Sheet, one particular time while walking down the street, Viggo was practicing in street clothes with a prop sword and suspicious locals called the police. He was soon surrounded by flashing lights and sirens. Once everything was cleared up, Mortensen took pictures and signed autographs.
Open Wide
Viggo Mortensen is also known for taking his roles very seriously. This is even the case when injured, as Mortensen was while filming the Helm's Deep scene in The Two Towers.
In the DVD commentary, Viggo chipped his tooth during the scene but wanted to glue it back on and continue filming. Director Peter Jackson denied Mortensen's request, making him go to his dentist in Wellington. Viggo sat in the dentist's chair, still wearing his costume covered in black Uruk-Hai blood. Mortensen didn't want the blood cleaned because it would mess with continuity.
The Titanic Splinter
Dominic Monaghan portrays the hobbit Merry and had a traumatic "near-death" experience while filming The Fellowship of the Ring. This event occurs when the hobbits jump onto Buckleberry Ferry while escaping the deadly clutches of the Ringwraiths.
During one of the takes, Dom got a splinter in his foot, according to the DVD commentary. Fearing the worst, the splinter is removed and it turns out that it was much, much smaller than expected. His fellow cast members, namely Billy Boyd, had a good laugh and would continue to tease him. Needless to say, Dom kept the "titanic" splinter.
It Looks So Real
Sean Bean is infamous for playing characters that always meet their ends before the film finishes, and the character of Boromir is no exception. Bean's character is killed by arrows at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Bean had left New Zealand when the scene capturing the Fellowship leaving Rivendell was shot, so obviously, the filmmakers had to find another way to put him in the scene. He doesn't know how he got into that scene, saying "You see these sort of digitally formed Boromirs running around" (via GameSpot).
Pull My Finger
The role of Gimli is played by John Rhys-Davies, who lost the tip of his middle finger on his left hand when he was younger. In the special edition of DVD extras, Rhys-Davies describes being fitted with a gel tip on the said finger. He saw this as a perfect opportunity to play a prank on Peter Jackson while shooting The Two Towers.
He thought it would be funny to slice open the gel tip and insert prop blood inside the finger. He told his director that he was injured, thus opening the tip and letting the fake blood spray out! This sounds very much like a prank Gimli would pull on Legolas.
Cloak Allergies
Costumes are a big part of Middle-Earth, defining the characters and adding to an already visual masterpiece. The Elven cloaks that the Fellowship wore are no exception. However, one of the actors was, unfortunately, allergic to said cloaks.
According to gatehousemedia, Dominic Monaghan was allergic to the cloaks. Peter Jackson thought this was very funny and even teased him, asking Monaghan if he was wearing his cape before the scenes were shot.
Solicitors Beware
John Howe was part of the Art Department, more specifically as a conceptual designer on the trilogy, making some truly awe-inspiring visuals come to life. During The Return of the King, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum pass through Minas Morgul to secretly enter Mordor to destroy The One Ring.
At the front of the bridge leading to the evil fortress lies two menacing Watcher statues. Howe joked that he wanted to take these statues home to scare away solicitors (via Facebook).
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