dailyrecord - OUR HEROES 2004 AWARDS: I FEEL HOBBIT OF A CHEAT

Jun 22 2004

ENTERTAINER Modest Lord Of The Rings heart-throb Billy says he doesn't deserve his prize

By Cara Page

LORD Of The Rings star Billy Boyd was at this year's glitzy Oscars ceremony to see the Hollywood fantasy epic scoop an incredible 11 awards.

But yesterday, the 35-year-old from Glasgow said he felt humbled to be named as Our Entertaining Hero.

He said: 'I feel a bit of a cheat when there's people doing something that really matters.

'All I did was appear in a couple of movies.

'This is the first year of the awards and that makes it special for me.

'I'm more touched though by everything else I've seen here today. It's been pretty amazing.'

Billy's rise to worldwide fame has been nothing short of amazing in itself. He was a struggling actor living in Cranhill when he was touched by the magic of JRR Tolkien's Rings trilogy.

It looks a long and daunting trek from his first part in TV detective series Taggart to a role in one of the most successful film series in history.

But that is exactly what Billy has achieved in eight short years.

He had grown up in the Easterhouse area and dreamed of becoming an actor as a child.

But when he explained his ambition to his school guidance teacher, he was perhaps wisely advised not to tell anyone else.

After leaving school at 17, he put his hopes on hold while he worked as an apprentice printer and book-binder for six years.

He was planning to take a year out in the United States when he applied for the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama 'by accident' and got in.

His big break came when he was cast as Pippin, one of Frodo's loyal Hobbit pals in the screen adaptation of the fantasy classic.

He didn't think he stood a chance when his agent sent off his audition tape.

But director Peter Jackson was so impressed by it that he flew to Scotland to audition Billy in person.

Gruelling Billy moved to New Zealand for the gruelling back-to-back filming of the three Lord Of The Rings movies.

And he won international acclaim with the release of Fellowship Of The Ring in 2001, The Two Towers in 2002 and The Return Of The King last year.

The final film in the trilogy scooped 11 Oscars including Best Picture.

The personal rewards of Billy's success have also been massive.

He is reported to have pocketed more than £1.5million in bonuses and can now pick and choose any acting role he wants.

Billy recently starred as a seaman in the Russell Crowe action movie Master And Commander and he has other lucrative film work lined up.

His latest movie is called Instant Credit and is being directed by Ewan McGregor's mum Carol.

Billy said: 'I'm going to see it tonight actually, because they've just finished editing it.

'It's a short film, which is great. People get used to films being two hours long, or three-and-a-half hours long if it's Lord Of The Rings. But I think short films are just as fun.'

For the future, Billy would love to trade Middle Earth for MI6 by landing the role of 007.

The pint-sized star admitted: 'I'd like to be a really short James Bond.'

Billy attended yesterday's awards ceremony with his attractive girlfriend Ali McKinnon.

She proudly led the applause as he collected his award from the chairman of the judging panel, George Reid MSP, and Andrew Hannah of sponsors Famous Grouse.

Billy is currently working on a secret Scottish project but he knows he will forever be linked with The Lord Of The Rings.

He said: 'I know I'll always have that and be Pippin no matter what I do but I won't ever have a problem with it.

'I like acting, whether it's film or theatre, and I want to get more Scottish films made.

'We have great talent, great musicians and comedians in this country and we should be promoting that.

'There is alot of positive stuff going on in Scotland and an event like this shows that. I think it's been great.'

The other nominees for Our Entertaining Hero were Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus and Nicola Benedetti, the BBC's Young Musician of the Year.

Ain't It Cool News - View Article

Dom's new TV series "Lost" will be premiering on ABC Sept. 22nd!

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ORLANDO'S JUST SO BLOOMING HANDSOME Jun 14 2004


Troy boy is sexiest Brit star

By Fiona Cummins

TROY and Lord Of The Rings star Orlando Bloom has been voted Britain's sexiest actor.

Bloom, 27, has eclipsed popular hunks such as Jude Law, Hugh Grant, and Ewan McGregor in a poll.

The survey, conducted by Sky Movies, contains a few surprise faces and reveals that fresh-faced youth isn't everyone's idea of sex appeal.

Bloom's 45-year-old Troy co-star Sean Bean bags second place in the top 10, while Nil By Mouth's Ray Winstone, 47, is seventh.

In Greek epic Troy, Bloom plays Paris, who woos Helen, the woman whose legendary beauty launches a thousand ships.

Bloom's meteoric rise to fame came after he was cast as Legolas in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, while he was still at drama school. He went from JRR Tolkien to Pirates Of The Caribbean and now stars with Brad Pitt in this summer's blockbuster Troy.

Unfortunately for his female fans, Bloom, who grew up in Canterbury, Kent, is dating rising young Hollywood actress Kate Bosworth.

The survey is good news for a star who says he was 'chubby' as a kid.

' Love Actually star Hugh Grant, 43, comes third in the poll, while Scots hunk Ewan McGregor is fourth.

McGregor pips Jude Law, 31, into fifth place, followed by new Batman star Christian Bale.

McGregor's Trainspotting co-star Jonny Lee Miller comes eighth, followed by Snatch actor Jason Statham, and 33-year-old Master And Commander star Paul Bettany in 10th place.

A Sky Movies spokesman said: 'It's usually the likes of Jude Law and Ewan McGregor who are voted Britain's sexiest actors. 'But it seems that Orlando Bloom's star is rising.'

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Obsession

Last Updated: 15/06/2004


Morning all...

Don't know how many of you saw the news I put up yesterday about Exene suing Viggo for more money for Henry, but it looks like it was true. Can't believe the Daily Mail managed to get the news first! :)

Regina sent me in a link to The Smoking Gun, where they have (alleged) copies of the actual documents.

I guess you can't blame Exene for asking for more money. According to the articles she's working as a teacher/librarian, and we all know how badly paid they are...but I can't help but wonder why it had to go through the courts. Viggo doesn't strike me as a tight-arse who would begrudge extra money to his son.

Oh well..what do I know?

I've also added details of "The Spoken Word Revolution" to the Creativity page. It's a poetry book featuring work by 20th Century American authors. Viggo's work appears in the "Youth Speaks" section, which made me laugh!

I have to go make Anniversary (it's my 15th wedding anniversary on Thursday - and they said it wouldn't last! lol) and Father's day cards..so probably no more updates (or email replies...HUGE apologies to those of you who have written to me and not received replies yet!) for the rest of the day.

hugs

lynn
xxxx


Obsession Mailing List, mailinglist@viggophile.net on Tuesday, 15/06/2004 at 09:52:15

Karl Urban on Riddick & Bourne Supremacy

Source: Chuck the Movieguy
Sunday, June 6, 2004


Karl Urban believes in learning as you go. On some jobs, that might be a hindrance, but as an actor, it's a plus. Fresh off showing his mastery of swordplay and horsemanship in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Karl will be seen showing off some new talents in two upcoming high-profile films, The Chronicles of Riddick and The Bourne Supremacy.

Although Urban has made his share of small independent features, he admits he really enjoys acting in big Hollywood blockbusters. "I love walking on the set and having the big toys and playing with the big boys. It's a lot of fun." Karl points out that the bigger budgets of studio films ensure that the very best actors for each part can be cast. For instance, his role in "Riddick" teams New Zealand native Urban with Australian actress Thandie Newton. Urban plays Vaako, a young commander in the evil Necromonger army,
while Newton as his wife, Dame Vaako, shows off all the manipulative skills of Lady Macbeth. "Working with Thandie was one of the better working relationships that I've ever had," Urban reports. "She is an A-class player and when she comes to the set, you better be ready. She comes with her A-game and quite often I'd be on the set and she'd just be weaving her way around me and I'm like, 'O.K., I give in.'"

Much harder were the days when Karl climbed into a harness for his first attempts at stunt flying on wires. "It's physically tough. You have to be fit and you're going to end up with bruises at the end of the day, but that's part of the gig."

Not part of the gig, but a challenge he was up for anyway, came during location shooting in Moscow during the making of The Bourne Supremacy. Urban plays a Russian assassin in the film, and surprisingly, he got to do his own stunt driving. But first he had to prove his mettle to the stunt coordinators. "I'm a Kiwi boy. I'm used to driving on dirt roads at crazy speeds to get to a surf break, so I hopped in the car and I'm just thrashing this thing around having a ball."

Urban is proudest of learning how to do a stunt called a reverse 180. "That's when your car is going at like 70 miles an hour in reverse and then you kind of flip it into neutral, tap the break, and just flick it around really fast and it's freaky because you are going at quite a horrendous speed and you're going sideways and then you sort of flick it into drive and go off in the opposite direction, and they let me do it!"


Karl feels taking some risks fit in with the general mood on The Bourne Supremacy set. He compares Moscow to the Wild West. Gun-toting mobsters were frequent visitors to the bar in his hotel, and one day the police even closed down the front entrance of the hotel because the manager had been gunned down there!

While Karl realizes his acting career doesn't often put him in danger, he's well aware of the tradeoffs of living the nomadic life of a film actor. "The great thing about this job is it offers you so much. It offers you exotic locations. It offers you the opportunity to work with people who you've admired and respected your whole life, and fame and fortune if those things interest you. The thing is while you're not looking, while you're so distracted with all these positive things, it just slowly takes away the
things that are most important from you. It takes away your family. It takes away your friends. It takes away the very place that you call home. I live out of a suitcase. I've been living out of a suitcase for the last year. Home is wherever my head hits the pillow at the end of the night. I spend a phenomenal amount of time in airplanes over the last year, but you know what? I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm having the time of my life."

The Chronicles of Riddick opens this Friday, June 11 and The Bourne
Supremacy hits theaters on July 23.

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Wow... I didn't even realise he was gonna be in The Bourne Supremacy....

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All Viggo news, all the time 09 June 2004

It's been a good five minutes since we did a story touching on the cast or crew of The Lord of the Rings, so we thought it was time to bring you an update on their activities. Viggo Mortensen has
signed on to star in A History of Violence for director David Cronenberg, which sounds suspiciously like a match made in heaven from where we're sitting.

A History of Violence is based on the graphic novel of the same name by John Wagner, about a small-town family man leading a quiet and blameless life. When he thwarts a robbery and is feted by the
press, some highly unsavoury types see him and suspect that he is a former colleague who disappeared underground years before.

The film will be Cronenberg's first since 2002's Spider, and he certainly seems like the ideal person to take on the famously violent book. Mortensen, fresh from plenty of ass kicking in that
obscure little trilogy he starred in, should fit in nicely as the quiet man with a dark side.

Mortensen will follow this film with another interesting project - Alatriste for Spanish director Agustin Diaz Yanes. It's the story of Captain Alatriste, a Spanish solider-turned-mercenary and a
heroic figure from the country's 16th century imperial wars. Mortensen will be starring there with Spanish actress Elena Anaya, with the badly educated (but only in his films) Gael Garcia Bernal in talks to join them.

Meanwhile, there is a slight hiccup for Lord of the Rings fans, with reports that the Extended Edition has been delayed until early December, rather than the November release slot occupied by the
other two extended versions. Apparently, it has been rather harder to reassemble the cast for commentaries this year, since they no longer have summer reshoots to do and are scattered across the
globe, working on other projects. Still, it should still arrive in time for our Christmas stockings, so there's no need to worry too much.

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Billy Boyd Q&A at the SFX Awardsweetanya @ 11:51 am EST 6-9-2004

Ringer Marysia wrote this excellent report about Billy Boyd's Q&A at the SFX Awards.

Billy Boyd was a very last minute addition to the SFX Awards Event
lineup after several major guests dropped out at the last minute. He was also the only LotR guest, the other guests being Dominic Keating from Enterprise, Chris Barrie from Red Dwarf, Dean Haguland from X-Files, David Palffy from Stargate, Kristen Dalton from The Dead Zone and SuAnn Braun from Stargate. Andy Serkis appeared at the Awards ceremony only.

Billy made a flying visit in between filming in Glasgow for his new
movie On A Clear Day, arriving in London in the afternoon on
Saturday and departing half way through the awards ceremony on Sunday evening.

He did two question and answer sessions of about 45 mins in length
to an audience of about 150 at the extremely under-attended event as well as signing autographs and posing for photos. The low numbers meant he could really take his time in the autograph sessions and everyone who wanted to got to have a nice chat and some extremely lengthy personalisations. Among the presents he was given at the session were two diving toys (referring to the script he and Dom are working on), 4 plastic dinosaurs (see the Q&A info below) and a framed sketch of he, Dom and Elijah at the SAG Awards.

The Q&A was a little awkward at first, there can't have been more
than about 150 people there (far fewer than the room could hold) and the audience was a little reticent on the asking questions front. As a result Billy decided to ask the audience questions. He started off asking trivia questions about the cast and including Dom's birthday and Elijah's sisters name.

He answered a few questions about Master & Commander and then told
us about "Instant Credit", the short film he has just completed work on. It will be screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August and also on ITV (though I suspect Scottish ITV only). The plot concerns a Scottish chef who meets an obnoxious rich man and accidentally ends up with his credit card. Knowing the man will be in transit for the next day he takes advantage of his good luck. The film was shot in Glasgow and Paris and is made by the same people behind Sniper 470.

Billy has no theatre work planned at the moment and when asked about pantomime said that he had done a lot of it before he became well known and hadn't forgotten how tiring it was yet. So maybe in the future but not this year. His current interest is computers and as well as trying to learn how to use them properly he also hopes to make his official site the worlds first smell-o-vision website. He plans to start with the smells of different cheeses. Another personal project is to sail round the west coast of Scotland with friends on a surfing tour of the islands.

When asked what the most extreme thing a fan had done to get his
attention was he replied that hadn't always used false names at
hotels, but he found people would phone him at 7am and ask him to
come down into the lobby and sign stuff. He thought it was weird how some people didn't consider that you might have something else to do, like sleep, rather than sit and wait for their call. Someone then asked if he'd ever been flashed as a followup. He said no but if the girls on the phone had proferred that he might have gone downstairs.

When asked about his music he said he was getting distracted a lot
by trying to learn more about computers, but he was hoping to arrange a gig soon with the musicians he's been working with. The gig will most likely be in Glasgow and the band are currently doing cover songs. The gig may be announced on his website but he's not sure yet. In a related question he said the most star-struck he's ever been was meeting Prince as he is a huge fan of his music.

When asked what his most embarassing moment on set was he couldn't
think of one, but then remembered something from primary school and
decided to use that instead. At assembly when he was about seven,
the headmaster/mistress (I forget which) was telling the girls off for not flushing the toilets and he started wonder if the boys should flush them or not since she just seemed to be singling out the girls. He didn't actually put up his hand and ask but he came incredibly close to doing it and still feels embarassed today thinking about what would have happened if he had asked.

He would love to see Crime and Punishment, a favourite book of his,
as a movie and said there was an adaptation floating about he'd like to be in.

At his second Q&A on Sunday he talked a little about how much he
liked Robert Burns and that he wouldn't mind playing Burns, unfortunately the role has already gone to Gerard Butler (a fellow Glaswegian). He then proceeded to lead the audience in a complex discussion of the functioning of light sabres, having them vote on whether they worked using the force, or by a button, or by pressing a button using the force and whether the colour was dependant on the morality of the user or pre-programmed.

When asked about his current movie, On a Clear Day (directed by Gaby Dellal) he gave us two possible options as to the plot. Either it was about a couple of young guys who want to swim the English Channel or it was about a dinosaur detective trying to teach another dinosaur how to use the internet. I suspect the truth may be that it's about a dinosaur who wants to swim the English Channel.

When asked about the script he and and Dom have been working on he
seemed a little frustrated that it wasn't proceeding as fast as he
liked, but he said they were still working on it and it would get
made.

At the Awards ceremony he arranged for the organisers to move him to the same table as Andy Serkis so they could have some more time to talk before Billy left. The ceremony was hosted by Chris Barrie and LotR won several awards including Best Director and Best Film. Billy and Andy went up together to accept the Best Director Award and claimed that together they weighed the same as Peter Jackson. Andy accepted the Best Film award alone as Billy had already left.

F*E*L*L*O*W*S*L*A*S*H

A Con that is for LotR slashers, by LotR slashers, about LotR
slashers, under LotR slashers, over LotR slashers, of LotR slashers,
at LotR slashers … you get the idea. It's all about LotR slash,
August 19 – 22 in Chicago

TIME IS COUNTING DOWN – GET OVER THERE AND REGISTER!!!

At the site (www.fellowslash.org) you'll find details about how to register, about the city, about the hotel…

You have to call the hotel (not just register online) to get the
special conference rate – tell them you're with FELLOWSLASH. Link
to the hotel website with its number is at www.fellowslash.org.

The con itself? Well, we're planning (among other things):
· A trip to The Baton (Chicago's premiere female impersonator
nightclub)
· Workshops on subjects like How to Beta, Anal Sex, The
Silmarillion, and BDSM
· A Pleasureware Party hosted by Early to Bed, Chicago's first
woman-owned, woman-oriented sextoy store
· And our Gift Bag Whore this year is amazing… wait till you
see the goodies she's got for you!!

Check us out at the site (that's www.fellowslash.org). Or email
uluithiel@hotmail.com

New project for Billy Boyd:
On a Clear Day (2005)
Directed by Gaby Dellal

Genre: Drama

Filming begins 31 May 2004 in Glasgow

Country: UK
Language: English
Color: Color

Cast (in credits order)
Peter Mullan .... Frank
Brenda Blethyn .... Joan

rest of cast listed alphabetically
Billy Boyd .... Danny
Jodhi May .... Angela
Jamie Sives .... Rob
Benedict Wong .... Chan

Produced by
Bill Allan .... executive producer
Dorothy Berwin .... producer
Leonard Crooks .... executive producer
Sarah Curtis .... producer
Nick Hill .... executive producer

Cinematography by
David Johnson

Film Editing by
Robin Sales

Production Design by
Mark Leese

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Martin Harrison .... first assistant director
Michael Queen .... second assistant director

Other crew
Tonia Pearson .... assistant to producers


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High-tech animation purrs with celeb voices on 'Pride'

A new, original A&E Network film premiering June 21 (8 p.m. ET/PT) takes you
into a den of lions, using a mixture of live footage and computer-generated
animation created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, plus the voices of leading
British actors.

The movie, Pride, is the coming-of-age tale of two young cubs and the dangers
their family faces in the wilds of South Africa. To get up close and personal
with the big cats, the filmmakers used a specially designed,
remote-controlled mobile camera called the "boulder-cam," a two-foot-wide fiberglass container
that looks like a rock and houses a wide-angle mini-cam and microphone
inside. "It gets so close that you can hear the cubs breathe as their whiskers brush
against the lens," director John Downer says.

Helen Mirren provides the voice for the mother lion whose daughter (Kate
Winslet) mates with Dark (Sean Bean), a lion from another pride. Other voices are
provided by John Hurt, Jim Broadbent, Robbie Coltrane and Rupert Graves. The
movie will also come out on DVD from BBC Video Sept. 7.


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Always happy to see that our boys are keeping busy!

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Sammie323 from has scans up of the June 11th Entertainment Weekly. Mostly Harry Potter but a little on LOTR.



Obsession

Last Updated: 05/06/2004


Sorry I've only just got around to updating, but it's been a hectic week.

Good news for UK readers: Art Data delivered Miyelo & For Wellington to me this morning, so at least they're (fairly) reliable! They did warn me it would take a while to get the books, but at least they turned up eventually. I can thoroughly recommend For Wellington...some lovely photos in there. Miyelo is good too....though a bit too much writing (which I'll get round to reading eventually) and not as many pictures. I guess that it was never intended to be just an "art" book.

Anyway..I've whizzed up the contents details of For Wellington, and put up a few example images. I'll try to get a few more up soon, but I have to put fence panels up tomorrow. (NEVER get willow fences - they rot away in an alarmingly short time!)

I've also added details of a couple of UK Viggo TV appearances over the next week. Two crew-cut roles... Crimson Tide (on Sky Movies 4, June 7th, 21:00) and GI Jane (ITV2, June 10th, 21:00).

And just in case any Dutch readers didn't know, Psycho is showing tonight on Veronica at 23:45. Hope you haven't already missed it because of time differences! (Thanks to Linda for letting me know)

hugs
lynn
xxxx


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