The Making of…
Chapter 18
Three Little Boats, And One Big River
The river that would be posing as the Anduin was called the Kawaru River, in Queenstown. We were meeting at a small inlet, where we would be filming a few shots later that night, and were storing the boats. I sat in the hull of one of the canoes as it bobbed in the water, tied to the dock most of the crew were standing on. Peter and the rest of the camera crew got to travel in speedboats. No such luck for us – we had to paddle most of the way. There was also a helicopter hovering around, waiting to take the wide shots of us. Peter was just finishing giving us one last safety-talk, before we were ‘released into the wild’. Viggo and I would paddle the boats to where the shots were to be taken, then either Elijah and Sean, or Kieran and B.K the scale doubles would jump in with us so we could do the shots.
“Ready to go?” Viggo smiled, picking up his paddle. I lifted my own – a spare one from one of the safety boats - and plunged it into the water.
“Yep.” I grinned as we pushed off from the dock.
The journey downstream was easy, as we mostly drifted with the current. The river was breathtaking, and flowed through some of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. We did most of the filming as we were going past forests and through canyons, which was when we would get the ‘Hobbits’ in the boat. I rarely had to paddle, as Viggo was supposed to be doing it in most of the shots, but there was one shot Peter wanted us to do, of me paddling and Viggo asleep with his head on my lap. When he announced that we should get ready for the shot, we cautiously changed places in the boat, and I took up the paddle. I knelt in the boat, trying to keep it as steady as possible as Vig rested his head on my lap. Even the slightest movement threatened to tip the boat over, and I was all the more nervous, as the size doubles had just told us that they couldn’t swim, and we weren’t wearing lifejackets!
“Just saying in advance, I’m sorry if we capsize.” I murmured, trying to move my mouth as little as possible – as I knew that long distance shots could be being taken at any moment, whilst one of the camera boats was whizzing around us. I sensed Viggo smile as I began to paddle using long, smooth strokes. I got into my rhythm, and soon found myself easily outrunning the other two boats, so much that for a moment I could put down my paddle and let the boat drift in the current. Viggo hadn’t moved from his position for a while, and I could hear his steady breathing as we sat in silence. “Have you fallen asleep?” I whispered in a joking tone.
“No, I’m just comfy.” He replied quietly, causing my cheeks to redden slightly as a breeze tousled our hair.
“Are you guys ok up there?” I asked B.K and Kieran who were sitting up at the front of the boat, wearing the full Hobbit costumes, complete with the creepy masks. They were both fine, and I was about to turn back to see what was keeping the others behind when I heard a yell. I quickly turned to see that Orlando and Brett (the size double for Gimli)’s boat had drifted into a small current, and one of the boats containing the crew was trying to move them, but in doing so, was pushing the bow of the boat underwater, and it was filling up! “Oh my god…” I gasped as the boat began to sink and Orlando and Brett continued yelling. Viggo sat up and turned to see what was going on.
“What are they doing?” He asked, gripping the side of the boat. Suddenly, the boat in distress tipped sharply, depositing Orlando and Brett in the water. I lurched forward, my reflexes automatically demanding me to do something, and in doing so began to rock the boat. I overbalanced and would probably have fallen into the river if Viggo had not caught my waist. I breathlessly sat back against him watching the other boat with a sickening fear rising in the pit of my stomach. What could I do? Their boat was still pretty far behind ours… My heart fell as I realised that I was totally powerless to help. Viggo’s arm curled protectively around my waist, and I would have blushed – had my attention not been occupied otherwise. I sighed with relief as Orlando resurfaced, his wig slicked back against his head by the water. But Brett was nowhere to be seen.
