The Making of…
Chapter 20
Poor Boromir!
The final scenes that we would be doing on location for the Fellowship of the Ring, was at the Mavora Lakes. It would be the final scene in the movie where the Fellowship is together, before they part ways. It was also the last scene we would get to do whilst using the boats.
The Lakes were a beautiful location, surrounded by forests – which we were to use for a few scenes. The shores were white and sandy, and the beach sort of merged into the trees.
We were just finishing up our last shots with the boats, and all we really had to do was beach them. We had been here yesterday too, filming some fighting scenes in the forest - mostly the scene where Aragorn and Rana are fighting Lurtz, the Uruk-Hai leader. Elijah and Sean had also been down, filming the scene where Frodo and Sam leave for Mordor, and Sam has to rush into the river after Frodo. When they had been shooting that, Sean had badly hurt his foot. He’d run into the river, and impaled it on a piece of glass. He’s been taken by helicopter to hospital, so I hadn’t seen him for a while.
It was still early morning, so we had a whole day of filming ahead of us – and it was going to be an emotional day, as it would be Sean Bean’s last day on location with the Fellowship. Meaning, we were filming Boromir’s death scene. Of course, he would still be here for the studio filming, but it was weird to think that we wouldn’t get to go traipsing around a forest in costume with him again.
I was prepared to be feeling pretty bummed-out all day. As an actor or actress, one of the best things you can do is a really emotional crying scene, because it really exercises your talents. However, it pretty much leaves you in an all-day-downer, which was why I wasn’t totally jumping for joy over the scene.
I was sitting in my chair in the forest, behind the cameras whilst final touches were being put to the scenery, lost in my thoughts as Lou added the finishing touches to my ‘wounds’.
“There, you look lovely and gory.” She said cheerfully, stepping back to admire her handiwork.
“Thanks Lou.” I smiled as I overheard Peter saying how much he liked the log that Boromir would be dying against… Lovely. I yawned and closed my eyes, and when I reopened them I just about had a heart attack. “Oh my God Bean! What the hell happened to you?” I gasped as Sean gingerly sat down beside me, covered in blood with deathly pale makeup and three black arrows protruding from his chest.
“I’m dead.” He answered in a monotone voice. “I hate it when I die.” I couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“Aw cheer up!” I smiled, “At least you don’t have to cry! I’m the one who’s going to be sobbing my eyes out all day!”
“Fair enough.” He smiled a little and sat back in his chair, being careful not to nudge his arrows.
“How are those stuck on?” I asked, poking one curiously.
“I have to wear this jacket under my costume, and they’re attached to that.” He replied, batting away my hand. “And if any fall off, I’m going to be murdered for real by the Weta guys!”
“Oops.” I grinned, retracting my hand. “Remind me not to hug you or anything.” He smiled and then stood up as Peter called him over to practice his dying. I sighed and sat back in my chair as I sensed someone approaching me from behind.
“Morning Ki.” Orlando yawned, slumping down in the chair that Sean had just vacated. I couldn’t help but smile as he dozily blinked at me.
“I can’t believe that after all this time; you’re still not used to waking up early!” I grinned as he yawned again.
