The Making of…
Chapter 36
‘I Survived Helm’s Deep!’
My wrist recovered after a few days, and I was allowed back on set so we could finish the night shots. After we’d finished the battle scenes, we only had a few more daytime shots to film in the quarry before we moved on to a different location. One of the scenes Viggo and I had to do together was the scene where Aragorn returns after falling off the cliff and everyone thinks he’s dead. This meant an emotional reunion. It also meant that I had to punch Viggo in the face.
“Right guys,” Peter addressed us from his director’s chair, “When Rana and Aragorn first see each other again, there needs to be a moment where you stare at each other, so the audience thinks that you’re going to kiss, and that’s when you punch him Kira.”
“Erm… Do I really have to full-on punch him?” I asked nervously.
“Unfortunately yes.” He replied, “We need it to look real, so it has to be real.”
“Alright…” I breathed, turning to Viggo, “Sorry.”
“It’s ok.” He smiled gently as we took our positions. There were a few shots he had to do with John and Brett before I stepped in, so I spent a couple of minutes clenching and unclenching my fist, trying to think of a way to hit Viggo without hurting him.
“Ready to go, Ki?” Peter called.
“Yeah…” I mumbled, taking my place amongst a crowd of extras.
“Okay and… Action!” Pete yelled.
“Aragorn?” I whispered as Viggo looked up from where he was being hugged by Brett, who stepped away slowly as I stared into Viggo’s eyes. I walked a few steps forward and then ran the last few steps and punched him in the jaw. “Don’t you ever make me worry like that again!” I cried, forcing tears to well up in my eyes as he staggered backwards. He looked at me for a moment, and then held out his arms. I ran into them and clutched the front of his shirt, holding him to me as I cried and he hugged me tightly. He pulled back a little and looked at me.
“Where is Théoden?” He asked.
“Cut!” Peter called, “Great take guys!”
“Oh my God Viggo I’m so sorry!” I cried, pulling him back towards me and hugging him tightly.
“Hey, it’s alright, don’t worry.” He laughed, hugging me back.
“Sorry…” I mumbled into his chest.
“Stop apologising.”
“No.” I insisted stubbornly, holding him tightly.
“Right guys; are you ready to do your last scene at Helm’s Deep?” Pete asked and I released Viggo from my embrace.
“Yep!” I smiled.
“Ok, go get your blood on!” He grinned as our makeup artists hurried over to coat us in wounds. Once we were satisfactorily gory, we walked up to one of the top walls. This was to be the scene where Rana and Aragorn accidentally kiss – their first kiss that isn’t in a dream or hallucination. It wasn’t supposed to be like the other kisses, just a quick peck on the lips. We’d already filmed some of the scene a few days ago, so we just needed to get the kissing bit over with.
“Ready?” Peter asked as I leant on the wall and Viggo picked up his prop, the cloth he was supposed to be using to clean my wounds. “Action!” He shouted as Viggo carefully began to clean away some of the ‘blood’ from my face.
