The Making of…
Chapter 55
Tattoos and Memories
After I had been declared ‘fully recovered’ after my rancid hotdog incident, I was allowed to get back to filming. It turned out the food had made a few other people ill as well – I was relieved to find that I wasn’t the only one with a weak stomach!
We were now working of the Edoras set on Mount Sunday in Canterbury. It set was amazing, they’d literally built and entire city on top of the mountain! I loved the fact that the buildings were actually real and we could physically film inside them – it was so much easier to act on then a green screen or something like that. I also got to meet Brad Dourif who was playing Wormtongue. He was a method actor, meaning the entire time we were around him he was in character, it took me a while to catch onto this and realise that he wasn’t actually a slimy creep!
Our time for filming on the set was limited; we only had eight days to film every scene we needed before we had to move on. It was sad to think that the entire city would have to be pulled down soon, so Viggo and I spent all our spare minutes taking photographs. We really weren’t supposed to have cameras on set, encase the pictures got leaked, but it hadn’t stopped us before!
During our eight-day stint on top of the mountain, Orlando seemed to have been forming a plan, and on the evening after we all returned to the studios, he called a ‘Fellowship Meeting’.
“What’s up Orli?” I asked as Viggo and I walked through the door of his trailer.
“He’s just had the best idea ever!” Elijah cried excitedly. He, Sean, Billy, Dom, Orlando, Ian and John where already sitting around the trailer. Sean Bean tramped through the door after us.
“What’s going on?” He asked as Viggo and I sat on the floor as there were no more chairs left.
“We’re all getting tattoos!” Dom grinned.
“What?” I cried in shock.
“Hang on; we haven’t properly explained it yet.” Orlando said, turning to those of us who had just arrived, “I was thinking, it would be a great idea if we all got a Fellowship tattoo, just to remember this whole experience.” He smiled.
“And what would this tattoo consist of?” Viggo asked.
“The Elvish word for ‘ten’.” Orlando explained as I smiled a little.
“Yeah, I’d be up for that.” I nodded, relived that it was going to be tasteful and not something ridiculous.
“Me too.” Viggo smiled and most other people readily agreed, the only one who still seemed to be on the fence was John.
“Come on, please?” Orlando begged him.
“I’ll have to think about it.” He replied stubbornly.
“When can we go get it done?” I asked.
“I’ve got us a session booked at a tattoo parlour in Wellington next week.” Orlando smiled, “All you have to do is decide where to have it done.”
“Billy should get his on his forehead.” Dom laughed, earning himself a punch from the Scottish actor.
“The only rule is,” Orlando piped up, “We’re going to keep where we put them a secret between ourselves, and you can’t reveal the tattoo when there are cameras around… Unless you can’t help it of course.” He added.
“I can’t wait.” I grinned, leaning against Viggo’s shoulder.
*
“So where are you going to get yours?” I asked Viggo as we sat on his bed that night.
