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.

“I was never a morning person…” He mumbled.

“Neither am I, but I’ve adapted.” I said as Viggo appeared and sat on my other side. We watched as Peter and Sean rehearsed Boromir’s death and I began to prepare myself for my crying scene. Pete called Viggo and I over, and began to talk us through what would be happening in the scene, and letting us do a final read-through of our lines.

“Right,” Peter said, “We’ll do the shots of Kira first, then we’ll do Viggo’s and after that we’ll do all of Sean’s.”

“Sure thing Pete.” I smiled as Sean walked over to lean against the log he would be dying against. I blinked ferociously, forcing tears to well up in my eyes as I followed him, crouched beside him and placed my hand on his shoulder, slipping into character and setting myself into Rana’s frame of mind.

‘Ok, Boromir is dying. You don’t want him to die, but you know that you can do nothing to stop it. And you’re about to be separated from Aragorn again – you don’t know for how long, you don’t know if you’ll ever see him again… So cry damn it!’

I sniffed as Peter took his place in the director’s chair and a camera was positioned between Sean and myself, preparing to take the shots of my face.

“Ready to go guys?” Peter asked. I nodded and he yelled ‘Action’.

“Boromir?” I whispered as tears tracked down my cheeks.

“I have failed, they took the little ones!” Sean gasped, making it seem like every word required effort.

“You have not failed.” I insisted. “You’re going to live!” I moved to remove one of the arrows that were sticking out of his chest, but he raised his hand and stopped me.

“I tried to take the Ring. I deserve death.” He choked.

“Your bravery more than makes up for that.” I sniffed as tears fell from my eyes onto his bloodstained clothing.

“I have failed Gondor. Who can protect the city now?” He asked, his face contorting with convincing pain.

“I will.” I whispered. “I promise you, that I will protect Gondor and the world of men to the very end, or I will dye trying. I swear on all that I hold dear.” Sean then lifted his gloved hand and gently wiped away a tear from my cheek as I smiled weakly.

“Thank you.” He murmured, before his hand slipped away, as if he had grown too weak to hold it up. “You must pursue Merry and Pippin, do not waste precious time with a dying man.”

“I will not leave you here to die alone!” I sobbed, as my hand that rested on his shoulder clutched at his shirt in a vain attempt to hold on to his life.

“I will not be alone.” He assured me, and I glanced over my shoulder, knowing that a shot of Aragorn fighting the Uruk would be inserted there. I looked back to Sean, feeling more tears well up.

“I will keep my promise.” I whispered, leaning forward to kiss his forehead softly. “You fought with honour. Be at peace.” I stood slowly, my hand slipping away from his shoulder as I cast a glance over my shoulder to where a blood-covered Viggo would have been standing, before wiping the tears from my eyes and dashing a little way into the forest. I turned again, trying to make my facial expression seem as torn as possible as Rana looks at Aragorn for what could be the last time –she doesn’t know if she’ll ever see him again.

“Cut!” Peter yelled once I’d turned back to the forest. I jogged back over to the cameras, wiping the tears from my eyes on my sleeve, finding it hard to stop them flowing now that I’d started crying. Thankfully, Peter was happy with the scene and called Viggo over to do his shots. I raised an eyebrow at his bloodied face – the makeup guys were really enjoying making us all gory. He smiled at me as he went to join Sean, who hadn’t moved at all. I walked back to my chair and slumped down, still sniffling and trying to stop the seemingly endless flow of tears.

“You ok Ki?” Orlando asked and I nodded.

“Yeah… I just can’t stop crying.” I sniffed, rubbing at my eyes. I tried to watch Viggo and Sean, but my vision kept blurring because of the non-stop tears. I vigorously rubbed at my eyes, and then flinched. “Ouch…” I whispered.

“What’s wrong?” Orlando asked, clearly concerned.

“My contact lenses have slipped.” I mumbled, not wanting to open my eyes for fear they would fall out and I would lose them. I knew those things were expensive.

“Kira?” I recognised Viggo’s voice instantly; he must have finished his scene.

“Yeah?” I replied quietly.

“Her contacts have slipped.” Orlando quickly explained as Viggo took my free hand and squeezed it. I cracked one eye open and squinted through my tears.

“I think I need a mirror.” I mumbled, wiping my cheeks with my sleeve.

“Come on.” Viggo said, pulling me to my feet.

“I can’t see, so don’t let me walk into any trees.” I murmured with a slight smile as he carefully lead me away from the set.

“Hey Vig! We need you to do another take!” Peter called.

“I’ll be back in a minute Pete!” He replied.

“It’s ok; you can go if he needs you.” I said.

“I’d rather be late than leave you blindly wandering around a forest.” He replied softly, as he walked ahead of me, guiding me through the woods. I stumbled over a tree root and I felt his arm wind around my waist. “Careful.” He murmured as he pulled me into what I assumed was one of the costume marquees. “There’s a mirror here.”

“Thanks.” I smiled as I gingerly opened my eyes and began fishing for my lost contacts. I readjusted the first one, but couldn’t find the second one. “Viggo? Can you see my lens anywhere in my eye?” I asked turning to him, “You don’t have to look if it’s going to gross you out…” I added as he smiled.

“It’s ok.” He murmured, gently taking my face in his hands as he examined my eye. “I’m no optician, but I’ll give it a go.” I smiled at his weak joke as he intently gazed into my eyes. I blushed as I found myself staring into the depths of his eyes. He pulled me a little closer; I assumed it was so he could get a better look. After a moment he spoke. “It’s in the corner.” He whispered. I nodded, but he did not release me. He brushed away a tear that had escaped my notice with his thumb as we continued to stare into each other's eyes. I may have imagined it… But I thought our faces were inching closer…

“Hey Viggo! Vig!”

He dropped his hands from my face quickly as Orlando jogged into the tent.

“You’d better hurry up, Pete’s getting impatient.” He gasped, clearly out of breath – he must have run all the way from the set.

“Ok, will you be alright Ki?” Viggo asked, turning back to me and causing me to blush.

“Um, yeah.” I smiled as he turned away and ran back towards the set. I quickly located my lens and adjusted it, clearing my vision.

“All better?” Orlando smiled. I nodded and followed him back to the set, just in time to see Viggo and Sean finishing up.

“Ok guys; let’s take a break.” Peter announced, “Sean, you can die after lunch, right?”

“Sure Pete.” He laughed, sitting up.

“He’s alive! It’s a miracle!” Orlando cried as I laughed and Viggo walked over. I couldn’t stop myself from blushing as we made eye-contact. What had happened between us in the tent? Was I making it out to be something more than it really was? It was probably nothing… I sighed and followed everyone to the canteen tent, where we found Billy and Dom running around. They appeared to be timing each other.

“What are you two doing?” I asked.

“Table-touching game.” Billy replied.

“What?”

“Table-touching game. We’re trying to see who can run around touching every single table in the canteen the fastest.” Dom explained, holding up a stopwatch.

“Oh… Well, that sounds perfectly logical.” I replied sarcastically, going to find some food.

*

After lunch, we had to film Sean’s half of his death scene – which meant more crying. We managed to get through it pretty quickly though, and finished the day by doing some touch-up shots of us landing the boats. It would have been simple enough… If we hadn’t decided to make a total mess of it. We were floating just off-shore in the boats – I was with Viggo and the size doubles, and all we had to do was paddle into the shore. Sean, Billy and Dom were all sitting on shore, as we only had to do the shots of two boats, and Orlando and Brett were floating beside us. Peter shouted ‘Action’, and we started paddling. It would have been fine, and we would have easily made it into the shore, if Orlando hadn’t accidentally rammed our boat. We flipped in an instant and I found myself being plunged under the water. I my first concern was about the size doubles; I knew that they couldn’t swim, so I quickly resurfaced, only to find myself in total darkness.

‘What the hell?’ I thought as my eyes adjusted to the light, and I realised that I was inside the air-pocket of the upturned boat. I stayed calm and listened. I heard people yelling outside the boat, and I managed to pick up that B.K and Kieran had been lifted out of the water.

“Where’s Kira?” I heard Viggo ask, with a hint of panic in his voice, “Kira? Ki?” He yelled as I thumped on the side of the boat.

“Chill Vig, I’m in here!” I shouted. “I’m fine, don’t worry.” I prepared to dive under the water to resurface outside the boat, when I heard a commotion outside.

“Hey Viggo wait!” Someone yelled as I heard a splash and seconds later, Viggo’s head popped up in the boat.

“You didn’t have to do that.” I muttered as I treaded water.

“Are you ok?” He asked.

“Perfectly fine.” I answered in a much calmer tone than his, reaching up and pushing on the boat. “Now help me flip this thing.” He reached up and we managed to turn the boat the right way up. There was no point in climbing back in, so we swam to the shore, dragging the boat with us. “Hey Orlando? Can you come here for a second?” I called as he jogged over.

“What’s up?” He asked. I shoved him hard in the chest, pushing him into the lake. He resurfaced quickly.

“That was for tipping our boat.” I smirked, “And for scaring me back in the forest the other day.”

“Fair enough.” He sighed, standing and shaking himself, before pushing me into the water. I didn’t care very much, as I was already soaked, but I made a mental note to get him back later.

“Jerk.” I grumbled as Viggo offered me his hand and pulled me out of the water. I saw Peter giving us disapproving looks, but after a few seconds he burst out laughing.

“You’re all idiots.” He chuckled, “Go get dried off. I guess we’re just not going to have any shots of you landing the boats.”

“Sorry Pete.” I smiled as I trudged up the beach.

“Hey guys?” Billy called, “Once you’re changed, come back down to the beach, we’re having a barbeque for Sean’s last location shots!”