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.

“I was thinking my left shoulder.” He replied, pointing to the spot, “What about you?”

“Can’t decide.” I mumbled, crossing my legs as I thought.

“Well what have you narrowed it down to?”

“Either my shoulder blade or hip.”

“Easy – hip.” He grinned as I blushed.

“Pervert.” I muttered, “Alright then, which side?”

“Hm…” He smiled, pulling me towards him. His hands slipped under my t-shirt and lightly traced over my hip bones, making me shiver involuntarily. “Left.” He murmured, kissing my lips softly.

“Ok, left hip it is then.” I sighed.

“I can’t believe you let me decide for you.” He smirked.

“Well you’re the person who’s going to be seeing it most often…” I shrugged as he laughed and pulled me closer.

“True.” He grinned before kissing my neck as I fidgeted with the buttons on his shirt.

“I should probably go get into my pyjamas…” I sighed, edging away from him, but he pulled me back.

“What’s the point if I’m just going to be taking them off you in a few minutes?” He smirked as I rolled my eyes.

“Fair enough.” I grinned as he lightly pushed me back onto the bed.

***

“Is it too late to chicken out?” I asked as I glanced around the shady-looking tattoo parlour we were sitting in. Everyone was here – except for John. It looked like he’d backed out, because he’d sent his size double – Brett in his place.

“Just a bit.” Viggo laughed as a girl appeared from behind a beaded curtain. To be honest, her appearance scared the crap out of me. Her hair was cropped short and gelled up into an ebony Mohawk with flashes of red, exposing her ears which were peppered with piercings, along with her lip and nose - and down her arms tattoos of rose vines wound around like spiked snakes. I could barely resist the urge to haul my ass out of the place as I thought of what lay behind that curtain. The girl waved us behind the curtain with a surprisingly pleasant smile – I guess I shouldn’t judge people by their appearance… Viggo and I followed Orlando as he practically skipped into the next room with the nine of us in tow. I sat down on a little plastic chair between Vig and Ian as Orlando stepped up to the Chair of Doom and the girl took something out of a sliver case that looked like it should have a licence.

“Where do you want it done?” She asked and Orlando held out his right arm.

“Here.” He smiled, pointing to the inside of his wrist. Elijah, who was sitting beside him, took his hand and then Dom took Elijah’s hand and so on, until we were all connected in a long chain. It reminded me of the Fellowship premiere, where we all held hands at the beginning. I watched in fascination as the girl nodded and began inking the design onto his wrist. I winced as a little bit of blood appeared, but it didn’t seem to faze Orlando – although I noticed him squeeze Elijah’s hand a little – but he looked as cheerful as ever as she finished and he bounced up out of the chair. Elijah took his place, lifting his shirt and pointing to the right of his bellybutton. One by one, we each stepped up to the chair until there was only Ian in front of me. He stepped up to get his tattoo on his right shoulder as I exchanged a nervous glance with Viggo. Ian squeezed my hand a little as he was having his skin inked and before I knew it, it was my turn.

“Good luck.” Viggo smiled as I sat down on the chair and lifted the bottom of my shirt to show where I want the tattoo. I was determined not to scream or cry, no matter how badly this ended up hurting. I watched anxiously as the girl sterilised the needle before advancing upon me. I didn’t want to watch, so I tilted my head back and looked at the grubby ceiling. Hm… Maybe that wasn’t the best place to look. I kept my eyes on it anyway as I felt a pricking sensation against my skin and I bit down hard on my lower lip. I would only resort to squeezing Viggo’s hand if I really had to. I felt him rubbing soothing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb to distract me from the pain. It worked surprisingly, the more I concentrated on him the less I could feel the needle against my skin. It was over a lot faster than I’d thought it would be, and I thanked the scary-looking girl as I gingerly stood and smiled at Viggo.

“You’re up.” I grinned, releasing his hand as he unbuttoned his shirt. I peered down at the small, black Elvish markings that stood out against my pale skin and smiled.

“It looks awesome Ki.” Orlando smiled as I sat back down in the chair Viggo had previously occupied. I held out my hand for him and he laced his fingers through mine, smiling a little at me as he had his tattoo done. Before long, everyone had been violated by the needle and we were all standing outside the shop showing off our tattoos to each other, before Orlando scolded us.

“Anyone could be watching!” He said with mock sternness as I rolled my eyes.

“Spoilsport.” I muttered as Viggo wrapped his arm around my waist, being careful not to touch the tender spot where my tattoo was. “My mum would probably kill me if she knew what I’d just done…”

“Rebel.” Viggo grinned, kissing the top of my head.

“Yep that’s me, rebel without a cause.” I joked, leaning against his un-tattooed shoulder as we walked back to our cars so we could head back to the studio.

***

“Alright guys, we need you outside for the safety briefing now!” Peter yelled into the makeup bus as Viggo and I got the finishing touches to our makeup done. We needed a safety briefing because we were filming the scenes that were supposed to be outside the Black Gate today, and we were filming it on a minefield. Yes… A minefield. On horses. On a minefield. It would suck if we all got blown up just before the end of filming, so Pete was getting some army guy to give us a talk. We traipsed outside and for fifteen minutes listened to this guy telling us where we could and couldn’t go, before going to go fetch the horses. This was the last time we would be using them in the movie, so I was feeling a little teary as I mounted Indy. Viggo mounted Uraeus with a little difficultly as he was dressed in his metal armour and I smiled at him as we rode out onto the dusty plain that threatened to explode if we stepped on the wrong spot. Basically it was just us in a field, as the Black Gate would be added in later with CGI. We also got to kiss in this scene, but that wasn’t until after we’d gotten off the horses. I jumped a little as the guy playing the Mouth of Sauron walked out of the special effects trailer and then laughed as he growled and I recognised him as one of the Stunties.

“Right guys; let’s get the shots of you galloping up to the gate!” Peter called from behind the cameras as Karl and Dom’s size double appeared on his horse and Orlando and Brett trotted up on the other one. Ian was already on ‘Shadowfax’ and had Billy’s size double sitting in front of him. We did a few practice runs, being careful not to gallop outside the safe zone, before taking the final shots. Then we did the Mouth of Sauron scene (in which Viggo had a lot of fun beheading a dummy), and moved on to the shots where we didn’t have the horses.

“Alright you two, I know you kiss here, but it’s a first kiss – don’t get two carried away!” Peter joked as Viggo and I stood side by side in front of a crowd of extras.

“Very funny Pete.” I muttered sarcastically as we got ready for the scene. I couldn’t help but smile as I realised that this was the scene we had been rehearsing when Viggo and I first kissed off-camera.

“Right, action!” Peter called from his chair and I started saying my lines, pretending to see a big black gate, millions of orcs and the eye of Sauron in front of me – not an easy task when what you’re actually staring at is a dusty plain. I felt Viggo’s hand lightly touch my cheek, and I looked at him, pretending to be confused as his hand moved to my chin and gently tilted my face upwards as I stared into his eyes, still feigning confusion until he gently pressed his lips against mine, and then I turned on my shocked expression. Last time he’d kissed me on camera, I’d had to remind myself that it was only a scene and the kiss didn’t mean anything. This time I had to remind myself it was only a scene so I didn’t automatically start kissing Viggo back. He pulled away slightly and leant his forehead against mine as I closed my eyes waited for his line.

“There is no one else I would rather be with right now.” He whispered softly, “Be safe.”

I nodded slightly, feeling his warm breath on my face as I opened my eyes and looked at him. He gently stroked my cheek with the back of his hand and then turned to face what would be Mordor.

“Cut!” Peter yelled and I smiled.

“Wow,” I breathed, grinning at Viggo, “For a second there I actually believed that you were in love with me!” I joked as he playfully punched my arm.

“Well I’m just a really good actor.” He played along, laughing as Peter asked for another take.

After we’d finished for the day and had gotten changed, Viggo and I lead the horses back to their trailer and untacked them.

“I’m going to miss these guys.” I sighed sadly, patting Indy’s flank fondly.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking that I’m going to buy Uraeus from his owners, he’s too good a horse to let go.” Viggo said softly.

“Really? That’s great!” I smiled, watching as the dark bay horse affectionately butted his soon-to-be owner. I scratched Indy’s ears thoughtfully as he nuzzled my pockets, searching for treats.

“I was thinking of maybe buying Kenny too, it would be a shame to split them up.” He went on and I nodded silently, picking up a soft bristled brush and busying myself with grooming the flecks of dust out of Indy’s coat. I would have loved to bring Indy home with me, but it just wasn’t feasible. For one thing, I didn’t live on a farm, and I probably couldn’t afford the fees of a livery stable, and then there would be the matter of how to transport a horse halfway around the world. There’d be passports, medical checkups, quarantines… It was more trouble than it was worth if you looked at the bigger picture. I set down the brush and walked out of the trailer, giving Indy a pat as I went and sat on the end of the ramp. Thinking of home had brought up something else that was niggling at the back of my mind. What were Viggo and I going to do when this was all over? Buy a house? Where? What country? He wouldn’t want to leave America because of his family, and for that exact reason I didn’t want to leave Northern Ireland…

“Are you ok?” Viggo’s concerned question quickly dragged me out of my thought track.

“Yeah, I just have a lot on my mind is all.” I smiled, running a hand through my hair as he sat down beside me and wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders.

“Don’t we all?” He laughed weakly as I leant against him and sighed.

“Don’t we all indeed…”