There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale by Sean Astin & Joe Layden

Author:Sean Astin & Joe Layden [Astin, Sean & Layden, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Non-Fiction, Autobiography, Memoir
ISBN: 9781466856356
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Published: 2003-10-13T13:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

All right, I admit it. I took a shortcut. Tried to, anyway.

Before we moved into the rented house in New Zealand that would serve as our home for the better part of a year and a half, Christine and Ali and I stayed at the Plaza International Hotel, in a nice suite with a lovely view of Wellington harbor. One evening, just a few days into our trip, I filled the bathtub and settled in for a long night of reading.

Listening, actually.

While Alan Lee’s three-volume tome sat unopened on a nightstand nearby, I tried to absorb an audio version of The Lord of the Rings that had been recorded for the BBC. It featured, among others, Ian Holm, the esteemed British actor who, of course, played Bilbo Baggins in the film trilogy. I settled at first for listening to the story because I was afraid people would ask me questions that I’d be unable to answer, and this would allow me to complete it more quickly.

Even after reading the scripts, I still didn’t have a firm grasp of the story. I understood my dialogue and what the story was supposed to represent, but I wasn’t emotionally invested in the nuts and bolts of the screenplay, partly because I felt guilty about not having read the books. Quite a conundrum, huh?

Granted, the solution was obvious: sit down and read the damn books! As had often been the case when I was a child, though, I found the task intimidating. More than a thousand pages, hours of time, when I didn’t really have the time to spare. And I must admit that in those early days and weeks I found it difficult to toggle back and forth between what I wanted to do and what I had to do—between my responsibility as a professional actor, someone who wanted to be thoroughly prepared, and my desire to have fun with my family in an exotic locale. No one was telling me what to do. I don’t think I had to read the Tolkien tales in order to do my job (in fact I know that some people, most notably my partner in crime, Elijah, never read the books in their entirety), but there were expectations. Peter knew from the way I presented myself in our meetings that I would be totally committed to the project, which meant studying hard and being prepared. I had if not a professional obligation, at least a moral mandate to take up residence in Tolkien’s universe.

Eventually, within the first few weeks of principal photography, I would complete the entire trilogy, as well as The Hobbit, which served as a neat introduction and made the task of reading The Lord of the Rings not only easier, but more worthwhile. This wasn’t exactly a unique experience, since several million people had come before me, but once I picked up The Hobbit, I found the books to be enthralling, enrapturing, like nothing else I’d ever experienced. I finally enjoyed them

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