This is the first installment in a highly successful series.
Summary
-A shy Hobbit named Frodo from The Shire and eight of his friends set off onto an adventure to destroy the One Ring and save the land, known as Middle-Earth, from the Dark Lord Sauron
-Elijah Wood: Frodo Baggins
-Sean Astin: Samwise Gamgee
-Billy Boyd: Pippin
-Sean Bean: Boromir
-Andy Serkis: Gollum
-Viggo Mortensen: Aragorn
-Orlando Bloom: Legolas
-Cate Blanchett: Galadriel
-Sir Ian McKellen: Gandalf
-Sir Ian Holm: Bilbo Baggins
-Sir Christopher Lee: Saruman
-Sala Baker: Sauron
-Dominic Monaghan: Merry
-John Rhys-Davies: Gimli
-Liv Tyler: Arwen
-Hugo Weaving: Elrond
-Sir Christopher Lee, who played the dark lord Saruman, was the only cast member to have actually read the original novel The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
-When the movie completed filming, director Peter Jackson had given both Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis one of the rings used in the film. They both thought they had the only one
-When Gandalf was in Bilbo's hobbit hole, he hits his head on a ceiling beam. This was not in the script. Sir Ian McKellen had actually hit his head on the beam by mistake, and Peter Jackson thought he did great "acting through" the accident and kept it in the film
-To shoot some of the more remote scenes, the cast and crew had to fly by helicopter. This frightened Sean Bean, who played Boromir. He was scared of flying and would only do it if incredibly necessary
-During their off time, most of the cast took up surfing in New Zealand. In the scenes for the Mines of Moria, Viggo Mortensen is seen only from one side of his face because he bruised his face while surfing and makeup artists couldn't cover the swelling
-The narration of the prologue was initially supposed to have been read by Elijah Wood, but the information had little to do with Frodo. Next Sir Ian McKellen was supposed to narrate it, but it was said Gandalf was not the right character to do so. Finally, Cate Blanchett, who played Galadriel, would read it as a way to emphasizing the timelessness of elves
-John Rhys-Davies, who plays Gimli, is 6'1'', despite playing a dwarf in this film. He's the tallest actor who part of the Fellowship
-In the scene where Pippin is hit with apples after asking about a second breakfast, it is Viggo Mortensen hitting him with the apples
-The horse Liv Tyler's character rode was purchased by Viggo Mortensen and given to Tyler's riding double Jane Abbott
-Viggo Mortensen not only did his own stunts, he also insisted on using a real sword for the battle scenes, instead of using a safer alternative
-Orlando Bloom had won the role of Legolas only two days before he completed drama school
-The only reason Viggo Mortensen had signed on as Aragorn was because his eleven year old Henry was a fan of the book
-Sir Christopher Lee was not only the first person cast for the film, he had actually met J.R.R. Tolkien in person. He also had a high knowledge of the books and would frequently visit the makeup department and gave tips on the facial designs of the monsters involved
-To stay in character, Viggo Mortensen had his sword on him at all times. This led to members of the public seeing him practicing with the sword and even getting questioned by police several times
-This and the two movies following it, The Two Towers and Return of the King, were filmed simultaneously
-Bob Anderson, who is a veteran sword maker and sword master said Viggo Mortensen is "the best swordsman I've ever trained."
-It's said that the filming of The Lord of the Rings series put about $200 million into the New Zealand economy
-A year prior to filming, the little village called Hobbiton was made so it could look lived in, even right down to the real life vegetable patches. The department in charge of caring for it had sheep eating the grass to keep it short
-For his role as Samwise Gamgee, Sean Astin gained thirty pounds
-While filming one of his fight scenes, Viggo Mortensen chipped a tooth. He asked Peter Jackson to superglue it back on to finish the fight scene. Jackson took him to a dentist on his lunch break to have it repaired professionally so they could return to set that afternoon
-When the movie premiered, the cast who played the Fellowship had gotten tattoos commemorating the event. It was the number 9 in an Elvish symbol. Director Peter Jackson joined them and got the Elvish symbol for the number 10 tattooed
-Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas, did all of his own stunts. He also broke a rib in the process
-The various eye colors revealed what race of elves they were. The Lothlorien elves had light blue eyes while the Rivendell elves had dark blue eyes
-The Orcs you see working in the blacksmith shop beneath Isengard were actually the WETA Workshop. They made all of the weapons for this movie
-In the Bucklebury Ferry scene, Elijah Wood overestimated the jump and was supposed to land on the ferry, but landed in the river instead
-The unique accent Gandalf speaks with, Sir Ian McKellen based it off of J.R.R. Tolkien's accent
-Liv Tyler had deepened her voice for this movie. She had done it to such an extent that her own father, Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler, had asked if her voice was dubbed by someone else
-Andy Serkis, who plays Gollum, was not on set the day the scene where Bilbo Baggins first finds the ring. When Gollum yells out "my precious!", it was Dominic Monaghan who uttered the line
-Peter Jackson wanted exclusively British actors and actresses for this film. He quickly discovered the only two who fit that bill were Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd. He set these two with the task of introducing Sean Astin and Elijah Wood, who are both American, to British pub culture
-While filming the final movie of the series, The Return of the King, Peter Jackson referred to Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn for over a half hour without Mortensen realizing it because he was so deep in character
-Initially, Stuart Townsend was going to be cast as Aragorn. But Peter Jackson felt an older actor would be better and cast Viggo Mortensen instead
-Throughout the three films, Legolas' eyes go from blue to brown. This is because of the contact lenses Orland Bloom wore that scratched his corneas. He couldn't wear them every day. And his eyes had to be made blue digitally in some shots
-The screams of the Orcs made in the Mines of Moria were based on the screeching of possums at night
-Orlando Bloom spent two months learning how to fire arrows from a bow
-When Liv Tyler was approached to film this movie, she had never read the books. She was quick to learn and had even learned Elvish
-The scene where Aragorn fought the Ringwraiths at Weathertop was the first day on set for Viggo Mortensen. It was also his first time handling a sword
-Dominic Monaghan, who played Merry, wore a fat suit made of foam. He drank three liters of water a day to keep from getting dehydrated
-Security was extremely high level on set. Three people had been arrested for breaking and entering
-On April 7, 2001, when the trailer for this film debuted, it was downloaded 1.6 million times in the first 24 hours
-For the movie's opening, New Zealand's capital of Wellington is changed to Middle-Earth
-A Maori choir was cast to do the heavy chanting heard in the Mines of Moria
-Sir Ian McKellen often joked that the makeup used to make Sir Ian Holm look old made him look like Dame Judi Dench's mother
-While filming in New Zealand, Liv Tyler was scared to drive as she was used to driving on the right in the US. To correct this, she often went places with Orlando Bloom, who often drove because he was accustomed to driving on the left in the UK
-Initially, Sir Ian McKellen had turned down the role of Gandalf as it would interfere with the filming schedule of X-Men (2000)
-During his scenes in the hayfield, Dominic Monaghan's hay fever kicked into high gear
-Sir Ian Holm was the first choice to play Bilbo Baggins
-John Howe, one of the set designers, had designed Bag End to resemble the typical English home, despite never going to England
-When Hugo Weaving, who plays Elrond, was talking to Gandalf at Rivendell, he was ill from the flu and had a hoarse voice. Co-writer Philippa Boyens felt his hoarse voice made his voice better
-At Bilbo's party, the Hobbits were shown reacting to the fireworks Gandalf releases. In reality, it was a flashing light and an air horn
-Warwick Davis and Timothy Spall auditioned for the role of Gimli
-Mark Ordesky, one of the executive producers, suggested Viggo Mortensen after seeing him in a play
-On Aug. 25, 1999, Liv Tyler, who plays Arwen, was one of the last actresses to be cast
-Sam Neill was one of the actors considered for the role of Gandalf
-On July 7, 1999, Elijah Wood was the first actor to be cast as Frodo Baggins
-The dummy of Sean Bean's body was so convincing that a crew member asked other cast members if he wanted anything while taking lunch orders
-In the scene where Boromir's body is put into a boat to go over the Falls of Raunos, the film cuts to a scene showing Aragorn putting on vambraces (forearm armor) on his arms. It was Viggo Mortensen's idea to do this, for Aragorn to take those pieces of armor. It would be a tribute to his fallen friend and remind himself of the promise he made to Boromir. It was to save Minas Tirith and their people. He wears this armor throughout the trilogy and is also buried with them in the final film, showing he never forgot his promise
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