Part 19 in a series of irreverent tales from my experience as a Tolkien-nerd working as an extra on the first series of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power television show.
We’re back in the Big Round Room today. I’ve heard it described as a throne room, but there is no throne. I think it gets referred to as the court room in the show itself, so if I can reach a consensus among relevant stakeholders to that effect, then I shall refer to it thusly going forward.
It’s a busy day too. Lots of extras. Mostly the Númenórean aristocracy, but plenty of guards as well. Myself and fellow guard are positioned at the doors by the main entrance to the court room, in front of the enormous golden doors. The scene is to begin with the opening of said doors – we must open them to allow Pharazôn to regally enter the court room. We spend ages practicing this so that it is done nice and smoothly and Pharazôn and his retinue can make their grand entrance. It’s not easy – while the doors look amazing, they are also bloody huge, heavy, and with curiously low handles. The crew spend a lot of time practicing the camera movement. One of the cameras being used is not actually on set. Or rather it doesn’t start on set. It is a hydraulic operated telescopic camera crane, which slowly – and remarkably silently – extends through the doorway and past us guards. It is one serious piece of equipment and I dread to think how much it costs. I chatted to the camera operator, who didn’t know the value of the camera, but informed me that each shot with it cost about $50,000. I don’t know how correct that rather staggering figure is, but I certainly put extra effort into making sure I didn’t fuck anything up. We eventually nail the scene but, like most of what we film today, it won’t make the cut.
Today is my first chance to see Trystan Gravelle really get into his work as Pharazôn. He is holding court to what must be about a hundred important Númenóreans and doing a superb job of being the consumate politician. But the people are not happy with him. Trystan is wonderfully convincing, and as I watch from the doors during each take I find myself (not for the first time) thinking man, this show is going to be so awesome! A thought I held onto for some time. At least until a solid twenty minutes into the first episode.
Did I mention yet how hot it is on this set? Fucking really fucking hot, that’s how hot. We’re indoors of course, so there is an awful lot of lighting. There are also an awful lot of people here. There are numerous open fires burning. And there is no ventilation. The little water moat around the floor looks ever more appealing. I see crew dressed in shorts and t-shirts suffering in the heat. I am sweltering in my armour, but at least I don’t have to move.
The scene ends with Pharazôn being practically hounded out of the room. Said hounding requires Trystan to storm up the main staircase – fourteen steps – to the golden doors which my colleague and I must open for him to exit. Personal experience of climbing these stairs has illustrated just how careful one must be about the whole thing when you’re wearing a cape that does it’s very best to get right under your shoe at every opportunity. Trystan has a cape and thick long heavy gowns, and he’s got to do it in a hurry.
From my vantage point at the top of the stairs I can see Trystan making a thoroughly excellent job of this for each take. But someone else is not getting their part right. After five or six takes, Trystan is beginning to look a bit puffed. A few more takes and he’s definitely struggling. By the time the scene is finally deemed acceptable, he’s just knackered. Did I mention how hot it is in here?
With the shot in the can, we head outside for some fresh air. Positioned as we were at the doors, I can exit the set before the crowd. There’s something especially bright about the bright you encounter when you leave a dark studio and walk straight into the afternoon sun. No wonder Gollum was pissed off when he finally left the Misty Mountains. As my eyes stop hurting and become accustomed to reality once more, I find myself enjoying the cool breeze next to Trystan. We’re specifically banned from talking to the cast, but I know what he’s just been through so I express my sympathies and we end up chatting for a while. Also, this man will in due course flagrantly break the Ban of the Valar, so I don’t think he’ll give a second thought to this ban. Mostly we talk about his home country of Wales, a place I have very fond memories of – firstly, I spent a few glorious days in the wilds of Snowdonia for my honeymoon. Secondly I had a fantastic weekend in the Brecon Beacons in my early twenties when I went a-hunting for magic mushrooms with my friends. Boy did we find some. Anyway, in complete contrast to Pharazôn, Trystan’s a really lovely bloke.
While this scene did indeed make it into the show, it was in a highly truncated form – and the scene cuts well before he even makes it to the staircase. Ouch!
Another scene in the court room: the floor was full of tables for a great banquet, Pharazôn again being the main focus. A quick aside – as I write this I’m remembering my surprise on first watching the show at how relatively minor his part was, considering all the scenes I remembered filming. Anyway, the guards were ready to be placed around the outside of the room as usual. Then one of the ADs said she might need one of us to come down to floor level for a scene with Pharazôn – a scene with a line! Ok, the line was a simple “yes Lord”, but it’s a line nevertheless. I suggested that, as someone who had spent a lot of time lately stood by the door at the top of the stairs, I was absolutely ready to branch out into a floor-level adventure. The AD agreed, much to my surprise, only to come back five minutes later and tell me that they wanted to use Dave the Guard, as I was too tall. My hopes were cruelly dashed. I spent the next few hours at the top of the stairs, willing Dave to fall into the moat so I could take his place, but he selfishly held it together and did a great job.
But, on the whole, definitely for the best that I didn’t get the line. Because this scene also never made the cut. I would have been devastated to have shot that, complete with my first ever speaking part, and then been cut from the final edit!