April 11, 2011

Strike Back 2 Love Scene + 2006 Clip:RA & RH Co-stars + Peter Jackson's Slowww Hobbit Tease Begins w/Photo of Gollum's 3D Cave


THE BUZZ:......RA universe is all atwitter over an actress's remark during a recent interview that she had filmed a love scene for SB2 with RA in March...
Another actress mentions filming SB2 in So Africa.  Reporter refers to RA as the star.. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/3521797/Former-Holby-City-actress-Amanda-Mealing-is-mugged-in-South-Africa.html


See Gollum's Cave  below with explanation...



Decided to give you a break this week when it came to choosing a sample from Dancing w/the Stars.  Sadly, Kirstie has started to deliver major drama-queen performances, therefore, thought you might instead enjoy the following couple.  She's Chech and he's Russian(he's also verrry easy on the eyes;) 




I was asked to post a video clip of RA on the red carpet at the 2007 Baftas.  He was asked to reveal a guilty pleasure and after hesitating for half a second he said watching QVC shopping channel :) unbelievable.  Anyway, while searching for that clip at youtube to no avail I came upon this one...






                


                           
>Peter Jackson was kind enough to give us a glimpse inside Gollum’s cave in the below shot from his Facebook account! And if you look closer, you can see Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins!<

6 comments:

Sue said...

I enjoyed watching Peter Jackson's blog and snippets of the set (which look absolutely amazing, wouldn't mind living in a Hobbit dwelling myself, wouldn't you?)

Also just watched the ceremony in which Richard made the main speech. Wasn't he great? Even had a stab of speaking in Maori (of course if it hadn't been for the subtitles undeneath he could have been saying something like "Aren't I am jammie beggar getting a role in the Hobbit!" for all I knew. ( Although I'm certain Richard had it word perfect as always)

I wonder if he volunteered to do it or did he just draw the short straw. Maybe Peter Jackson said "anyone who wants to volunteer to do this step forward" and the rest of the cast stepped back leaving Richard stood at the front on his own!

Just one thing, being a horticulturist I'm interested to find out the name of the piece of plant/foliage which Richard was holding when he made his speech. Obviously being a Brit I'm not up on New Zealand flora and fauna, but I assume that it must have some significance of some sort. Anyone know what the name of it is? I couldn't get much of a look at it, plus I was too busy ogling Richard at the time!

Long may King Thorin reign!

Ricrar said...

Hi Sue, the sprig of whatever Richard was holding looked to me almost like mistletoe. Perhaps it's NZ's national plant or symbol due to it's abundance.

I wondered same as you whether it was Jackson's idea for RA to represent the cast OR did Richard volunteer to shoulder that responsibility when the director required emergency surgery?

With RA's penchant for research and ability to memorize complicated, lengthy dialogue - he was a natural for the job, wasn't he;) I said on twitter the day the video was released, that the choice of Richard as leader for the cast made it obvious why he was chosen for the Thorin role. He oozes those qualities found in strong leaders. Maybe that's why his portrayals of courageous hero John Porter and conscientious mill owner John Thornton were so credible.

He looked to me as though he'd lost weight - hopefully Peter Jackson sets a priority on providing good caterers on set. Thorin will need to clean out Bilbo's cupboards and kegs of ale in order to keep himself at his ideal weight.

Sue said...

RiCrAr,

Yes I thought Richard looked a little thinner compared to the earlier news conference about the Hobbit. Those lovely thunder thighs seem to have disappeared forever! Maybe he bulked up for John Porter and has slimmed down later on to his normal weight. (Don't want him looking too small and dumpy when he's converted to dwarfdom do we?)

I think many actors would be pretty reluctant to take on the task of a speech like the maori ceremoney Richard did. Mind you he did do a Christmas reading at St. Paul's Cathedral in London a few years back so nothing can be as awesome as that surely?

I don't think it looked like mistletoe (he's likely to have been bombarded with requests for kisses if it was!)but I'm still curious to know what it is.

I'm afraid I'm one of those boring nerds that constantly scan the background in shows and films looking for authentic scenery! Robin Hood was quite good for getting things spot on, especially the ancient crafts such as willow wattling. There was often a bundle of salix (willow) to be found in the villages around Nottingham. No giant oak though, shame!

Anonymous said...

I think it was a 'bunch of leaves' from a pohutukawa, because the Maori people of the land regarded the pohutukawa as one of the chiefly trees and individual ones were sacred.In everyday life a pohutukawa tree was planted in memory of chiefs, battlefields, or birth of a chief’s son. Healing power was recognised in bark juice and nectar for diverse complaints.

Sue said...

Thank you Anon. that sounds very interesting. I must look it up on Google. I must say that New Zealand people seem to respect the traditions of the Maori people, which isn't unfortunately true of Australia and aboriginals. We could learn a lot from these people (as we can from British folklore). Plants are amazing things and can be the answer to a lot of health problems if we only took the time to discover!

Ricrar said...

Well, just noticed your symposium on the natural plant life of NZ, etc. If the two of you don't mind, I'll move this fascinating information to the newest post and add a photo if one is available.