January 24, 2001
Musings About Edoras
Sir Ian McKellen
Acting in such circumstances is what all of us, filmmakers and audiences, love so much about film: the sense of actually being there. Bernard Hill as Theoden might not yet quite know what the Golden Hall will be like, where he will be brought to his senses by a stern Gandalf. But when Theoden chased Wormtongue off the premises, down the stairs with that waterfall which Tolkien describes so precisely; when his subjects parted to see the traitor stagger into exile with the mountains snowy beyond; when he later prayed at his son's tomb and the wind blew hard in his face -- all this authenticity will provide so much information about Theoden (and the rest of us: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry and Pippin) that acting was not much required, at least for the long shots.