Sean Astin Tries On Rings
Staff Reporter

Sean Astin, who plays Sam Gamgee in Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings films, told SCI FI Wire that he learned "so much" about the acting craft as a result of his participation in the big-screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy. "I learned a lot about my voice, about my body," said Astin, who put on 30 pounds to portray the Hobbit gardener who joins Frodo (Elijah Wood) and the other members of the fellowship on the treacherous journey to Mt. Doom to destroy the Ring. "One of an actor's most important tools is his body. I learned what I'm capable of doing with and to my body, in terms of weight loss and weight gain, and I spent six weeks [working] with two dialect coaches."

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