CHRISTOPHER LEE on SARUMAN THE WHITE ~ PART TWO Introduced by PETER JACKSON ___________________________ LAWRENCE FRENCH: Christopher Lee told me before he was cast as Saruman he sent you a picture of him made up as a Wizard. PETER JACKSON: Thats right, we got a picture of Christopher Lee as a Wizard, and on the bottom of it, he had written with a magic marker, in black speech, (Tolkiens language for Mordor), a note, saying he was interested in being in the film. So while that didnt make me decide on casting Christopher, it certainly made me aware that he was interested, and he was one of the actors that we first went to see in London. His enthusiasm and knowledge of Tolkien was one of the factors that helped us when we decided to cast him. I had already thought about using him, because I had seen a lot of his movies when I was young, so it was great fun to finally be able to work with Christopher. I remember the first James Bond movie I ever saw was THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, and of course, Christopher Lee was the villain in that one. I really liked that movie. I went back to see it three or four times! At the time, I was really into James Bond. Then on Christophers last day of shooting, I finally brought my poster for THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN down to the set and had him sign it for me. ___________________________ LAWRENCE FRENCH: Before doing THE LORD OF THE RINGS you played another Wizard in a television series, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. CHRISTOPHER LEE: Thats right, and the only reason I did that was to show anyone who was watching that I could play a Wizard and that I would be ideal casting for THE LORD OF THE RINGS. LAWRENCE FRENCH: So you sent a photo of yourself as the Wizard from ROBIN HOOD to Peter Jackson? CHRISTOPHER LEE: Yes, I sent him a picture of myself all made-up in the Wizards role, but it was more in the nature of a joke, really. This is what I look like as a Wizard, dont forget this when you cast the movie. It wasnt me putting myself forward at all, because I think Peter had already made up his mind. That’s what Ive been told, anyway, that he never thought of anybody else for Saruman, except for me, so it didnt make the slightest bit of difference. LAWRENCE FRENCH: Had you met Peter Jackson before that? CHRISTOPHER LEE: Yes, I first met Peter when I was the President of the Jury at the Avoriaz Film Festival in 1993. Peter Jacksons movie, BRAINDEAD was in the competition, and I thought it was very funny, very humorous, very close to the Monty Python kind of comedy. As I was head of the jury, we decided to award BRAINDEAD the grand prize. Since then, I think his career has gone through a constant artistic growth. He started with these bizarre horror-splatter movies, and then he made HEAVENLY CREATURES, which was beautifully done. Hes a great director, who improves himself each time he makes a movie. LAWRENCE FRENCH: So eventually Peter Jackson contacted you about appearing in THE LORD OF THE RINGS? CHRISTOPHER LEE: Yes, he asked me if I would do a reading. Some people would have said no, but I certainly didnt. I met with Peter here in London, in the back room of an old Church. He was there with a casting director and Fran Walsh, his partner, who is also one of the screenwriters on the movies. They asked me to read a scene in front of a video camera, and I read a scene between Gandalf and Frodo. It was one of the first scenes in the book. I think he was just asking me to read something from the book to give him a general idea, and my passion and love for the work was quite obvious to him. Of course I would have loved to play Gandalf, but I dont think he ever had me in mind for Gandalf, because by that time I was too old. LAWRENCE FRENCH: You must have enjoyed working with Peter Jackson, since he knew the books so well and he wanted it to be as faithful as possible to what Tolkien wrote. CHRISTOPHER LEE: Yes, he certainly shares my passion, as indeed we all did. The whole cast and the whole crew had such a dedication to this work, Ive never experienced anything like it. And Peter knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it. Ive very seldom met a director who was so absolutely convinced about what should, or should not appear on the screen. He always seemed to know exactly what he wanted and he wasnt going to let a shot go until he got it exactly as he wanted. Sometimes this meant a lot of takes. But it could be the pace of the scene, it could be the inflection of the dialogue, it could be many things. Peters intuition is extraordinary, in terms of how to deliver dialogue and how to play the scene. When he finally got the shot and said, right, lets print it, you knew that was as good as it was ever going to be, which is very encouraging. A good director is someone who cares about what the end result is going to be, and Peter Jackson is certainly a director who cares. So what was on the printed page is what I did. And if Peter Jackson wanted to change any of it, I did so. If he wanted a different interpretation or a different meaning or a certain emphasis given to a line, or a phrase, or even a word, I did it. To me, he always seemed to be right. LAWRENCE FRENCH: In THE TWO TOWERS you have a new accomplice, played by Brad Dourif. CHRISTOPHER LEE: Yes, Brad Dourif is a brilliant actor. He plays Grima Wormtongue, my right hand man, you might say, who is spying for me while advising King Théoden of Rohan. Grima is quite an unattractive character, as hes ugly and distorted, which is why he can never get Éowyn, the woman he wants, or indeed anything he wants, except through the power of Saruman. Brad gives a wonderful performance, as he did in films like ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST and MISSISSIPPI BURNING. He is quite a marvelous person to work with and is tremendously enthusiastic about everything he does. LAWRENCE FRENCH: In THE TWO TOWERS although you don’t have as many scenes, you are a bit like Harry Lime in THE THIRD MAN, since all the other characters are constantly talking about you and what you are planning to do. CHRISTOPHER LEE: Yes, Saruman does hover over everything like a kind of menacing dark cloud. Everyone talks about Saruman’s armies and Saruman’s forces. They talk about him all the time, so although there isn’t as much of me as there was in the first film, where you had to establish the character, the shadow of Saruman still looms large over everything that happens. So even though he is something of an invisible presence, when you do see Saruman, he is immensely powerful and he still goes through all the emotions that are in the book; the feeling of power, the actual power, the hypnotic effect of his voice and what he says and does. THE TWO TOWERS is really a kind of confirmation of Sarumans downfall, which is achieved partly by his losing the power after which he lusts so much. Also, several of my scenes that were cut out of THE TWO TOWERS are now restored in the extended version on DVD. You now see me meeting with the leader of the Wild Men and Grimma telling me about yet another ring, the ring of Barahir that is worn by Aragorn. Barahir was one of the great lords of the north in the first age. He had this ring that was handed down over thousands of years and eventually it came into the possession of Isildur.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 00:01:42 +0000