Sir Ian’s dinner date with Sir Ed
Sir Ian McKellen has revealed he had dinner with Sir Edmund Hillary while he was filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy in New Zealand.
Reflecting on 20 years since filming for the blockbuster franchise began, McKellen yesterday reminisced about his time in New Zealand, posting a blog he kept during his time here in 2000.
“If it weren’t the director of Heavenly Creatures in control, with a strong vision of all those precise, quirky, majestic locations, I should not much look forward to a full year away from my home in London,” McKellen wrote, shortly before he travelled to New Zealand.
“But Peter Jackson’s designs, script and his unshowy dedication to the task are irresistible.”
During his early days in New Zealand the English actor remarked:
The Hobbit
“What a congenial country New Zealand is for visitors from what used to be called ‘the home country’. So far from home but the language is the same and you can buy Marmite and Cadbury’s.
“The Queen is on the banknotes and there is scandal about Prince Edward in Women’s Weekly which would be considered too racy for even the UK tabloids.
“It all seems half-familiar with a style of friendliness that is a change from English reserve. I feel very much at home.”
His posts were full of praise for director Jackson, whose feats he compared to those of Hillary.
“I haven’t been here long enough to judge whether Peter is a national hero but he should be up there with Sir Edmund Hillary for his enterprise.”
McKellen also wrote how he was lucky enough to have supper with Hillary and his wife June.
“Sir Ed is a star. Eighty years old and still revelling in it. It is not surprising that Hillary should be from New Zealand, where the land is a challenge and an inspiration. These last months I have driven across it, flown over it, boated and tramped. For the first time, I wish my father had taught me to climb.”
During his year here McKellen lived in Miramar, near Jackson’s home in Wellington, but it was the South Island he loved most. “Although I am a chronic townee . . . there really is a natural untouched wilderness and it is overwhelmingly spectacular and moving.”
I feel very much at home. Ian McKellen