ArticleA Typical Portly Hobbit

Exceptional as it was, Viggo Mortensen's devotion to his character was anything but an exception - and both "elves" and "hobbits" were every bit as devoted as "men". For instance, Sean Astin who signed the contract for the part of Sam Gamgee, flew back to the States and immediately began his preparations. When he returned to New Zealand after 6 months of extremely hard work, Peter Jackson went to pick him up at the airport. The very moment they met, Peter felt furious. ‘Sean, have you EVER read your contract?!’ The embarrassed actor had to admit that he had, in fact, done no such thing. He was too busy going to a gym to stay in good shape. Peter nodded, produced a copy of the contract and shoved it into Sean’s hand. “Read here”, he pointed at a highlighted clause. Sure enough, the clause made it very clear that Sam Gamgee was a typical portly hobbit – and that’s how the actor was supposed to look by the time the film shooting began. “You’ll live the next two weeks on nothing but noodles, cakes and muffins,” Jackson hissed “or that part will go to someone else!”