Tolkienites had reason to rejoice at the kick-off of FanX — the three-day Salt Lake City-based pop culture and comic convention — because three hobbits and a dwarf gathered to reminisce their experience in the “Lord of the Rings” film series.
Billy Boyd, who plays the hobbit Peregrin Took (Pippin); Dominic Monaghan, who plays the hobbit Merry Brandybuck; Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo Baggins; and John Rhys-Davies, who plays Gimli, a dwarf from the House of Durin, all took part in the panel Thursday afternoon.
The film series is based off the high fantasy books written by J. R. R. Tolkien.
A crowd of 5,000 people enthusiastically welcomed the actors with a raucous greeting as they took to the stage in the grand ballroom of The Salt Palace Convention Center. Fans were aptly hanging onto their seats as the actors answered questions from them and bantered with each other on stage.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) An audience listens to cast members of "The Lord of the Rings" films at FanX in Salt Lake City, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024.
When a fan asked if the “fellowship was still going” — if they cast members were still close — Wood responded.
“There’s some of us that we haven’t seen each other in quite some time, but the function of having worked together so closely over such a long period of time is that it sort of transcends friendship,” the actor said. “We’re kind of family and we’re among a small group of people who know what it was like to go through that and make those films. We’re sort of linked forever.”
Originally, Sean Astin, who plays the fourth hobbit, Samwise Gamgee, was scheduled to also be on the panel. A post from FanX’s Instagram account on Sept.16, ten days before the convention, announced that Astin would only be at the convention on Friday and Saturday.
In the comments of that Instagram post, fans expressed frustration with the convention because they previously bought photo opportunity tickets with all four hobbit actors and were expecting to see all of them speak.
During Thursday’s conversation, a fan asked Boyd who he would call on the phone, since last time he was at the convention he said he would call Monaghan. He suggested calling Astin, which Wood did on his phone, and held it up to the speaker. Fans laughed in anticipation.
Astin didn’t answer the call, and the other actors guessed that it was because he was on set, but fans left him a voicemail of them collectively screaming.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Elijah Wood, left, and Dominic Monaghan of "The Lord of the Rings" films appear for a panel at FanX in Salt Lake City, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024.
The actors also revealed LOTR-related facts, like how Wood took home a map of Bag End from set and Monaghan took home Pippin’s scarf.
Boyd told a story about wearing his hobbit feet — which took an hour to put on in makeup — to a dentist appointment.
Fans stayed engaged throughout the almost hour-long panel, cheering and laughing, shouting out iconic lines and recording the entire panel on their phones.
