‘Lord of the Rings’ Actors Pay Tribute to ‘King’ Bernard Hill, Proving ‘Brotherhood’ Is Still Strong

After the death of Lord of the Rings actor Bernard Hill On May 5, castmates and longtime friends from JRR Tolkien’s film trilogy said goodbye to their King Théoden in a moving public tribute.

Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Billy Boyd (Peregrin “Pippin” Took), Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck) and Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), who starred as hobbits in the Pedro Jackson films, paid tribute to Hill on stage at Comic Con Liverpool, in England.

“We lost a member of our family this morning,” Astin announced to the audience at the end of the panel discussion. “We just want to take a moment before we leave the stage to honor him… We love him.”

Hill, who has died aged 79, played Théoden, King of Rohan and Lord of the Mark, in the 2002 film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the 2003 film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

He was due to speak at Comic Con Liverpool alongside his co-stars, but pulled out of the event the day before, saying organizers “your partner was sick.”

Since news of Hill’s death broke, Lord of the Rings stars took to social media to share their grief and honor his memory.

The cast’s strong bond has been well documented over the years, from talented horses to matching tattoos and frequent group reunions.

In honor of the wrapping The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, the nine cast members who made up the titular scholarship – Sir Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Astin, Boyd, Viggo Mortensen, Monaghan, Wood, Sean Bean and Brett Beattie (John Rhys-Davies’ stunt double) – all had the word elvish for “nine” tattooed on them.

Jackson also participated in the celebratory experience by tattooing the Elvish word for “10” on his arm.

“We felt the experience was wonderful and profound enough for us to be branded,” Wood said. he said“so we went ahead and did it about a week before we finished.”

“It was one of those beautiful moments where we all felt like we had been through this war, through this battle, together in so many different ways,” Monaghan said. remembered for Weekly entertainment. “It really brought together that family feeling.”

Mortensen added: “We all have the same thing – the word ‘nine’ in Elvish – because that’s what we are, nine.”

Mortensen also cemented his friendship with a Lord of the Rings stunt double, Jane Abbott, when he bought the character Arwen’s horse and presented it to her.

Since the films wrapped, the cast has often been seen together in public, sharing a meal or appearing at speeches.

In addition to remaining friends, the cast also remained co-workers.

Boyd and Monaghan have collaborated professionally since completion Lord of the Ringscreating a podcast called The onion of friendship and starring together in a Canadian revival of the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

“Billy and I spend time with each other,” Monaghan said. Forbes in 2021. “We go on vacation together a lot, we spend a lot of time together, we watch sporting events together, we surf together, we go diving together, we enjoy each other’s company. It’s really just two people going through life with a lot of similar interests, isn’t it?”

But it wasn’t just Merry and Pippin who remained close friends.

“We all stay in touch,” Monaghan told the outlet. “We’re all on an email network, so if it’s someone’s birthday… It was Andy Serkis’ birthday recently, Cate Blanchett’s birthday recently. We all kind of said hello, sent our regards, maybe you find an old photo, ‘Oh, look at that! Merry Christmas!’ We will do these things.”