The Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson penned a moving Facebook tribute to the late Ian Holm, who died Friday aged 88.
Ian played Bilbo Baggins in the iconic film trilogy adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s book and briefly reprised the role for the Hobbit prequel trilogy.
Peter recounted how Ian initially turned down the Hobbit job because of his decline from Parkinson’s disease, but that arrangements were eventually made for him to be able to do it, resulting in ‘a wonderful actor delivering his last performance. It was incredibly brave of him to do that, and very emotional for those who witnessed it.’
Throwback: The Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson penned a moving Facebook tribute to the late Ian Holm, who died Friday aged 88
The Oscar-winning filmmaker remembered: ‘Ian was such a delightful, generous man. Quiet, but cheeky, with a lovely twinkle in his eye.’
Peter remembered a sweet story from the set of the first Lord Of The Rings film in which Bilbo entertains a crowd of children at his 111th birthday party.
The child extras, playing ‘spellbound three and four year olds,’ included Peter’s own children by his longtime love Fran Walsh who is also his co-writer and co-producer.
As they shot the scene they were aware that ‘young kids get bored very quickly, and Ian and I quickly realized that they couldn’t hear the same story over and over again, as we captured the various angles we needed.’
History: Ian played Bilbo Baggins in the iconic film trilogy; he is pictured with Elijah Wood in its 2001 first installment The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
Peter had Ian change up Bilbo’s anecdote for the children each time ‘so long as he gave us the essence of what was in the script. I told him not to worry and that I’d figure it out in the cutting room.’
However the children also had to sit around for ’15-20 minutes’ at a time as cameras were shifted and Peter enlisted Ian to ‘tell them other stories between shots.’
Peter recalled: ‘As the kids were ushered off set, and the crew moved onto the next sequence, Ian said that he’d never worked so hard in his life!’
Ian was also persuaded to return for The Hobbit films, which underwent principal photography from spring 2011 to summer 2012.
‘Farewell, dear Bilbo’: Ian was also persuaded to return for The Hobbit films, which underwent principal photography from spring 2011 to summer 2012
Although Martin Freeman plays a young Bilbo in the Hobbit trilogy, Ian plays the 111-year-old Bilbo in the framing device of the film – but initially declined the job offer.
‘Fran and I had dinner with Ian and his wife Sophie in London, and he told us that he was very sorry, but he couldn’t do it,’ Peter remembered.
‘Adding to our shock, he confided that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and could no longer remember lines. He had difficulty walking, and certainly couldn’t travel to New Zealand. Always a private man, he told us that he’d basically retired, but wasn’t announcing it.’
Indeed Ian had not acted on film or TV since providing the voice of Skinner in the 2007 animated Pixar movie Ratatouille.
Helping hands: Both Ian’s wife Sophie (right) and Elijah were on set daily with Ian, with Sophie ‘helping both him and us’ and his old co-star ‘giving Ian additional support’
Making it work: As Ian was unable to travel because of Parkinson’s, the filmmakers were able to accommodate him by shooting his scenes in London where he was joined by Elijah
However Ian ‘liked’ the framing idea and Peter ‘also told him how my mother and an uncle had both endured Parkinson’s for years, and I was very familiar with the effects of the disease.’
Their evening out ‘suddenly turned into a think tank, with Ian, Sophie, Fran and I trying to figure out a process that would allow Ian to play Bilbo one last time.’
Peter wrote touchingly: ‘By the end of the dinner he nodded slowly, and said: “Yes, I think I could do that.” But I knew he was only doing it as a favor to me, and I held his hands and thanked him with tears in my eyes.’
The filmmakers were eventually able to accommodate Ian by shooting his scenes in London where he was joined by his old Lord Of The Rings co-star Elijah Wood.
‘The sea calls us home’: ‘I’ve always loved Ian’s performance in the final scenes of Return of the King,’ wrote Peter, quoting: ‘”I think I’m quite ready for another adventure”‘
Both Sophie and Elijah were on set daily with Ian, with his wife ‘helping both him and us’ and his old co-star ‘giving Ian additional support.’
Lord Of The Rings star Christopher Lee, who died aged 93 in 2015, also reprised his role for the Hobbit and shot his scenes in London as he was too old to fly all the way to New Zealand where Peter generally films his movies.
Peter wrote: ‘In the finished movie, I hope that audiences just see Ian Holm reprising Bilbo. But what I experienced on set was a wonderful actor delivering his last performance. It was incredibly brave of him to do that, and very emotional for those who witnessed it.’
So sweet: Peter remembered a sweet story from the set of the first Lord Of The Rings film in which Bilbo entertains a crowd of children at his 111th birthday party
He added: ‘I’ve always loved Ian’s performance in the final scenes of Return of the King. “I think I’m quite ready for another adventure.”‘
Bilbo says the line before the Last Riding Of The Keepers Of The Rings where he and other characters board a ship headed to an afterlife in the Undying Lands.
‘Farewell, dear Bilbo,’ wrote Peter, quoting a line said by Gandalf in The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring. ‘Safe travels, darling Ian.’