What a great idea from Stephen Hunter! Don't miss this informative interview, conversation really, between two friends. Stephen interviews Jed Brophy and they both discuss life, work, and family as working actors, and a few memories of working on The Hobbit. If you love acting and actors, watch this video.
Looking forward to future videos of "Actors Talk About Themselves" from Stephen Hunter.
I may have mentioned before that one of my favorite dwarves (yes, I have them also Sir Ian) is Nori, especially Nori's human, Jed Brophy.
He always gives very thoughtful and interesting interviews, and he did again recently for Critics Associated.
One very important thing that Jed and I share is our admiration for this guy called Richard Armitage!!
A few wonderful quotes about RA from JB:
...is there anything you have not tried yet that you would like
to have a go at? Perhaps a specific role, or project (filmic or not)?
…make a great Western with Richard Armitage, Bernard Hill
and Viggo. That would be fantastic.
What scene in The Hobbit: There and Back Again you most look
forward to see on the big screen?
I think the Battle of the five armies and in particular our
charge out of the fortress. We had been waiting two years to do that scene and
on the morning we filmedRichard Armitage
turned to me and the gleam in his eye said it all. He said to me , “We
have been waiting two years to do this and I can see you are ready”. He was so
much our king in that single moment. It was like the charge of the Rohirrim in
the Return of the King which I was also lucky to be a part of. Just …..well
hard to describe, but very emotional.
******
To read the rest of the wonderful interview, including some very interesting information about Nori's weapons, click on the link below:
Very late last night I read a wonderful interview with Jed Brophy from our friends at TheOneRing.net: http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2013/10/06/80021-getting-to-know-jed-brophy/2/ He had this to say about working with Richard Armitage: "I was lucky enough to train alongside Richard Armitage a lot during the early part of the shoot and again on location, and he inspired me to train the hardest I ever have for anything. He is so strong mentally and physically and like his character I felt compelled to follow him." and this when asked if he could choose three actors to work with: One more, Richard Armitage! Anytime, any place, any part, I would be there. *********** You all know that Richard is one of my favorite actors, and people, in this world, and it's always lovely to read wonderful comments about him from his colleagues. Thank you Jed Brophy!
Dear viewers, we've enjoyed the Orc evening gown competition, and all our finalists have answered the special question "Why I'm interested in Middle-earth domination?"
and now the judges have turned in their final votes
But, before we announce our lucky winner, lets introduce once more our illustrious panel of judges:
Continuing my series on actor's Voices and also my hope of finding examples of work by The Hobbit cast, especially those that I don't know well, in this post I'm featuring three Kiwi's: Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, and John Callen.
Jed Brophy:
I had read that Jed Brophy had been in the Lord of the Rings films, and I wondered who he had played since I didn't remember his face. But doing a bit more research, now I know why:
Jed Brophy as Sharku in The Lord of The Rings
He played two roles in The Lord of the Rings movies, Sharku and Snaga. In case you are wondering, Snaga is just as "lovely" as Sharku. He is one of a group of New Zealand actors that seem to be part of Peter Jackson's regular "repertory acting company", having also worked on King Kong and District 9 and now as Nori in The Hobbit.
I found many video clips of Brophy in what seems to be a cult horror film, Dead Alive (1992), but the film is not quite one I want to see, though I could tell from the clips there is some black humor and not just horror involved.
I did find this interesting interview of Brophy talking about his roles in the LOTR films and about the LOTR fan conventions:
Mark Hadlow:
We've seen Mark Hadlow now in The Hobbit video blogs and in interviews about the films, and he comes across as a very good natured man. He's also one of Peter Jackson's "acting repertory company" of New Zealand actors having played the role of Harry in King Kong. His bio describes him as an actor and comedian and in addition to his many movie and television roles, he has a distinguished career in the theater. He's been actor, producer, director, for many plays in Christchurch's Court Theatre (founded 1971).
In The Hobbit, Mark Hadlow plays the dwarf Dori (brother of Nori). The question I couldn't find an answer for is why does he wear a naval uniform in many of the interviews for The Hobbit?
Below is a dramatic turn for Hadlow performing the famous soliloquy from Macbeth, "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow". He has quite a commanding voice, though not particularly deep, and his interpretation is a quite energetic Macbeth.
John Callen:
An award winning actor and director, New Zealand's John Callen has performed in over 100 theater plays. He's also acted in and directed many television shows in New Zealand. In addition he's a noted voiceover artist. His Shakespearean repertoire includes Macbeth, Claudius, Shylock and Polonius. In The Hobbit he plays Oin.
Below is a voiceover narration he did for the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid (2008), Resources of the Past: Dutch Contribution in the Petroleum Industry. He has the deep voice with the resonance of a stage and Shakespearean actor. I'm looking forward to his creation of Oin:
