Every good movie needs a bookslapper– a person whose only job is to read the book, then slap the director with it every time he says “Yeah, but what if…”. We got the chance to find out exactly who was the bookslapper behind The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. On December 9th, four days before The Hobbit officially hit theaters, the L.A. Times sponsored a premier showing of the movie at the 34th Street AMC theater, as part of their Hero Complex movie screening series. My roommate and I picked up our (free) reserved tickets, grabbed two pairs of 3D glasses, and sat down to two hours of breathtaking IMAX visuals, only to then afterward find ourselves privy to an additional treat: a Q&A featuring Sir Ian McKellen, the actor behind Gandalf the Grey.
Sir McKellan has been dubbed “the guardian of Tolkien” by none other than Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings movies and its Hobbit prequels, and for good reason. Throughout the entire filming process of both movie series, he always kept a copy of the original Tolkien books on hand. We had found an honest-to-goodness bookslapper. He quipped to the Hero Complex audience that if we had wondered at the heavy, dragging, robes he had worn in The Lord of the Rings, it was because he had a paperback omnibus edition of the original trilogy stashed in his robes. Thankfully, The Hobbit is a much thinner book, which made it much easier to carry around. McKellen commented that he liked to be able to re-read the source material during breaks in filming. He had been a fan of Tolkien’s books when he was young, and wanted the film to be a bona fide portrayal.
On the audience’s request, McKellen summarized his reading of Gandalf’s character. “Rather noble isn’t he, Gandalf?” he said after a thoughtful pause. Despite the tense situations he finds himself in, “he isn’t a man who’d use force, unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Though some might think Gandalf to be a formidable, all-powerful character, McKellen gathered that “he’s much gentler, though he could be very stern.” On one hand, he is a kind grandfatherly figure that children love, yet, he plays the role of teacher or lecturer, rather like Professor Tolkien. “Tolkien probably modeled Gandalf after himself.” While he is determined to keep true to Gandalf, McKellen made it clear that he and the wizard are not the same person: “I’m not the real Gandalf, I’m like the Santa Claus at Macy’s,” he laughed.
McKellen also revealed to the audience some quirks of the actual filming process. The main issue? Making the dwarves short. Because his character was supposed to be taller than the dwarves and hobbits surrounding him, McKellan had to be filmed on a separate green screen, all by himself, with the other actors filmed in a different room. The footage was then compiled and digitally resized to make him appear taller. This method meant that McKellen rarely worked face-to-face with his fellow actors, which he bemoaned “became quite lonesome.” If they did have scenes together, McKellen could never make eye contact with a dwarf or hobbit; to maintain the illusions in height, he would have to look down at them, while they in return stared at some point above his head. Some scenes would have Paul Randall, a 7 ft. tall New Zealand policeman, standing in for Gandalf as a “scale double” (like a stunt double, but for size). It was difficult to play out interactions between characters without eye contact or human cues to work off of.
Despite the downsides, the actor was as impressed as the audience with the movie. After all, this was McKellen’s first time seeing the movie as well. He voiced his enthusiasm for the changing technology, and spoke with great respect of the advanced computer software and stunning animation of the dragon Smaug.
Aside from portraying Gandalf, Ian McKellen’s acting career is doing fine. He is currently starring in two plays on Broadway, No Man’s Land and Waiting for Godot and is set to play Sherlock Holmes in the near future. When asked which character he had always dreamed of playing, he surprised the audience by stating he’d never had a wish list of characters. Then, almost as an afterthought, he said he’s actually always wanted to play Sherlock Holmes; it was only after he got the role that he realized. McKellen admitted that he’d always wanted to star in a musical… “but I cannot sing” he finished regretfully.
McKellen ended off on a more somber note by stating that, “When I die, [people will say] ‘Gandalf has died’”, vocalizing his recognition of the legacy he has created with his portrayal of Gandalf.