Chapter 343: The Donald Show

"Viggo, what happened here?" On the soundstage, Duke's gaze was cool as he looked at Viggo Mortensen. A large, dark bruise mottled one side of the actor's forehead. "I trust you know how important a face is to an actor!"

Though the bruise was on the side of his forehead, it stood out starkly—nothing makeup could hide. Today's scenes between Aragorn and Arwen required plenty of frontal close-ups of Viggo Mortensen, and the injury was already compromising the shoot.

Arms folded, Duke frowned slightly as he studied Viggo Mortensen. Truth be told, the actor had made a strong impression on him since filming began. He trained hard, rode superbly, was thoroughly professional, and had sharp instincts. Stunts that would have required a double for most actors, he handled effortlessly on his own.

"I'm very sorry, Duke." Viggo Mortensen offered nothing but an apology.

Fresh out of makeup, Elijah Wood and Billy Boyd walked over from the edge of the set. Noticing the stiff atmosphere, they asked what had happened before Elijah hurried straight up to Duke.

"Duke, you can't blame Viggo for this." Catching Duke's cool expression, Elijah Wood hesitated for a second before speaking up. "I'm the one who caused his injury."

Duke turned to look at him in silence, waiting for an explanation.

"We didn't have any scenes over the last few days," Elijah Wood said quickly. "Billy, Sean, Viggo, and I went to a ski resort. I'm not a great skier, and when I came barreling down the slope, I crashed right into Viggo..."

"Well done, Elijah."

Sweeping his gaze across Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Sean Astin, and Viggo Mortensen, Duke spoke to his assistant. "Tina, pass the word down: for the duration of the shoot, no cast member is to engage in any strenuous sports."

He then instructed the assistant director beside him, "William, push Arwen and Aragorn's scenes back. We're shooting the hobbits this morning."

With that, he pointed at the three actors. "Go get ready. We're shooting the Prancing Pony Hotel."

Billy Boyd nudged Elijah Wood. "Are we in for it now?"

"What do you think?"

Elijah Wood glared at him. "If you hadn't pushed me yesterday, I wouldn't have crashed into Viggo. Now look—we're all in trouble."

Duke sent an assistant to notify Alessandra Ambrosio, who was still in makeup, and led the crew over to another soundstage. The interior set of the Prancing Pony Hotel had long since been built. While John Schwartzman directed the camera setup, Duke instructed the stylists to adjust the four hobbits' looks.

Their facial makeup didn't need any major changes; only their costumes needed adjusting, along with those big, hairy hobbit feet.

It was one of the most time-consuming parts of the makeup process. Putting on the silicone feet took roughly an hour, and because they were single-use prosthetics that had to be scrapped after wearing, the crew had prepared nearly 2,000 pairs of silicone hobbit feet and pointed elf ears alone.

Contrary to what Billy Boyd and Elijah Wood had feared, once they finished their makeup, filming proceeded as normal, no different from any other day.

An accident had happened, yes, but to Duke, every minute was precious. He didn't have the time or inclination to mess around with the actors—especially when a large crowd of background extras had been brought in for the scene. This wasn't the time to flex his authority as director.

Viggo Mortensen joined the shoot as well. As a hooded Ranger, he didn't need any frontal close-ups, and the shadow of his hood easily hid the bruise on his forehead.

"Cut!"

The moment Duke called it, the noisy bustle on the soundstage came to an immediate halt.

He waved a hand toward the actors to signal that the cut had nothing to do with them, then called out to the camera crew, "John, get a close-up of Viggo's pipe and beard."

After wrapping the scenes inside the Prancing Pony Hotel, the crew changed sets again to film the four hobbits entering Bree Village. August in New Zealand was far from warm—in fact, there was a chill in the air—and the four actors had to trudge forward through a pouring rainstorm.

In the somewhat dilapidated village built from sets and props, the artificial rain was already primed. Naturally, Duke wouldn't use cold water—he wasn't that heartless—but slogging through thick mud with sheets of water pounding down on their heads was still far from pleasant for the four actors.

"Is Duke messing with us?"

Sitting on a bench in the rest area, Billy Boyd wiped the water from his face. "Why does it feel like the rain is coming down extra hard?"

"Do you really think he's punishing us?" Elijah Wood shook his head. "If he were, he wouldn't have passed the take on the first try."

"Elijah has a point."

Sean Astin, the oldest of the group, stood up. "Let's just go shower and change. If we catch colds, Duke really will punish us."

Filming was always like that; unexpected hiccups were bound to crop up. Even though the atmosphere within the cast of The Fellowship of the Ring was wonderfully harmonious since none of the actors were major stars yet, incidents like Viggo Mortensen's injury still happened.

Knowing how to reallocate a crew's resources when the unexpected struck was one of a director's most fundamental skills.

Out on location, Zack Snyder had run into some trouble of his own. A stuntman playing a member of the Rohan Cavalry had fallen from his horse during filming and broken two ribs. Fortunately, the production team quickly settled on a compensation agreement with his agent, and the stuntman was resting safely in a Wellington hospital.

For an epic on the scale of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, packed with massive battles and cavalry charges, getting through the shoot without a single injury was simply impossible.

That went double for the stunt doubles, who had to pull off all kinds of high-risk maneuvers; bumps and bruises were practically an everyday affair.

Nearly a week later, the bruise on Viggo Mortensen's face had largely faded, and Duke put the postponed scenes back on the schedule. Today's shoot covered the scene where Arwen tracked down Aragorn and the four hobbits.

Alessandra Ambrosio had dyed her hair black and put in dark contact lenses to match Arwen's description. When she stepped in front of the camera wearing a moss-green elf warrior outfit with a long-hilted elf saber slung across her back, she drew admiring murmurs from quite a few people on set.

Billy Boyd, ever the lively one on set, called out loudly before the cameras rolled, "Corinne, you're gorgeous! I've decided to write a song for you—no, two songs!"

The actor playing Pippin was an avid music lover who also knew how to compose.

Hearing that, Duke's interest was piqued. He called out, "Billy, why don't you try writing a few pieces? If they meet my standards, I might just use one as the theme song."

Billy Boyd perked up at once. "It's a deal, Duke."

Waving a hand in his direction, Duke walked onto the set. Surrounded by green screens stood a small fabricated woods. The trees were plastic, and the shrubs and grass were artificial too, yet the craftsmanship was so lifelike that—never mind how it would look after post-production—even to the naked eye, it looked completely real.

After glancing at Alessandra Ambrosio as she practiced her blocking with Viggo Mortensen, Duke walked over to the clump of Athelas and crouched down for a closer look. It was the only plant in the scene that would get a close-up, and the only real one on set—a native New Zealand herb tracked down by the prop department.

In the original novel, Athelas was also known as Kingsfoil—an herb used by kings, just as the name implied. Carrying the bloodlines of Elendil and Isildur, Aragorn was a born healer; though he could not cure Frodo, he later healed Eowyn and Faramir.

This facet of Aragorn's identity and skill came straight from the source material. Among the proverbs of Gondor written by Tolkien was the famous line—the hands of the king are the hands of a healer!

After making a circuit of the set and checking in briefly with Viggo Mortensen and Alessandra Ambrosio as usual, Duke returned to his spot behind the director's monitor and signaled the clapper loader to get ready.

The clapper loader immediately held the slate up in front of the camera. "Scene 69, Act 2, action!"

Duke kept his eyes fixed mostly on Ambrosio as Arwen. The scene wasn't difficult for Viggo Mortensen, who had already settled into his role, but this was Ambrosio's very first time acting in a movie.

Keeping her face expressionless, she simply presented her best angles to the camera. Combined with her costume and styling, her innocent air carried a touch of nobility. The form-fitting elf warrior outfit in particular accentuated her slender figure, matching Tolkien's vision of the elf race to perfection.

Even so, since this was Ambrosio's first film shoot, her lack of experience showed. When she brought the curved blade in her hand to Viggo Mortensen's neck, she misjudged the angle slightly and snagged Aragorn's tattered costume.

"Cut!"

As soon as Duke called a halt, Ambrosio flashed an apologetic smile toward the monitor. "Sorry, I didn't control the movement properly."

"Hold on to that feeling!" Duke instructed, waiting for the actors to reset their marks before calling out, "Action!"

After two more ruined takes, the shot passed smoothly. Nearly all of that day's filming centered on Alessandra Ambrosio, and most of her scenes featured Aragorn as well. The crew also put the meticulously constructed Rivendell set to use for the very first time.

For this picturesque elf valley, the distant views relied primarily on sets and blue screens, while the foreground was filled with intricately crafted props that looked like fine works of art. Billy Boyd even remarked that once filming wrapped, he had to collect a set for himself, because not even the pieces used by the British Royal Family could match their exquisite craftsmanship.

Duke also promised that when lead cast members like Ambrosio and the actors in The Fellowship of the Ring wrapped their respective parts, each of them would receive a carefully prepared gift from the crew.

Filming pressed on day by day. Between the tense, grueling stretches of work, Duke also organized recreational outings to help the crew unwind. After all, balancing work with rest was the only way to go, and not everyone on set was a workaholic.