I’ve been trying to figure out how to summarize my experience meeting the Hobbit cast from Lord of the Rings for over a month now and I’m still not sure I’m quite there yet. But I want to do my best to detail what was nothing short of an unforgettable day. Here's the quick overview, as if I go into too much detail, you'll be here for hours...
The Lord of the Rings is a big part of my life. I’ve written two capstones on Tolkien’s legendarium (one of them is published, which you can read here), presented another paper (which you can also watch) and continue to pursue possible graduate work revolving around these stories. Meeting Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Sam), Billy Boyd (Pippin), and Dominic Monaghan (Merry) at Steel City Con in Pittsburgh made Tolkien’s magical world all the more real.
First stop was Elijah Wood. Frodo is, along with Bilbo, the most iconic Hobbit ever. To start off with the protagonist of the series was insane and nerve wracking! But Elijah was absolutely precious. My sister asked him to write his favorite quote in her copy of Return of the King, to which he thought long and hard about. In mine, he wrote a quote from one of my all time favorite scenes:
"I’m glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things.”
Except, in the kindest way possible, Elijah told me I was wrong and that the quote was in fact “happy to be with you,” not glad. Too afraid to dispute the king himself, I nodded and let him write it. Is the quote actually glad? Yes. But, Elijah was an absolute sweetheart trying to look out for me. If you ask me, him misremembering it, now inked into my book forever, makes it all the more special.
Next we hit up Dom. I’ll admit, in terms of personality, he was by far the most intimidating of the four! He never came across as rude or cold, but he’s a lot more gruff than the others, something you can hear in his and Boyd’s podcast, The Friendship Onion. But, he drew a picture of himself as Merry in my book as part of his signature, and I’ll cherish that forever.
The line for Sean Astin was astronomical so while my dad waited, my sister and I met Billy. His was the most in-depth interaction we had and as the head of the “Defend Pippin Took Club,” this made my entire life. We talked about everything: from our dogs and his, promising him to adopt another dog and name it Pippin (it was a contender for my current pup, Ginny), discussing my Tolkien research, and being given secret info about some future projects he has planned. Overall, it was about a 4 minute interaction that I’ll never recover from.
Last but certainly not least was Sean. Like many – including Tolkien himself – I consider Sam to be the story’s hero. He has some of my favorite moments surrounding the symbol of light, so it’s natural that I asked Sean to write about the passing shadow. But the real kicker of this interaction is the fact that I made Sean Astin laugh. Was it at my sister’s expense? You bet! All three of us had a cracking time and now we can confidently say we have an inside joke with Sean Astin about what it’s like to live with my sister.
Besides the autographs, we got a group photo and attended a panel. The group photo was quick, as they always are in these kinds of settings, but it turned out perfect and I’ll have it framed on my wall forever. As for the panel, my sister somehow maneuvered us up to directly in front of the stage inside a full capacity room. There was laughter, singing (happy birthday to Dominic!), and pure awe. To say that I’ll never forget this day is an understatement; it’s one I’ll always look back at with such fondness.
Bonus: A last minute edition, I got to meet Bonnie Wright who played Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise! Now I have 4 of the casts autographs…whose next? Only time will tell!
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