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"Darkness took me. And I strayed out of thought and time. Stars wheeled overhead and everyday was as long as a life-age of the earth. But it was not the end. I felt light in me again. I've been sent back until my task is done." ~Gandalf. "Well, here I am in Middle-earth, having just arrived from England via Los Angeles. You know, Gandalf certainly gets around!"
It has been said that the image
of a white-bearded man wearing a cloak and a wide-brimmed hat in a Swiss
postcard influenced the appearance of Gandalf. It seems that the Norse
god Odin is also an influence for the character. Gandalf the Grey is
a
Although he is known as a wizard throughout the lands, Gandalf is actually an angel - a member of a group of angels called the Istari sent by the Valar to help the beings of Middle-earth resist Sauron. When he returns as Gandalf the White in The Two Towers, he has risen a grade in the Istari and has greater powers. The name "Gandalf" means "Sorcerer Elf." On wigs and false noses, "I really have to look like everyone's idea of a wizard, and if it means making my nose bigger then so be it! Actually, I suspect that Gandalf does wear a false nose - and a wig - and that he has a quite different persona at the other end of the forest!"
The map Gandalf picks up in Bilbo's study is a reproduction of the map Tolkien drew for the book The Hobbit, the prequel to The Fellowship of the Ring. On the response from fans, "Every time we would make personal appearances, there'd be so many people screaming my name and asking for autographs, I started to feel like a young pop star.....All that has given me a whole new lease on life. I feel 30 years younger." "I have forgotten much that I thought I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten." "Despite the fact that, for most of the story, Gandalf is not Grey but White, it is as Gandalf the Grey that you immediately think of him when reading the book - even after his transformation. I had the good fortune to begin by playing the Grey version, so it was natural to have a sentimental attachment to him. Gandalf the White was harder to play: sent back to complete a task, he is more grim, more driven. Of course, he is more stylish, with a much better dress-sense, sporting an outfit that has something of a Samurai-warrior look to it as opposed to the grey tent which he wears at the beginning!" "You simply can't act that! You can't think about Gandalf being 7000 years old because that's beyond anyone's experience: you have to play a man - an old man admittedly - who's got arthritis, who's cold, wet and tired; a man who has a daunting job to do, who enjoys a drink and a smoke. In short: someone human, human, human..." "Gandalf is immortal, but he returns a changed Gandalf, brought back not as gandalf the Grey now but Gandalf the White. It's quite clear from the book that he's got renewed vigor. He returns with a clear aim in view, focused, like a Samurai, and dedicated to the job at hand, which is to provide overall leadership to the Fellowship."
Sir Ian sites: The Official Sir Ian McKellen Home Page : Always Ian
When evening in the Shire was grey his footsteps on the Hill were heard; before the dawn he went away on journey long without a word. From Wilderland to Western shore, from northern waste to southern hill, through dragon-lair and hidden door and darkling woods he walked at will. With Dwarf and Hobbit, Elves and Men, with mortal and immortal folk, with bird on bough and beast in den, in their own secret tongues he spoke. A deadly sword, a healing hand, a back that bent beneath its load; a trumpet-voice, a burning brand, a weary pilgrim on the road. A lord of wisdom throned he sat, swift in anger, quick to laugh; an old man in a battered hat who leaned upon a thorny staff. He stood upon the bridge alone and Fire and Shadow both defied; his staff was broken on the stone, in Khazad-dum his wisdom died. ~Frodo's Lament for Gandalf.
"He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things... And now it is clear that he is a black traitor." ~Treebeard. Christopher Lee has been listed in The Guinness Book of Movie Facts and Feats as the international star with the most screen credits, having appeared in over 255 films and television.
Like Gandalf, Saruman is a member
of the Istari. Before the desire for power
Lee is a big Tolkien fan and has apparently read the book every year since it was published. "Peter Jackson undertook the task, asked me to play Saruman and my dream came true!" The name "Saruman" comes from the Old English word searu meaning "tricky" or "cunning."
Christopher Lee Sites:
The
Official Christopher Lee Web :
Christopher
Lee: Dark Charisma
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Gandalf ~ Sir Ian
McKellen.
friend to both Bilbo and Frodo and leads the Fellowship out
of Rivendell on their quest to destroy the ring.
The moth that Gandalf spoke to atop of
Orthanc was actually a real moth that did fly into his hand. It was
a Gum Emperor moth - filmed quickly after being hatched and then was released
into the wild.
Saruman the White ~ Christopher
Lee.
corrupted him, he was once a friend to nature and to the
kingdom of Rohan, protecting the Gap of Rohan where his tower, Orthanc is
situated. On trying for the role of Saruman, Christoper Lee says, "I
did something that I've never done in fifty-three years in the profession.
I sent him (Peter Jackson) a photograph of myself, bearded and dressed
as a wizard hoping that it might jog his memory."
