"They (Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson) were so relaxed with me, that it was easy to be relaxed with them and to be open about what I wanted to bring to the character of Pippin."

     Billy went to school at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama.  He has appeared in numerous theatrical productions and some of his film credits include: An Urban Ghost Story, Soldier's Leap and Julie and the Cadillacs.

     "To play one of the main characters in it, it's not the kind of thing you don't do. Oh, I'd rather not play Pippin in Lord of the Rings..., In fact, what else would you rather do, you know?  I can't actually think of another job that I'd rather do."

"Hobbits are a lot like Scots.  It's all about nature and enjoying their land, which is a very Scottish thing."

     In 2002, Billy topped the list of the top 100 Most Eligible Men in Scotland.  After reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time, he jokes, "I realized that it was just about Pippin and some other people!"

     On being asked if he could relate to his character, Pippin: "Strangely enough, the first time I tried to read the book I was on holiday in Florida.  I dropped it in the pool my first day there.  If that's not a Pippin thing to do, I don't know what is."

     Over 48,000 separate items were produced by Weta Workshop for the films, including 1000 suits of armour, 2000 stunt weapons and over 2000 pairs of prosthetic hobbit feet.  All the props were designed and hand-crafted from scratch.  "There is not a buckle that isn't branded with the coat of arms of a particular army.  Every rivet-head is detailed in some way."  Says Special Effects Supervisor, Richard Taylor.  "Hand-beating the armor out of plate steel exactly as it had been done in the Medieval era; the swords being hand-ground out of plate steel; the hilts and crossbars cast out of the lost wax casting.  In the process, we were trying to make sure the physics of the manufacturing complemented very closely that which was available 500 years ago."  All the swords that were created by Weta are inscribed with messages in one of Tolkien's languages.

   

"Oh that's nice - ash on my tomatoes!"

Thanks to Rena for the above photo from Elijah's personal album c/o YM Magazine.

More images of Billy can be found in my Photo Gallery.

Please continue for more of Pippin and Merry...