Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — As part of his ongoing Reunited Apart series, Josh Gad pulled off an epic reunion befitting an epic trilogy: the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings films.
The get-together was meant to help support No Kid Hungry, a national campaign focused on ending childhood hunger in America, particularly in the time of COVID-19.
While Gad has already brought together the much smaller casts of movies like Splash and The Goonies, Gad’s latest event left no stone unturned for the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein’s beloved books.
Starting with Sean Astin, who claimed he was hoping for a Rudy reunion, one by one, the fellowship is joined, until the entire cast — Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Sir Ian McKellan, John Rhys-Davies, Karl Urban, Liv Tyler, Sean Bean, Miranda Otto, and director Peter Jackson and co-writer/producer Phillipa Boyens — pop up on screen.
“I remember when we all said goodbye 30 years ago, we said we’d have reunions,” McKellan noted. “Have you been having reunions without me?”
For over 50 minutes, the group reminisces about what it took to make the beloved trilogy, shows off their matching tattoos they got on set, reenacts scenes and divulges secrets — like Rhys-Davies’ contract mandating that he have a La-Z-Boy recliner near him on set, even if the set was on the side of a mountain.
Eventually, Jackson’s fellow New Zealander, Taika Waititi, joins the fun with trivia questions.
Bernard Hill, King Theoden himself, gets the last laugh. He joins the call after everybody had left. “Bugger,” he says, realizing his mistake.
By Stephen Iervolino
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