(no subject)
0:31:08
Everyone keeps saying to Billy, 'Sing something'.
No.
Not really? You've got to pay him first.
Even Elisabeth Fraser from the Cocteau Twins, would sing in vocalizations that were freeform, they were abstract, they weren't English, and she ended up singing 'Gandalf's Lament' in the Lothlorien Scene.
Really?
Yeah, Howard Shore pulled her in to work on that.
Really, that's who did that?
Yeah, that's her.
We should know that.
Yeah, we should.
Cos I liked that.
Oh, I just rocked your musical archaic minds.
Our Lord of the Rings trivia is terrible. In fact, watch this, I'll ask Billy a question. Billy.
Yeah.
Who played the wizard, Gandalf, in Lord of the Rings, the trilogy by Peter Jackson.
Which one?
You know, the grey one with the beard.
No, which film?
He's in all three!
No.
Yeah, yeah.
It's not the same guy.
He's got that stick, and he goes white, and looks a little bit like God.
Yeah. Yeah but the grey guy and the white guy was different.
No, it's the same guy!
What?
Do you know his name?
No.
Ah. Scottish guy.
Tall.
Yep.
Mmmm.
Want me to tell you?
Yeah.
Put you out of your misery?
Yeah.
Sir John Gielgud.
He was wonderful.
Brilliant. Oscar winner. Brilliant.
He'll go far.
Hang on, what's this digging into my back?
WHAT THE-WAIT A MINUTE.
THIS IS MY BROTHER'S ALBUM.
YES *kicks*.
WOW. My brother's in a band as you can see, called Radiosepia, or Seh-pia, if you're from Spain. 'Digital Scars', available on iTunes, wow. Now I'm only doing this because my brother said if I don't promote his music, he'll punch me directly in the face.
It's brilliant music. I often dance to it.
Yeah. Great song on it called 'Laser Guided Bombs'. Not to be confused with laser guided bums.
*giggles* Imagine you could guide your bum with a laser.
That's a YouTube video.
Really?
Buy it, Radiosepia. It's on iTunes.
BUY IT.
Buy Beecake and Radiosepia
WHY WOULDN'T YOU?
Get in the bath. You'll love it.
There's fans already here saying they love Radiosepia. There's people already on it, you guys get up on it.
What does 'sepia' mean?
I think it's a type of cheese.
What?
Yeah.
It's not his favourite.
No, it's not. He's likes uh, what did you like?
Naked cheese!
I like naked cheese.
It's a Bavarian goat's cheese.
Delicious.
Rare.
Is it not something to do with an animal? Cos you would know this, cos Dom's Wild Things... is on tonight! BBC America.
Hiya *waves* 10/9 central. What does that even mean?
Dunno what that means. If you're in a mountain, if you're in a mountain it's like half-seven or something.
Wait, isn't sepia a colour?
That's what I thought! Radiosepia, but then I read something on Radiosepia.com or something, and it said it's something to do with a lizard or something?
Well yeah, I thought, maybe in Spanish...
Or a monkey?!
*laughs and claps* I think in Spanish it's like a cuttlefish or an octopus.
That's what it is! THAT'S WHAT IT IS! YEAH!
Is there any Spanish people out there that can confirm that?
Spanish is not a real language!
Oh, that's right.
It is, it's like an octopus.
We'll have to ask the Puerto Rican people, they'll know.
That's real.
Or anyone who speaks Brazilian language. What do they speak in Brazil? Is it German?
Yeah, mainly German, but sometimes Bavarian.
Oh Bavarian, yeah.
It's sepia.
In the mountains!
MOUNTAIN TIME.
We have a question from [Chat ID], who says 'I'd like to know how Monaboyd Enterprises is coming along.'
Fantastic. Wait, someone just said, 'octopus ink is sepia'.
There we go.
That might be it.
And it also means something else, so it's got like two or three meanings.
Right.
Which is kind of cool.
Well, it is also a wash, like a tone or a colour wash.
Well, that's what I always thought, was like them saying that, because they use kind of violins and all that, so I thought it was kind of sepia like...but it turns out it's a octopus.
Well, that makes sense because if…*reaches for CD* I wonder if it's on here. No. But one of the designs of my brother's band has a little octopus thing. I should ask him, I should get Matt on the phone.
That's what it is. That's it. That's what it is. Let's call him. Why don't you phone him?Why don't you skype him?
HE NEVER PICKS UP FROM ME, YOU KNOW THAT.
*laughs*
Sorry. Only a moment.
Who does? Who does?
Um. Monaboyd Enterprises. Brilliant. Billy and I have a couple of scripts in the works, and we still have the dance studio, Thursday nights, four o'clock, I do street dancing, Billy will do a slow waltz.
Mountain Time.
Mountain Time.
A slow waltz with JLo.
Yeah, oh it's a dream.
So, our movies are coming along slowly, but goodly.
Someone says they were at DragonCon, she asks are you coming back to DragonCon?
We were just talking about that. That was a wild, hot, crowded… it was great, wasn't it? He was there, I remember you. *points to guy off camera*
I was there as well.
I remember, you were the Lion, and I remember you, *points to Cliff* you were the Strawman..
You were Dorothy, obviously.
It was crazy! I loved it. Have you ever been?
Click your heels, we'll go back there right now.
I loved it! There's no place like Atlanta.
There's no place like Atlanta, that's for sure. The humidity, it just makes the clothes stick to you.
It's crazy, though, isn't it? Have you been?
No.
Let's go this year.
Alright, let's go.
I would love to go!
It's hot and sweaty.
It's like, there's like *gesticulates hugely* this square of like 5 hotels where it's just like a million people, and there's like Storm Troopers and all sorts of crazy things, and that grey guy you were talking about… the wizard?
Gandalf, yeah, yeah.
All that, and then you step across the street, which I did one day, right? I didn't find this out until like the second, third day, I stepped across and in a restaurant… no one.
*laughs*
Honestly! It's like you can't cross the street, if you cross the street it's like you turn into normal person with a suit or something.
You might have actually gone to another world or something.
I think something like that happened!
You stepped into a time chasm.
And you can watch everyone from the other side of the street and then you step back in and then your back in it again.
I'd like to go.
Please go.
Let's go. Yeah.
0:37:00
Can you do this? *holds leg up high like a gymnast*
Oh my god. Wow.
That's yoga, innit?
No, that's just me kicking my leg.
That's just you lifting your leg over your head. Let me try. *groans and gets leg halfway up* I can't do it. *holds up one finger* Can you do that?
No, I tried it once.
It's difficult.
I did it with two. *holds up two fingers*
No. Gotta do it with one.
Well, we all knew that Hobbits were limber, but I didn't know you were that limber.
Oh yeah.
He does yoga. He's like a guru. *coughs*
Oh wow. Comic-Con. Yes. People are asking about Comic-Con San Diego.
Now this, I believe is a comic book convention in San Diego?
It once was, yeah.
Well, it's now films and tv.
It's jumped the shark now, but that's just my one man's opinion.
Now do you think DragonCon is what Comic-Con used to be?
Yes. DragonCon is like the center of the real creativity.
It's exciting, isn't it?
There's fans with cosplay interest, there's fan who have academic interests, and they'll sit around all day having an academic symposium about what happened in the Tardis with Doctor Who in 1967, and then all night long they'll be raving and dancing and partying all night.
It's totally fun. Anyone who's never been.
Yeah, I've not been!
It's real, it feels real, it's great fun.
I'm into it.
Let's go, together.
Can we just talk about your fez for a moment?
It is a real Istanbul fez. A real fez, take a look, see? *hands fez to Dom* See, it's got mirrors sewn into it.
It does, to stop all the badness from going in from above. Beautiful.
It keeps my head warm at night.
Beautifully done. *sniffs* Smells like tunafish.
Why's that?
What?
That's strange.
It does not smell.
Beautiful. Now you came in in a different hat. You came in in a like a flat cap.
Yeah, well, no. I've got like two or three different hats.
*Newsboy cap is tossed to Dom from offscreen*
Oh yeah.
There you go. Doubles as a frisbee.
Give it a whirl.
*Dom sets the hat on his head with a whistle*
Wow. Do you know what? When I saw you today, I thought you looked really handsome.
And then what happened?
No, you still do, but it's kind of worn off a little.
Oh, thanks.
But when I first saw you, I thought, 'Christ, he's handsome!'. Do you think that?
*nods*
I'm trying a slightly conservative haircut. I'm usually go a little, you know, spikey and stuff.
I liked it.
I want to be more well behaved.
And it's like you shaved down a little bit, you made your eyes slightly bluer.
I got rid of my mustache.
You got rid of the mustache.
You hated it, didn't you.
I didn't mind it.
You said it tickled.
It tickled a bit.
Yeah.
...Meanwhile, back at the ranch.
Hiya.
Blinded by Dom's beauty.
Thank you very much, that's sweet.
That is very sweet.
17,000 English people, and one American person online right now.
What!
Thank you [chat ID] I appreciate that. Hey, what have we got here?
*object tossed in*
What is that?
Chainmail.
Is that a mithril vest?
Is it real?
Oh, that's heavy.
That cost more than the whole of Hobbiton put together.
The whole of the Shire, yeah it's worth something.
God, that is heavy.
That's the real deal. Did our friend Grimlock make this?
Someone just said, 'will Beecake ever come to Brazil?' You'd love to do a concert in Brazil?
I would love to go to Brazil.
It's a hat, by the way. You guys ready for this?
Do it.
Do you know what this is? *puts on chainmail*
If you put that on I'll hit you with a hatchet.
I need a hatchet on my head right now. Okay?
It wouldn't hurt!
Oh my gosh, it's heavy as hell.
Isn't it?
It's really heavy.
You look like you're auditioning for Spamalot.
*laughs out loud*
*sings* Spamalot! You know what? I want Eric Idle's job. I do. I want his job.
He's fantastic, isn't he?
This is so awesome.
I love that show.
Have you seen it? I've not seen it.
Well see, I know the guy who made this, he's a good buddy of mine who actually wove this stuff. He has an entire full length body suit of chainmail.
Very accomplished.
You know that… You will know this, of course. That we didn't wear real chainmail, cos it was too heavy.
Your chainmail underwear is not with you today? *hands chainmail to Billy*
We couldn't.
Your chainmail underwear is missing?
*Dom hands back the fez* I now present you with a fez.
Thank you.
Someone complained… I would think Orlando Bloom...
Yeah.
Someone complained that it was too heavy, so then they remade it using little plastic ones that didn't weigh anything.
Yeah?
Much easier to wear that all day than that. Can you imagine wearing that all day? Can you? *lifts chainmail like a dumbbell*
Yeah. It wasn't happening. I tell you what, all that...
Running away from Balrogs all day, et cetera?
Yeah it was rough, that one, and we only had little legs because of the drugs we took so we'd shrink down.
*pumps chainmail* Get down.
Orlando could complain here and there, but he looked fantastic in a wig, didn't he?
How gorgeous was he with that blonde hair?
He confused me sexually, because you looked at him and you thought, kind of a pretty girl...
Yeah?
...Sexy, strong…
Yeah.
I'd like him to keep his wig on.
Keep the wig on.
Very closely shaven.
Tight, tight, tight, tight.
Never, ever known to have bad breath, Orlando.
No, no. He's quite hygienic.
His breath is like beautiful little flowers.
Yeah. You could lick his mouth from morning til night.
*giggles squeakily*
You know what?
It's been done.
It's been done. Not by any of us, but it has been done. *laughs*
0:41:32
So you're saying Legolas over Captain Will Turner?
Will Turner?
Will Turner from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Oh.
I thought Will Turner was great, he was brilliant as Will Turner, but Legolas is Orlando's greatest role and I think it always will be. He's a gangster in those films. And he would talk to us when we were making the film, and he would say 'Oh, I'm a bit worried, cos you guys are talking all the time, and I don't talk in the scenes'. And Billy and I were going, 'You are mental. You are the Boba Fett of Lord of the Rings. You don't say anything; all you do is kick arse. D'you know what I mean? You run to the top of the hill and then kill people with bows and arrows. You're going to be a movie star. And he was.
And you get to surf on his shield, and he gets to surf down an elephant trunk.
Amazing.
He can do anything. When I was visiting…
And what do we do? All we get to do is cry and all that.
I seem to be eating apples constantly in the trilogy. Always eating apples, what is that about? When I watch the film now I'm like, there's another apple, there's another apple, there's another apple.
Uh-huh.
Why were you so hungry?
I don't know.
It's all that hobbit weed you were smoking.
Yeah. They do love the pipeweed.
That's what is was.
So who's the equivalent of Legolas in The Hobbit Is it Kili and Fili?
Not yet. Not til the second film.
We don't know yet.
Yeah.
The second movie, you'll find out.
Yeah, the jury's out, I think.
Who's ehm, who's ehm.
On first?
Who's ehm.
*laughs and claps*
Are you going to start that?
That was good. That was good, Dom. That was good.
Who's Graham McTavish, in...
Dwalin.
Whoa, he's good.
He plays Dwalin. Yeah, he's great, yeah.
He's good, isn't he?
We met him, didn't we? In London? Scottish guy, he's great.
Can't wait to see him in the second one.
And I though Sylvester McCoy was brilliant.
I do agree with you.
Oh, he's good too.
But he didn't clear up his costume. He's got bird poo on his costume. They could have done something with that, d'you what I mean, just before they went, 'right Sylvester, we'll take care of that for you'.
It must have been right before they rolled the first scene.
Yeah. Big eagle.
Big shit.
You ask people, who's that guy, that wizard with the bird poo on his face, and that's how they remember him.
Yeah.
They don't remember Radagast's name but they remember the bird guano on his face.
How would you remember that name if you had to?
Radagast. I'd think Gilgamesh, and then I'd get that.
*laughs* How many syllables?
I don't know how my mind works! Gilgamesh, Radagast, done. *fistpump*
I love it. So you guys have seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey?
Loved it
I loved it.
You've seen it, a lot of fans were asking in the chatroom what you think of it.
We watched it with Peter Jackson, didn't we?
Yeah, he was there. I loved it.
Yeah.
It was great. We saw it in London, and it was great. It was great to see Pete and...
Lovely.
Yeah. I think they did a great job. I loved it.
It was.
48 frames, what did you think?
48 frames per second. The thing with 48 frames per second, I think is because Pete is one of the most revolutionary, ground-breaking filmmakers out there. He has to put his name next to 48 frames a second, cos that's the future of film making. And if he doesn't he gets left behind with the technology. You know what I mean, the great thing that you can rely on with Pete is, he's always gonna bring great set pieces, great costume, great design and ideas, and we got carried away with it because, when we watch Lord of the Rings… Well, when I watch Lord of the Rings, I'm always thinking 'Oh, that was the day when this happened', or ' That was the day when I got this zit' or 'that was the day when, you know I left early'. But The Hobbit you can just relax and enjoy it.
Yeah, yeah, was it different for you to say, I'm kind of separated from this and all the work that went into it, I now get to be an audience member?
It was very different, and kind of weird and it made you pang a little bit for New Zealand, and for Middle-Earth, but it also made you happy that you could watch it as a neutral party. I thought Martin Freeman did a great job, cos the weight of that film-
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
It's such a big piece, and obviously it's a trilogy, and I thought he played it beautifully.
And it looked, I thought the 48 frames looked amazing. Like Hobbiton looked so beautiful, and at 48 frames it was what? Two and a half hour? So at 24, it's 5 hours long?
*laughs*
I mean, I couldn't watch it for… I mean if was great, but.
If you undo it to actual 24, it becomes twice as long. I never thought of that.
So, I haven't seen it at 5 hours yet.
I think, now if you watched it...second by second. If you... 48 frames a second. If you watched it frame by frame...
Per second?
Per second.
Yeah.
It would be 48 times the amount of seconds that's in the film.
Yeah. Times the first number.
It'd be a slow movie, wouldn't it?
Oh it'd be slow.
That Gandalf guy would be on camera a lot.
He was good, wasn't he? John Gielgud.
John Gielgud.
Brilliant.
I miss Sir John Gielgud. And I miss Sir Ralph Richardson, who played the wizard in Dragonslayer. Remember that?
Oh, yeah, no, he's great.
He was so good.
Was is John Gielgud that played Arthur's butler?
Yes.
Brilliant.
Oh.
That's right, that's right.
When he takes off his helmet and he goes 'You smart little bastard'.
So awesome.And not to be confused but Sir Ralph Richardson also played, not just the wizard in Dragonslayer-and I'm all about movie wizards, I just don't know why, but I'm into that-but in the movie Time Bandits, he played the Supreme Being.
Oh, nice.
Remember Time Bandits?.
I love Time Bandits!
That was our first experience with Little People in the movies, was Time Bandits.
Yeah yeah.
I grew up in a scheme in Glasgow called Cranhill. And after I saw Time Bandits I used to look around for portals to get me out of my sad life.
Wow. Cool.
*facepalm* He's gone negative again. ASK HIM A FUNNY QUESTION.
0:46:42
Okay, funny question. Are you looking forward to performing live on stage at our upcoming party?
*gasps* WOW.
Cannot wait, and you just gave me an idea.
Gandalf.
I might play some Driveshaft.
Oh yeah.
Why not?
That would be so great!
Kick it in like that.
How cool would that be?
We could do it, I'll have to clear it.
We're really looking forward to that. I love those parties. I loved the one for Return of the King, it was great.
Yeah.
Thank you!
It's going to be great to come back.
How many song are you going to play?
How many do you want me to play?
How many's on the album?
...Twelve?
Ten!
Hmm. What two will I take out?
The bad ones.
Okay.
Two bad ones.
Ten! Ten songs!
Look! People keep screaming, 'Sing!'
Yeah, actually people have been screaming, would you please do uh, double vocal harmony for the song you sang in Return of the King , that's what they want to hear.
*drapes chainmail over his head* Double harmony?
Yeah.
You look great. It's that...?
Is this how you put this on?
Yeah, perfect. Protective headgear.
It's heavy on your head, that. *takes it off*
Yeah, 'The Edge of Night' is what people are screaming in the chatroom. Billy, don't do it.
No, I won't do it.
No, zee- see the thing is-I stuttered there but try not to make it confusing, I'll do it again... azezez.
*laughs* Thank God this isn't live.
If you can do something well, that you get paid for, don't do it for free.
Is that what you're saying?
If you're a carpenter, and you make a fantastic dovetail joint, don't cheapen yourself by just making dovetail joints for everybody.
You got that from The Dark Knight.
Is that right? Is that what it says in The Dark Knight?
The Joker says that, if you're good at something, don't do it for free.
Nice. There you go.
You remind me of the Joker a lot.
Why?
Just your beautiful smiling face.
Hard to trust?
*laughs*
I do smile a lot and I'm very, very hard to trust.
He is.
And I'll burn huge piles of money, nightly.
*laughs*
*shrugs* Don't bother me. Can't take it with you.
That's so funny. Well, real quick, while we're talking on the subject of The One Expected Party, do we have the video clip? Oh good, I'll bring it up.
Let's have a look.
What is it?
We have a little video that we made, with our friend Justin, he made it actually, and is an exciting preview of that 2004 Return of the King party.
God, 2004.
And we're just trying to drum up interest to get fans to get excited to come to the upcoming party.
It's going to be amazing.
The Hobbit has been nominated for Best Hair and Makeup-probably because of Jed Brophy's wig, singularly because of Jed Brophy's wig, okay. Then a nomination for Best Visual Effects, here's to Team Weta and Richard Taylor.
Oh yeah. *fistpump*
Well done, Weta. Fantastic.
Oh my God, Gollum and the Riddle Game?
Oh, fantastic.
Blew us all away. And the third nomination for Best Art Direction, which is now called Production Design. They changed it, but it's still Art Direction.
When we were in the screening in London, when that Gollum scene started, the audience gave a round of applause. And it's so interesting, cos his a slightly villainous character, but he's a real fan favourite.
I took a bunch of virgins with me.
Hello.
And they were all dressed in white, believe me. I took a bunch of film virgins with me, and they had never seen Lord of the Rings, never read The Hobbit, never exposed to Tolkien. I took them all to see the IMAX, giant, 3D version of The Hobbit, and they all said the same thing, 'Who was that Gollum creature? That as so riveting! That was so fascinating'. People are immediately caught up between this relationship between Bilbo and Frodo, and they don't even know who Gollum is at this point… Oh lord.
*has put on the chainmail hood properly*
Alright, Sir Arthur?
Alright, it's time to sing Spamalot. Your turn now.
You look great.
I feel great.
*pats Billy on the head* Is that protective?
I can't feel it.
Brilliant.
This is the hobbit's version of safe sex. One more time. Safe sex right here on our show, ladies and gentlemen.
Keep it clean.
Keep it very clean.
You're right though, Gollum was amazing.
Pippin goes to war, someone just wrote. Yeah I think it's the duality.
Here's something about Pimpin. Pimpin. *laughs*
Pimpin! Big time Pimp. Merry and Pimpin.
Pimpin going to war. I don't know if you ever saw this, but when I get to Gondor, and become the Steward. Not the Steward...
Yeah, you're wearing Faramir's little Boy Scout clothes.
Yeah, well, I had a helmet, right, and it you look at Lord of the RIngs it describes what it's like, and it said it had two wins coming out the sides. Did you ever see that?
Oh yeah, you nixed it, didn't you?
And they got me a helmet. They made it, and it was an amazing looking thing, you know. But when I put it on, it had black wings that came out the side like this. And I thought it was alright, and I was like, 'Really? This is what I'm wearing? And they were all like...
He looked like a griffin had used his head for a nest. You know, it was ludicrous.
And I thought, 'I can't wear this, surely?' But they end up, they took the wings off and they put wings kind of ON the helmet.
And they sucked your brain up into like a pinpoint .
In a cone, so my brain was taken up the way, which led to enlightenment.
*laughs* I had terrible problems with my helmet as well because my helmet came down my nose.
That's right, yeah! *guffaws*
And if there's any Lord of the Rings fans out there, you'll notice, my nose isn't perfectly straight, and I don't have a problem with that, but that meant that the helmet sat like this *hold finger crooked down his nose* And I didn't look like a warrior, I looked like a bloody idiot.
*laughs*
So we had to nix that as well.
*laughs*
0:52:05
How many people? 21,000. Come on, there should be more people than that at this point.
Well, well right now, we have about 13,000-excuse me 1,300 live, total aggregate 21,000. That's pretty good!
That's pretty good.
For only like 45 minutes, you know.
What does 'aggregate' mean?
Aggregate?
Yeah.
I think it's a, it's like when steam comes off the road, that's the aggregate.
Is it?
Yeah.
Mmm.
Here we go guys, we have a preview clip for our upcoming Oscar party. It's this coming… February 24th, on Sunday.
It's gonna be incredible fun.
The performers on stage include this guy...
*waves*
...and the wonderful band Beecake. We have, um, we have Emerald Rose coming to play Celtic classics. We saw Emerald Rose in uh, DragonCon, they're great. Really great.
Yeah, really good.
And then, I hosting, I'm gonna be your Emcee, we're gonna celebrate all the nominees for Peter Jackson's cast and crew for the The Hobbit, and check this out, we've got the video ready, guys?
Let's have a look.
Here we go.
0:54:05
Very cool.
Yeah, and now were back. So we bumped into Ian McKellen at San Diego ComicCon and he he said, "I hear you're having a party, One Ring". And he doesn't really talk like that, but you know.
I hope he goes.
Yeah, me too. Viggo!
I hope he goes. I hope Viggo goes.
Yeah, he'll be there.
Yeah, I like Viggo.
I hope Ian goes. He's quite fun at a party.
Yeah, he is.
There are tickets still available guys, you can click online, find the party on TheOneRing.net main page, and uh, everybody's gonna be there, it's gonna be really fun. It is Sunday the 24th. It's an Oscar party with not one, but two huge buffets, early dinner, second dinner, open bar, all you can drink, and…
Open bar!
Open bar!?
Watch out for these guys with open bar, okay, totally watch out.
Oh, you don't want to give Billy an open bar.
No, that's madness.
I'm gonna end up making you do the dishes, both of you, if you do that thing again. Yeah.
I remember that. Remember? We had to do the dishes in that film.
Yeah, yeah. And the plates were massive, weren't they?
Yeah! And the tables were weird cos it was that forced perspective
Mmm. Good, those films.
Yeah, they were good.
I watch The Fellowship of the Ring the other night, only the first hour, right up to the point where the Balrog makes and appearance, just to see what it was like. And like I said, all I could see was me eating apples.
Really?
Another apple. Another scene with an apple, Dom, what is that about?
I wanted to see you eat that floating turkey that you grabbed out of Isengard.
Ugh.
That was a laugh, that, wasn't it?
That float turkey? I really want to see you eat that.
We had a laugh that day, couple of days worth it was.
How much was a reshoot, as opposed to the primary shoot? How much in the movie did you have to go back, after primary?
Like six weeks, something like that, reshoots?
I think more than that.
Was it?
Yeah.
I was on so many drugs at that point, I have no idea, just...
No idea.
Life had become a kind of technicolor dream, you know?
Like it was in the documentary.
Yeah.
It was in the documentary.
Yeah, pretty much.
Um.
It made you like apples, all those drugs.
Yeah, yeah they did. Don't do drugs. Drug are for mugs.
And for Charlie.
*hefts chainmail*.
Drugs are never the answer. Unless you're diabetic and then, you know, insulin.
You need them.
No drugs or you'll die in the third season, so don't do that.
Yeah, yep, you don't wanna do that.
You don't. Guys, I'm on fire, I brought my A game today, seriously, come on. I want to ask you guys, about um, what are we going to expect, in the first season of Wild Things and where are some of the countries and these exotic places we're gonna go?
I'll tell you, cos I memorized the countries.
Really?
Yeah.
Okay.
Ecuador, Venezuela, Guatemala, Camaroon, Namibia, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam. Saigon!
Wow!
Yeah.
Wow!
Yeah. So you'll see me, looking for um, probably the more dangerous version of whatever animal I'm looking for: The most dangerous ant, the most dangerous scorpion, the most dangerous spider. And it's me saying, even though these animals are dangerous, I can have a situation with them, or an experience with them that is enjoyable and profound, and that nature is an incredible honing tool. So if there's an animal existing nowadays on planet earth, it's there for a really, really good reason.
Yeah.
So they're important, they're important species.
What episode is it tonight?
Tonight is the Giant Water Bug, which is probably the most dangerous aquatic insect. And they live in Laos, and I go looking for them in a lake that they share with about 125 crocodiles.
A lake with a 125 crocodiles and a sunken boat with four clowns in it.
Yes. Bringing it back.
Mmhmm. Same lake.
Yeah.
Same camera.
It's a lot of fun, and it's basically the way that I travel, which is a very natural way for the viewer to watch the show. You know there's not a lot of set up, you kind of see me on the fly, and I'm like, "hey, how are you, good morning, okay, let's go" like, we don't prepare it too much. Its all kind of guerrilla filmmaking. And like I said, I really want to bring Billy with me on one of the, coz his knowledge, in terms of cows, horses and pigs is second to none.
*laughs*
I don't know where he's got his farmyard knowledge.
It's amazing.
It's brilliant.
Yeah. I can move pigs with my mind.
Really?
Yeah, if there was like three pigs in your way, I could move 'em.
That's amazing. The pig whisperer.
*laughs* That's funny.
How did the show come to you? I mean was this like someone said "oh you were good in that one movie-show, of that island thing.
Yeah, do you, did you naturally say to yourself, "I want to do a travelogue show" or "I want to bring my love of critters"?
When Steve Irwin died, I was pretty shaken by it, I never got to meet the amazing man, and I was touched, by the fact that he had died and moved by it. And I've always want to make a nature show, you know, I've talked to Billy about it years back. And I just used that as the impetus to go, "right, if this isn't the right reason why I formulate a nature show, what is?" and what does that say about how I feel about Steve Irwin, so I thought of an idea, and then I sat down with a producer. He and I kind of batted out a kind of five act piece, which is where I go to Ecuador to find the world's most dangerous ant. And then we sold it to BBCAmerica and Channel 5 and OLN and within about a month and a half, I was going to Ecuador to make the first episode.
Fantastic.
I think what people have to know is that, you know, this has been an interest of Dom's, you know, forever. This isn't like a, "oh, I'll do something, it's just something I'll do"-
This isn't a new idea, you've been gestating this for-
I'm always into animals, you know, I'm always looking at stuff and turning over rocks and I do like it.
Wikipedia is telling is all these wild stories about all these exotic animals you have at home.
Yeah.
Pets.
Yeah. I have a small, kind of menagerie right now, because I'm traveling so much, but I have a snake, two spiders, and a chameleon. And over the years I've had, you know, a praying mantis, and centipedes, and bees and wasps and ants and slugs and snails and lizards and stuff. Right now its a little smaller than its been.
I've got a dog. And over the years I've had another dog.
Right.
Yeah.So you've had two.
Yeah I've had two dogs.
And a baby.
And a baby.
Congratulations.
Yes, Thank you very much.
He's more than a baby. Can we just run through a few of your dog's health requirements?
Oh, my dog! My dog!
The most expensive dog in the world.
Yeah, every couple of months I have to take him in and get and MRI, or something. He's got one eye. He's got a hernia. He's got a dislocated back leg. He's got a bent tail.
Yeah, his tail's broke.
Called a Labrador tail, but he's not a Labrador. And he's deaf.
What?
He's deaf. Really.
So. Yeah. Lucky's his name.
*laughs* I feel like I set him up for that, but I didn't.
*laughs*
*laughs*That's funny. That's very very very funny. His name is Lucky, right, yeah [chat id] in the chat room says "his name is Lucky." Right, Yeah, That's great.
As it really is Griffin.
Yeah.
Griffin.
Anyway, that's not funny, it's just true.
That's one of Billy's favourite pubs in Glasgow, the Griffin.
The Griffin?
Yeah.
There's a nice Griffin pub here in LA. We'll take you to it, if you're down.
I'd love that.
Love that.
Yeah, the interior of it looks like a castle, with brick, and you know, it's kind of and interesting look.
I like the Cat and Fiddle, just down the road on Sunset.
Oh I love that, love the Cat and Fiddle.
The Cat and Fiddle serves Boddington's Beer…
Nice!
Guinness, you can get a Scotch egg, you can a full English breakfast.
Old Speckled Hen?
Old Speckle Hen.
Love it.
Very tasty.
Yeah.
Cottage pie. It's good.
Didn't we do something there a couple weeks ago?
Actually, for January 3rd, we were there for Tolkien's birthday.
Oh nice!
And the whole group of the Tolkien Forever Society went to have a toast.We do it every January 3rd, and we just have a nice big dinner, and some of the older fans from the 60's, who were the very first to read and absorb Tolkien and make it a cultural statement in the American counterculture, as you remember from narrating Ringers, yeah. We had this toast, it was very simple, to the professor.
Click.
To his birthday.
Every year you celebrate his birthday?
Every year we do it, just a fan gathering. And we take the movies out of the equation, we take the video games and all the other merchandise, and bring it right back to our love of the books.
He must be getting on a bit now, mustn't he, Tolkien? Do you invite him? Has he been to any of them?
No. Sorry. Too bad.
Click.
Royd's been there.
Oh, that's good.
Oh, he's a character. I love Royd.
He did the show a few months ago.
Absolutely. And he was in the Air New Zealand safety video that we did.
Oh, yeah, that was great with all the characters.
I haven't seen that!
Oh, you haven't seen it yet?
No!
Oh, well, I'm in it!
Bring it up!
Oh, well, hey. I'm actually the wizard wearing high tops. I'm wearing my Chuck Taylor's in that video.
Saucy.
How long is it?
It's only like a couple of minutes. It is too funny.
*holds chainmail at arm's length* I'm going to see if I can hold this up at arm's length for the whole length of the video.
Is it heavy?
Here we go, let's search for Air… New… Zealand Safety video..
I'm the world's strongest man. I might let out a wee fart.
*laughs* Well done!
BRING IT ON.
*gropes Billy's bicep with both hands* May I say! Oh! He's dipping! Get it up.
I was only joking, it's not that heavy. *drops it in his lap*
Oh really? Don't out it there, though!
1:03:14
So was it easy to sell the show? Were you nervous going in to this private…
Yeah, its not super easy to shella-shell a sow?
*laughs* Good one!
Tell sell a show, and I think that, um-
*giggles*
I think the broadcasters were a little nervous that I was, you know I was an actor going "Hey, I want to do an animal show," and they were like, "What gives you the right to do an animal show?" So, I had to convinced them that I knew a little bit about animals, which I did from talking about animals, and then...I don't know. I'm not very-
It's an amazing show!
I'm not good at taking 'no' for an answer
Have you seen it? *gestures*
*Dom slaps Billy's hand*
No, I was point to him, I didn't want a five.
Oh. Okay.
Yeah, well, I saw the preview. I haven't seen a full episode I just saw the American preview.
It's amazing!
It's on tonight!
It's a brilliant show!
Guys, it's on tonight! BBCAmerica.
9/10central!
9/10central! If you've got DirectTV that's channel two, six, four, coz I've got DirectTV. You can watch the first episode online, BBCAmerica.com, or if you're in Canada, OLN.ca. Brilliant. All of this is in my mind!
That's amazing.
It's all just come out my mind!
How do you remember Radagast?
Gilgamesh!
*laughs*
BANG!
How does TV stardom compare to film stardom? Obviously you've had a successful show and a successful movie. Are there any differences?
I think being in someone's living room weekly is, uh, an interesting thing because… There's two different schools of thought: Lord of the Rings was such an event piece and you go with your parents and the lights come down and you eat popcorn and it's a special moment, and I think that had a real weight to it. And then, when you're on TV on a weekly basis, it's much more intimate. You're in their bedroom, maybe they use you to, you know, wind down at the end of the day or they bring their friends round. So it think, the intensity of people recognizing you is crazy when you're on TV, and especially American TV.
Oh gosh, yes.
More on TV?
Yeah, maybe. You know, like someone like Viggo. He's such a kind of mystery, that when I'm with him, I get embarrassed because Viggo's such an amazing guy, but not that many people recognize him as Viggo. Whereas the Charlie character that I played in LOST, people are always like chatting to me about it, and that's cos, I think Viggo keeps that old school movie star kind of veneer about him, you know.
You have crossed into many different spheres of genre storytelling. You have crossed into fantasy, you're in the world of JJ Abrams, so you've gone… I mean there's only a short list of genre storytellers, and there's Joss Whedon, Peter Jackson, JJ Abrams, its a very short list, Tim Burton, and these are masters of the Fantasique and the genre storytelling.
That's French for fantastic.
Indeed, incroyablé. I just want to ask you, what's it like working on X-Men, and LOST, and Rings, and to have your fingers in so many genre projects.
I grew up on that kind of stuff, you know, I grew up on Star Wars, I grew up on Indiana Jones, I grew up on The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth and The Goonies and stuff...
OH *claps. Thirtieth Anniversary of The Dark Crystal
Is it really?
Just a few weeks ago, yeah.
Congratulations. Amazing artwork.
The best.
Amazing artwork. I wanted, uh, JJ to meet Billy to play Scotty in Star Trek. I think Simon Pegg is brilliant as Scotty, but Billy would have been such a good Scotty.
Yeah!
And I said, "I think you should meet him," and JJ said, "I'm far too intimidated by Billy.
*lifts chainmail again* Because of this. I always used to wear this at the time.
*laughs*
Probably a bad choice.
Yeah. Well, I lost a few jobs.
There's no armor in space.
I saved my head, though.
*laughs*
This suit that I'm… well, not this suit. These trousers that I'm wearing, I bought in New Zealand with Billy.
Did you really?
Yeah, these are my Thailand pants.
Oh, how lovely.
They're absolute crackers!
Thank you. *points to crotch* They've got a stain here, forget about it.
I like the jacket as well.
*drinking water* Mmm?
I did mention I thought you looked very handsome today.
You did. This is my tribute to David Beckham's haircut right now.
I love it.
Do you?
I think you should keep it more like that.
I like your hair.
Thanks.
The shorter your hair gets...
...the sexier my legs get.
Yeah…. The longer your toes become.
Thats weird, isn't it?
I've got to buy you new shoes.
Oh my gosh, you guys are… You guys are too funny.
[chat id] agrees, you do look handsome, she said.
You do!
Is that to me, or to you, or both?
*inhales* You smell good!
What are you smelling!?
What is that!?
I just rubbed myself with some liniment.
It's lovely!
I've got a muscle strain here.
It's lovely. I hurts your eyes, though.
Everyone's talking about a Viggo kiss. What is this Viggo kiss they're talking about?
Billy?
Billy?
Viggo kissed me, once, right on my face.
NO!
He stuck his tongue in my mouth and he grabbed my arse.
He's a saucy fellow!
He's a dirty wench.
He doesn't mind about crossing over to the other side, you know.
He's crazy!
Tell them the... tell them the full story-it's dirty.
Alright then.
Strap yourself in.
Sean Astin was doing the scene where he gets married at the end, to Rosie. And it was just Sean and Rosie and a couple of people. And Viggo happened to stroll into the soundstage where they were doing it, and he felt, oh there's not an excitement, there's no like, this should be a really beautiful moment, and it's not because it was just a small soundstage and...So he went and rattled the door to my trailer-and Dom was probably off in Rohan on a horse or something-and he rattle, and I was asleep, and he was like "Come on! We've got to help Sean. So we ran in. So when he, when he got married and had to kiss Rosie, we were all like "Yay!" *claps* behind the camera so when he was looking at least he had some faces that he knew. *claps* But Viggo still felt that Sean still wasn't getting the excitement so in one of the takes, Viggo grabs my head-*grabs Dom's head*
Don't do it!
He pulled me close *pulls Dom close* and he KISSED me, Dom!*releases him*
*swoons, clutching heart*
And he kissed me hard. Which meant that Sean was like "Ah!" and you know, that take was used because it was the happiness and that kind of shock in his eyes, as you would get if you were married.
Yeah!
And erm. So it was worthwhile, coz it was great for the movie. And it was worthwhile, coz it made me fall in love with Viggo.
Yeah, you did, didn't you?
Yeah I did. For a few days.
That is method acting.
On to Part Three...