Lord of the Rings Orc was designed to look like Harvey Weinstein
Actor Elijah Wood revealed information in a podcast this Monday
In an interview on the Armchair Exper podcast, actor Elijah Wood revealed a secret about The Lord of the Rings. Frodo’s interpreter said the Orc, a creature used as a soldier by the saga’s villains, was designed to resemble Harvey Weinstein, producer of the trilogy — and who is currently in jail for rape and sex crimes [via The Hollywood Reporter].
“As soon as he arrived in New Zealand, Sean Astin saw the Orc masks. And one of them – and I remember this vividly – was designed to look like Harvey Weinstein as a kind of f***-off,” he said.
During pre-production on the first film, Weinstein cornered director Peter Jackson with a proposal to shoot the three films in a row, without him having a chance to choose to produce the subsequent two films at other studios.
Wood added, as the three laughed at the revelation: “I don’t think it’s okay to talk about it, the guy is in jail. F*** him.”
It was recently revealed that the Lord of the Rings series will cost around $465 million per season (NZD$650 million), an amount that breaks record-breaking television production spend.
Amazon signed a contract in 2017 to adapt Tolkien’s story for television. The deal says the company can tell stories from the Second Age of Middle-earth, including moments like the rise of Sauron and the forging of the Rings of Power. The series is scheduled to premiere on September 2, 2022.
However, Amazon has yet to reveal which story it intends to tell, stating only that “set in Middle-earth, the television adaptation will explore new plots predating J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.”
Omelette now has a channel on Telegram! Participate to receive and debate the main news of pop culture (t.me/omelete).