Billy Boyd and Dom Monaghan Recall ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Cast Behaving “Like the Fellowship” During Filming [Exclusive]

The first Lord of the Rings film from Peter Jackson is just one year shy of celebrating the 25th anniversary of when the Fellowship of the Ring was first brought together on-screen. Made up of nine adventurers of varying races and backgrounds, with nine acclaimed actors embodying them, including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Sean Bean, and more, the group has become one of the most memorable and likable bands of heroes ever to grace theaters, thanks to the camaraderie formed throughout their journey to destroy the One Ring. Filming the trek through Middle-earth, however, was just as much of a connection-building adventure, according to Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, In an interview with Collider’s Mike Zimmerman for their reality series Billy & Dom Eat the World, the pair reflected on their favorite memories from the production, both during filming and behind the scenes.

Monaghan and Boyd played the iconic hobbit duo of Merry and Pippin, respectively, who initially end up as part of the journey by accident. Despite being makers of mischief who get captured by the Uruk’hai and sow doubts about their value to the group, their voyage across Middle-earth ultimately sees them rallying the Ents to lay siege to one of the two towers and proving themselves as heroes to the Fellowship by the time the trilogy comes to an end. Filming such an adventure in New Zealand left the pair with so many fond memories of traveling with their on-screen brothers in arms that it was hard to nail down one particular moment they remembered most fondly. “Well, there’s so many, and it’s like you said, it is difficult because it’s hard to define it, simmer it down into one thing,” Monaghan said.

However, time has given him a greater appreciation of one iconic sequence from Fellowship of the Ring — the heroes’ first battle as a complete unit in Moria. In the shadow of the juggernaut Lord of the Rings has become, and how the adventure ultimately ended, it’s a moment that Monaghan believes shows the best of what the Fellowship can do by combining their skills, and highlights the epic scale of the fantasy series:

“But certainly one of the things that stood out to me, and I continue to think, wow, that was kind of a magical thing, was when we were filming the Moria sequence and we’re in kind of Balin’s tomb, and obviously it’s an incredible set. There were times where, you know, I would look around and think, ‘OK. We’ve got all the hobbits — Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin — there’s Boromir, there’s Aragorn, there’s Legolas, there’s Gandalf. For the first time ever, we’re all fighting for the first time. So swords are out and bows and arrows are out. And I remember thinking, this is the first time that I’ve seen the Fellowship kind of, you know, working on all cylinders, and the more amount of time that you go away from that, the more significant you think those kind of days and weeks were, you know.”

The ‘Lord of the Rings’ Cast Was “Just the Fellowship” Behind the Scenes

Monaghan’s memory also directly connects to one of Boyd’s favorite moments from the first film, though his choice came when cameras weren’t rolling. “Just listening to Dom there, when we came out of Moria, it was actually filmed on top of this mountain that people weren’t allowed to go on, and we got special… we were allowed to do it this one day with a very scarce crew,” he added when asked. “So just like one makeup person, one camera.” Getting to enjoy a very exclusive locale in the idyllic landscape of New Zealand with his on-screen brothers is an experience that can’t be recreated. Thanks to the bond they formed and this shared moment, he recalled how their little lunch break on the mountain felt like reality and fiction blending together in a way. “And I remember having lunch up there and everyone’s in character and we’re all just eating sandwiches and I thought, ‘wow, this is… we are just the Fellowship. We’re just on the top of a mountain, stopping for lunch,’ you know. And yeah, that felt really special.”

If stopping for lunch right after Gandalf (McKellen) fell to the Balrog sounds oddly funny, Monaghan, too, had a laugh when that was pointed out. “[Laughs] Yeah, exactly, yeah!” He agreed with Boyd, though, that the filming of The Lord of the Rings was full of little moments where the cast and crew, including Jackson, felt like they really were the Fellowship. He recalled how a few organic instances of the actors “faffing about” with weapons behind the scenes were translated into interactions between their respective characters. These are far from the only real events from the three-year production that would shape Jackson’s depiction of Middle-earth, yet the banter between takes was a big help in making the band of adventurers feel like a real, ever-evolving group that was helping raise each other up:

“I think there’s a little moment where Borimir is teaching Merry and Pippin a little bit of his sword play, and they’re doing a few exercises. I seem to recall that that just came about because Billy and I had been learning a little bit more about how to be hobbits with a sword, and Sean Bean was there with his sword, and we were faffing about with Pete. I thought, well, let’s just get this little shot of them waiting for the sausages to cook, and they’re messing about. And that stuff would happen all the time. So in terms of us actually behaving like the fellowship, I think when you put us all together, it was just happening, you know.”

Boyd and Monaghan reunite for Billy & Dom Eat the World, now airing on Fridays on the Flavour Network in Canada. The series is available on SBS On Demand in Australia and will begin airing on May 12 on Virgin UHD in the UK. The series is also coming soon to Germany, Sweeden, and the US. All three The Lord of the Rings movies, meanwhile, are available to stream on Max.