The Lord Of The Rings Reunion You Never Expected To Happen
It's the reunion we didn't know we wanted, but that we definitely needed. On the May 31, 2020 episode of Josh Gad's Reunited Apart YouTube show, we witnessed the fantastic cast of The Lord of The Rings reunite in a Zoom meeting to reminisce about the good times, as well as to raise money for the No Kid Hungry charity. The episode description only listed a handful of the main actors, but in the end, pretty much all of them were featured.
Though the reunion was strictly Zoom-based, for charity, and technically moderated by Gad, it was far from a Comic-Con-style panel discussion. Instead, the 50-minute event came across as a warm reunion of a group of much-missed friends who met at a time that thoroughly impacted their lives — which, in a way, it was. Who took part in this unprecedented event, and what did they talk about? Let's take a look at The Lord of the Rings reunion you never expected to happen.
Everyone was present at the Lord of the Rings reunion
One can't help but be impressed by the sheer amount of star power The Lord of the Rings reunion pulled in. Apart from all the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring, we saw Andy Serkis (Gollum), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Liv Tyler (Arwen), Miranda Otto (Eowyn), and Karl Urban (Eomer). Even director Peter Jackson, writer Philippa Boyens and composer Howard Shore made an appearance. Quality work, Josh Gad!
The mood among the cast was that of reuniting with friends they hadn't seen in ages. Ian McKellen (Gandalf) was on fire, and the actor's bad experiences with The Hobbit trilogy did little to sully his mood, as he cracked jokes and easily slid into the Gandalf role when the situation required it. Meanwhile, Jackson revealed that Sean Bean's (Boromir) legendary and meme-worthy "One does not simply walk into Mordor" speech was so hard to remember, the actor had to tape a printout to his knee, which is why you can see him glance down every once in a while. Viggo Mortensen, who portrayed the brave Aragorn, revealed how nervous he was before the shooting. Andy Serkis, the man behind the groundbreaking CGI character Gollum, reminisced how he was advised to turn down the role, because no one would see his face.
The warmth and sheer friendship between everyone involved was clear and present, and Elijah Wood (Frodo) even said that he felt like no time had passed at all. Fortunately, it paid off financially, too. According to CBS News, Gad's fundraising episodes usually raise about $20,000 for charity. This one received a $1.3 million donation from Cheerios.