Cate Blanchett as: Galadriel

Director: Peter Jackson
Selected Cast: Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving & John Rhys-Davies
Written by: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, & Philippa Boyens (Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel)
Release Year: 2001
Genre: Action / Adventure / Fantasy
MPAA Rating: PG-13

 

IMDb | Photos | Videos | Official Site

An ancient Ring thought lost for centuries has been found, and through a strange twist in fate has been given to a small Hobbit named Frodo. When Gandalf discovers the Ring is in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it! However he does not go alone. He is joined by Gandalf, Legolas the elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir and his three Hobbit friends Merry, Pippin and Samwise. Through mountains, snow, darkness, forests, rivers and plains, facing evil and danger at every corner the Fellowship of the Ring must go. Their quest to destroy the One Ring is the only hope for the end of the Dark Lords reign!

Related Images

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Screencapture from DVD Appendices – The Fellowship of the CastRelated Videos

The third video is a playlist of the appendices from the DVD, just click on the playlist icon on the upper right to see the other videos in it.

Quotes from Cate Blanchett

• “I wanted to work with the guy who made ‘Braindead.”
• “I was [in New Zealand] for three weeks on the Lord of the Rings, and I think I might have been on The Hobbit for only three days, but it was really special nonetheless.”
• “I felt so lucky to be part of that [Lord of the Rings trilogy], because I really believe it will be one of those things that have real resonance. When I was on the set, I felt like I really was in Middle-earth, and I think Peter [Jackson] will work the same magic on the audience. I know I can’t wait to see it.”
• “Making films like Lord of the Rings, well, I was in a state of wonderment. I was in heaven, really.” (Ok! Magazine, January 2005)

Quotes from Others

• Elijah Wood:
  — On one of his favourite scenes in the film: “She [Cate Blanchett] just appears out of nowhere, like an angel. And with that beautiful, translucent skin, she actually looks pretty angelic, anyway. She just blew me away.

Trivia & Facts

• Filmed in New Zealand.
• The film received 13 Academy Award nominations, winning Best Cinematography for Andrew Lesnie, Best Score for Howard Shore, Best Make-up and Best Visual Effects, more accolades here.
• In an interview Cate Blanchett gave to Fox Television Network, she admitted blushingly that she had accepted the role of Galadriel, the Elf Queen, in The Lord of the Rings trilogy because she always wanted to appear in a movie wearing pointed ears.
• After completing work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the role of Galadriel, Cate Blanchett kept and bronzed her elf ear prosthetics.
• At the 2014 San Diego Comic-con, Philippa Boyens said that they had a wish list with names of possible people for the roles and Cate Blanchett’s name is on it for Galadriel.
• Cate Blanchett and the cast were nominated for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
• Cate Blanchett won Best Supporting Actress at National Board of Review Awards, shared with her performances in The Shipping News (2001) and The Man Who Cried (2000).
• As of 2022, Cate Blanchett holds the record for most Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), and Don’t Look Up (2021).
• As of 2023, Cate Blanchett holds the record for an actress with the most appearances in a Best Picture-nominated at the Academy Awards: Elizabeth (1998), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Don’t Look Up (2021), Nightmare Alley (2021), and TÁR (2022).
• Originally the narration at the prologue was to be spoken by Elijah Wood, but it was felt that the information imparted had little bearing on the character of Frodo. Ian McKellen also recorded a narration but once again it was felt that Gandalf wasn’t the right character to speak it. They eventually settled on Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, as it emphasizes the timelessness of the elves.
  Galadriel’s home at Lothlorien was the largest miniature set built for the trilogy.
• Peter Jackson did a “Director Cameo” and can be glimpsed outside the Prancing Pony holding a carrot. Originally it was supposed to be a pipe, but after a couple of puffs, he felt sick and went for the carrot instead.
• The original cut ran four hours and thirty minutes.
• The film grossed over $868 million worldwide during its original theatrical run.
• The film stayed in the US top ten grossing films for 13 weeks.
• In August 2002, the DVD release set a UK record when it chalked up sales of 2.4 million.
• The total crew amounted to over 3,000 people of which approximately over 300 were in the art department alone.
• The overall budget for all 3 films was $300 million. Add another $200 million for the publicity and marketing of all 3.
• It is estimated that filming of the trilogy pumped about $200,000,000 into the New Zealand economy. The New Zealand government even created a Minister for Lord of the Rings, whose remit was to exploit all the economic opportunities the films represented.
  The Elvish language lines spoken in the film are not just quotes from the book, they were derived from Tolkien’s own limited dictionary of that language. Dialect coach Andrew Jack used actual recordings of Tolkien reading his books to guide the actors’ pronunciation.
• When the trailer was released on Internet on April 7, 2001, it was downloaded 1.6 million times in the first 24 hours.
• When Christopher Lee and Tolkien were in correspondence, Tolkien gave Lee his blessing to play Gandalf if there ever was a film version of Lord of the Rings. Years later, Lee campaigned for the part of Gandalf in this production, but was offered the part of Saruman instead. Lee, who wanted to participate in the project anyway he could, accepted the role of Saruman. Lee is the only cast and crew who has met Tolkien and he also reads the books every year.
• Ian McKellen hadn’t read the books when he was first approached by Peter Jackson to play Gandalf. It was Jackson’s enthusiasm for the project that won him over. McKellen later based Gandalf’s accent on that of Tolkien himself.
• While Christopher Lee was always Peter Jackson’s first choice for the role of Saruman. Jackson did consider Tim Curry, Jeremy Irons and Malcolm McDowell for the role.
• Ian Holm was always Peter Jackson’s first choice to play Bilbo Baggins.
• Orlando Bloom originally auditioned for the part of Faramir. He was called back and subsequently cast, instead, as Legolas. Bloom landed the role of Legolas two days before he finished drama school.
• Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving have worked together in TV series, film, and theatre: Bordertown (1995); The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003), Little Fish (2005), The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014); Hedda Gabler (2004-06), Uncle Vanya (2010-12).