It's a shame that you die in the first part of The Lord Of The Rings.

Sean Bean : I'm afraid that's becoming a habit.

But you were still in time to get the tattoo done, isn't that right ?

SB : I think I was the last one to do it. Most of the guys did it back in New Zealand. It was Orlando bloom and Elijah Wood who took me to a tattoos' shop in New York. It's a good memory.

From Derek Jarman and Shakespeare to James Bond and The Lord Of The Rings, goes a long way. It's the fondness for experimentation that keeps you moving ?

SB : It's possible. That's the actor's job. He must diversify; find roles that are a challenge for him. That's not always possible to do. I can be happy that, throughout the years, I've always been able to change and move in different directions. For some time, I played mostly villains, but lately I've been able to change that a bit. The important thing for me is to know that it is a good script. The directors are important as well. I need to feel that it's worth to do a certain movie.

You've also been in many independent productions.

SB : Some times, an independent movie is like a theater play, where there is a great potential for the creation of a truly interesting character. Particularly in the British and European cinema. It allows us to grow as actors, to experiment new things. In Hollywood's big budget movies, the characters are hindered by the dimension of the special effects, the action, the visual effects. They become one-dimension characters.

Weren't you afraid that the same might happen with The Lord Of The Rings ?

SB : I think that was avoided. It was like doing a large independent movie. The movie has truly the dimension of an epic, but, at the same time, it has moments of great intimacy and an excellent character's development. It's not often that you see movies with this kind of budget that are able to explore our characters like this. I hope that, in the future, Hollywood movies become more character-focused, that people become more important than the special effects and the big action sequences. The human being's qualities are never ending and I believe that people will never be tired of discovering all of the complexity of our lives.

It is expected that The Lord Of The Rings becomes a phenomenon like Star Wars. Does it make a difference to enter a project of such a dimension ?

SB : I don't think it does. I felt a great warmth when I arrived in New Zealand. Peter, Fran Walsh, his wife, Philippa Boyens, they were all very welcoming. They invited me over to lunch in their home, we talked about the script, it was like being in family. I didn't feel like they were under the pressure of doing a big movie. They seemed absolutely immerged in this magical and mystical world. I didn't feel the pressure of doing a movie like the book on them either. They weren't in a revering position. It was their version they wanted to do. Peter's vision, without outside interferences.

What were your impressions of Peter Jackson, as a person ?

SB : It's hard to explain, his personality has so many different aspects. He is a very intelligent person, with a great sense of humor and a great imagination. It seems as if he has become a Hobbit, so round and well fed. On the shooting was where you could better see the resemblances. Maybe his feet are a bit smaller. It's very easy to like him. He knows how to get the best out of people, without ever raising his voice. He's a great inspiration. He is always calm and he makes us feel calm. He's such a good leader that we know we are in good hands.

Did you trust him, taking in consideration that he had only done small budget movies so far ?

SB : My expectations weren't too high before I arrived in New Zealand. I didn't know what I was about to find. I knew he had prepared himself greatly and that, before, he had done mostly horror gore filled movies, and Heavenly Creatures, that is something completely different. But I met him before, and he seemed to me like someone very imaginative and who knew well what he wanted to do. A very inspiring man, of that I had little doubts. Particularly after seeing him work. He was always there. I never doubted that he could run a production this big. I think it was George Lucas who said that The Lord Of The Rings could never be made. Peter Jackson proved him wrong.

How was it to be in the same place, for so long, shooting the same movie ?

SB : I knew I'd be staying a year, a year and a half in New Zealand. It's a very tough island, highly exposed to storms, floods, and snowstorms. The elements were pretty much against us, but we had to adapt. The logistic part was so well organized; it was like a military operation.

Was there any event in particular that has remained in your memory ?

SB : I don't like flying that much. One day, the cast and crew had to travel from one place to another and they all went by plane. Orlando and me decided to travel by car. It was a day and a half journey and, as we were close to Christmas, Orlando would stop on every shop to buy gifts for his girlfriend. The weather was getting worse and worse by the minute, and some roads were getting blocked. We were almost getting to our destination when there was a landslide. We tried to turn around, but there had been another landslide. So we were stuck, in the midle of nowhere. We had to survive on some rations in this shed for a couple of days. Those storms could go on and on. In the end, they had to get out of there in a helicopter, which was exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place.

All things considered, it's not so bad to die in the first part.

SB : It's really bad. I think that the journey Boromir does is very interesting. I think he dies in peace. Spiritually, he found something inside of him. He dies as a better man. I would have like being involved in the other two movies, but I believe Tolkien's fans would not be very happy. I knew what would happen to him, I had read the book.

When you play a villain, do you always try to find something good inside of him ?

SB : Only if it's possible. If the script and the way the film is directed allows for that to happen. It is great to be able to show the reason behind the villain's actions. In Hollywood, it's not very frequent to be asked to do that. They just want the bad guys to be really bad. I think it's always more interesting to discover why they are acting like that. Obviously they have lost their moral codes along the way. Sometimes they don't even realize that what they're doing is wrong. There is always a reason to explain their behaviour, something that happened in their lives. I always try to find that. If not for the movie, I try to do it for myself.

Was that what happened in the movie James Bond, 007 - Goldeneye ?

SB : Yes. I think he had a good reason, or thought to have a good reason, to destroy the world. He believed to have been betrayed by James Bond and abandoned by British Secret Services. Because of that, he becomes a very bitter person. At least in Goldeneye it was possible to understand why the villain was so bad. And he becomes really bad.

What is the feeling of working in a movie with so many merchandising ? To see, for example, your action figure ?

SB : On the other day I was in a toy's store, in New York, and I saw this lady loaded with action figures of Elijah, Viggo and me. I had to get out of there really fast, so that she wouldn't notice me there. It's an awkward feeling, to see people buying dolls with our faces. But it feels good; it's not something that happens every day.

What was the feeling, when you saw the final result ?

SB : I was pretty impressed. It didn't remind me of anything I had ever seen before. That is very good. It seemed to me like a completely original movie. It matches Peter Jackson's personal vision about the book's true meaning. It's breathtaking, an epic. I was very pleased, which doesn't always happen.

Did it live up to the idea you had, after reading the books for the first time ?

SB : I think that after reading the books I saved them in some corner of my memory. We all saw digital images of the scenes we were doing, but only when we see the completed movie do we realize the real look of some of the characters and sets. It was amazing.

Do you have any scene or favorite character in the movie ?

SB : I like Ian Holm a lot. For the screen time he has... I've always enjoyed him as an actor. I think he portraits well the concept of aging. And I've always admired Ian McKellen, ever since I saw him play Macbeth. He has always been one of my greatest heroes.

Source : À conversa com os Senhores dos Anéis, by João Antunes.