craig-parker.net > Stage & Screen > Public Appearances > Istrocon 2003 > Review by Pennie (Sep 13th)
By Pennie
13 September 2003, Saturday
After a noisy night and uneasy sleep we woke up with a new hope that "today is the day" we could talk to Craig and have a little private time with him, when we can give him the present we brought to him and talk about a future interview on Ring*Con in Bonn. After making ourselves memorable for him during his show the previous night it didn't sound impossible, but what finally happened went past our expectations...
Our plan was that we watch The Two Towers (which was shown from 11 am) to the point of Haldir's death, and then go back to the school and pick up the present and the camcorder (and also refresh ourselves, LOL) to get back in time for the autograph session at 2 pm, and meanwhile find the message board Ivan mentioned, on which we could sign up for the tea with Craig. Monia came to our place and we went together to Súza, and we just saw Craig taking a photo with a guy. We wanted to go to him, but he left and we didn't want to run after him like crazy fangirls...
Then we sat in to watch the film, but after a 20-30 minutes the projector broke... After some waiting they tried to continue the movie, but after one minute it stopped again... and I was really nervous... so Rein, Sonica and I went back to the school and picked up our stuff, came back to Súza again, found the message board with a paper on it which looked like a sign-up sheet, so we wrote our names on it. Then went back to the main room, where they were showing the extras of the TTT DVD instead of the movie. We watched it for a while then at around half past 1:00 we came out to get prepared to the autograph session, which was to be in the main hall.
Rein had printed some pictures for Sonica and me, and when she gave them to us, a girl came there noticing that we were here for Craig too. She happened to be the webmistress of the Czech unofficial fansite, Kaki. We exchanged email addresses. While waiting, we tried to discover which table would be Craig's, and as soon as it became clear, we went to that table. When Ivan came and saw us, he laughed and commented, "You are the first ones everywhere!" Well, of course! :)
A few minutes after 2:00 Craig appeared, and sat down at the table. A lady came with him, she was selling printed pictures of Craig and Haldir, for 400 Sk per piece... 400 Sk was the ticket for the three days, it's about 10 euros! For one picture... I think they didn't sell many of those pics...
Anyways, finally he started... Sonica was the first :) Then I put my pictures before him. He looked up at me, and then on my t-shirt - this day I had another one, with a beautiful Haldir fanart, thanks to Ebe, who painted it and also let me have a t-shirt with this picture , and he laughed. He signed my pictures, and I asked him whether we could have a little private time with him, but he said we had to talk to Ivan Alaksa about it... As we went a little further away, some guys asked for an interview with us, Sonica and me, for a Slovakian television in Hungarian! They interviewed Monia as well. And then we met two other Hungarian girls too!
Then we realized that many people asked to take photos with him, and we forgot that! So we stood back into the queue, and when we get back to Craig again, he looked up surprised (maybe thinking "Oh, these crazy girls are here again.") I smiled and said, "We forgot the photos!" He stood up immediately and put his arm around my shoulder :) Then we all took pictures with him. Monia asked him again for a few minutes in private and this time he said "OK, right after the autograph session!"
So we were just hanging out there, and here we met Ada, who was glad to meet us because her friends didn't really understand her obsession for Craig. We talked a lot. Then the autograph session was over, and we went to Craig. I gave him the present (a bottle of the best wine of Hungary, Tokaji aszú) in the name of our site, and I also asked him for an interview on Ring*Con at Bonn. He said sure, we just have to talk about it with the guy who is responsible for his program there. Then he left, we bought some drinks and sandwiches for a quick lunch, then we went up to see if we could manage the tea-room project...
Hajni already had her place, but in the end Rein, Sonica, Monia, Ada and I could join the party too :) So from the 8 people allowed to go in, 6 was from our little company! Two guys were the rest, one from the Czech Republic, he was a great LOTR fan, and a young guy from Slovakia, who when said he's not his fan, Craig shouted in a Bellerophon voice: "Get him outta here!!!" He was joking of course, but this also helped to ease the tension. I don't want to write a detailed report on all the conversations during this one hour, because it was more personal and intimate than the shows on the stage (well, nothing deep personal stuff, just silly things, but still... let us keep something for ourselves ;) ), so I just give some of the highlights and some interesting trivia about him.
Craig was very interested in us and he enjoyed the times when it wasn't him who had to talk. He was surprised that five of us had gotten to know each other through the internet and asked how it's possible, when you can't know who the other person is, they can be even a serial killer...
While we were waiting for the tea we ordered (Craig had jasmine tea), he spoke about the tea in Nepal, with the yak butter and salt in it, and he commented, "Really horrible! Never try it. Even if you think it's a big adventure, don't have it!" Those of you who have seen the Nepal Encompassed episode from Intrepid Journeys might wonder - like me - why he was in only t-shirt and thin pants in minus 3 on the mountain, so I asked him about it. He said that when they started tracking in the morning, the weather was extremely hot, and as they were walking, he didn't feel the cold just when they stopped, but at night it was freezing cold. I can believe that...
We tried to ask him about the new American movie he mentioned the previous night, but he said nothing about it, he said it's not King Kong though. He also spoke about the upcoming Narnia movies, based on the books of C.S. Lewis, and that WETA is involved with it. To the question will he play in it, he said he would like to, but really nothing is confirmed about this or King Kong. He also talked us about Mercy Peak, that they just finished filming it, and at the end the seven core cast members got a green stone on a leather string, made from one piece. He was joking that they can communicate through them :)
Sonica asked him about the dope he smoked in Mercy Peak, "Was it real?" Craig laughed and said, "Sure, and then we stopped shooting for 7 hours!" Then he said that obviously it was a herbal thing. He also told us how he stopped smoking: he read Allen Carr's "Easy Way to Stop Smoking". "You smoke while you read it, and at the end put it down, (imitates putting out a cigarette) and you never smoke again!" He recommends this book to everyone who smokes.
The Slovakian guy asked him, "How does it feel to have an axe deep in your back?" He said, "Hurts a little bit. Just this much (showing about 1 cm between his thumb and forefinger). Just try it sometimes!" He said actually there was a good relationship between him and the guy who played the Uruk-Hai who killed Haldir, the same Sala Baker who played Sauron as well (Craig was very glad when we told him that Sala will be there at Ring*Con in Bonn this year). One night after filming the death scene, on the last day they worked together, Sala went to him, hugged him and then greeted him like the stunts usually did between themselves: he grabbed Craig at his shoulders and whacked his forehead with his... Craig said, he was just standing there, birds and stars were flying around his head, he wanted to cry - but that's not tough so he mustn't... "That hurt more than the axe!"
We talked about many things, Craig was really nice, and I often forgot that this guy sitting next to me was Craig Parker, because he was so natural and very, very easy to talk with. One hour went fast and the time when he had to leave for his next show on stage arrived too soon... We took group photos, thanked him for the time he spent with us and then run to the main room to get some seats at the front...
When we arrived to the main room, it was already packed, Thaur and Elanor reserved a few seats, but the rest of us had to sit on the floor, but it was cool... Sonica had to run back to the school for another videotape for the camcorder, and when she came back she couldn't even come down to the front, so the video recording of this show wasn't really good, and also the battery died before the end so I cannot write as detailed report as on Friday, I cannot even hear most of the questions on the recording, sorry... Next time we have to do something for backup...
Craig started his show with an ice-breaker - probably to reduce his own stage fright as well - then came the questions.
First a guy asked if Craig knew what Gimli said in Dwarvish to Haldir in the extended version of FOTR? He said: "There's ladies present." Then he went to someone, who knew the whole thing, and that guy explained it in Slovakian, but unfortunately without translation, so we couldn't get to know what it was... Then he commented, that it will come out only in the extended XXX version with subtitles, for those only over 21.
Someone asked that on screen he played a very brave Elf, how is he like in real life? "Kind of Elves are here (pointing on one side of the stage), brave and strong - (walking to the other side of the stage) here. When I was... Umm... I have an older brother and an older sister. My brother is 4 years older, and his great hobby was like 'Hey Craig, come, come, come' and I went and he smacked! So I learned to run away really fast. So I wouldn't be there. I'd be running away to the other direction. Like Mordor was here, I would be over there. Run!!!"
Then someone else asked if he was sad that he wouldn't play in the third movie. He said "Yes, but it didn't come as a huge surprise. So I was ready for it. Lying in a paddle of blood." But he assured us that the third movie will be magnificent.
Next question was how many times he had to die in the movie. He said that he can't remember how many times they shot the dying scene, but not too many, because on the day they were shooting it they had been doing a battle all day, they were tired so it was easy to just lay down... and there were those bodies lying around, so it was easy to believe it. It was maybe 2 or 3 times.
I could't hear nor guess the next question, but Craig's answer was: "Later tonight in the bar after some slivovitza!" And he imitated a blackout (you can see this on the video of TV J@j).
A girl asked then: "How is the life after death?" "Yeah, well, it's pretty good, lots of food, not that boring lembas bread, real bread! And parties all the time - it's good! Come up some time, I'll let your name on the door! Lots of Elven babes!"
Next question was probably something about why Haldir went to Helm's Deep. He said it was a boring afternoon, Haldir washed his hair, braided it, polished his armour...
Someone asked what he prefers: movie, television or theater? He said that he cannot chose, he loves them all, and usually he loves the thing he is currently in. Television pays the money, theater is harder but more awarding, so somehow these things are balanced.
Someone asked him about The Rocky Horror Show. He said that they did it last Christmas, and Kevin Smith was gonna play the role of Frank'n Further, but he died so he couldn't, and they did the show for him. Then someone else asked which character he played in it, and he said "I was the Narrator. I kept all my clothes on, everyone else was wearing stockings and bras and things and... you know - I had a suit. Except the end when I took my pants off." He said it was a great fun.
The next question was, that in the movie when Gimli says how clever he is and the Elves appear and say they could shoot him, which part of his body they would shoot? He said, "You know from 'ish kha gul' the 'gul' part," imitating targeting with a bow downwards...
Then a guy asked him to play how would he accept the Oscar award, but sorry, I can't put into words what he was doing... After it he nearly ran into the cameraman who was not aware of Craig's fast and unpredictable moving on the stage.
Then he showed the Vulcan greeting, and asked who could do it too from the audience on the count of three. Almost everyone did, and his comment was: "This REALLY is a sci-fi / fantasy convention! And do you know where this one comes from?" turning his hand and saying "Nanoo-nanoo, shazbat!" looking around, "No one knows that... I'm so old..." I shouted the answer: "Mork from Ork!" (OK, it had a different title in Hungarian, I know now that the show's title is Mork & Mindy) "Mork from Ork! Thank you! That's how old I am!" he said.
Someone asked him to pronounce a really difficult Slovakian word, zmrzlina (means ice cream). He tried it many times, then someone wrote the word for him, but finally he succeeded. Then he pointed to the guy with a get-him-out move saying: "Security!"
Then someone asked if he read the books. He said "Yes, one in the third times. I tried it when I was 13 or 14 but I was too stupid to understand it."
A guy asked him about the sword fighting, and he spoke about Bob Anderson, who taught them. You probably know, because he tells it everywhere, that this guy fought with Errol Flynn and he was Darth Vader in the first Star Wars movie fighting with Obi-Wan Kenobi. The new thing he shared that when they made a mistake in the choreography the guy hit them with the sword on their backsides so they learned it very quickly!
Next question was how do Elves celebrate Christmas? He sat on the table, which was on the stage and said in a teacher-like way, "How many years ago did the Elves live?" Laughter in the room "When was Christ born?" Counting on his fingers then said, "You think about that!"
Next question was did he suffer any accidents during filming the second film? He said, no, there were no accidents, but there was a moment when he felt very stupid. They worked with a lot of extras, who played the wounded, and one night, in the cold, rainy winter when they were shooting, he passed a guy who was sitting on the ground, with the bloody flesh and stuff and he said to him "'Ah, fantastic! That's such a good job, how did they do that?' He had no leg. Duh!"
Then someone asked for the Nazgul-scream again. He did it, and then he explained that in the movie his voice was mixed with scraping chalk boards and all sorts of other noises.
Next question was which part of the Two Towers was Craig's favourite, apart from the death scene. He said his favourite scene in the whole movie when Gollum talks to himself.
Then a little girl asked him if he speaks any Elvish. He said, "Heaps, mate! Lots of lots of lots! Do you know any?" When the girl said yes, he asked her to come to the stage, with her little friend. Then he handed the microphone to the little guy, and he said "Havo dad!" and Craig sat down on the floor! Then the boy said something else in Elvish, which probably meant "stand up", Craig needed some help to understand it, and then he stood up. Then the boy said "Mellon" and Craig imitated the opening gate of Moria. From now on Craig had to prompt him what to say, the next was "Mae govannen", and Craig waved hi back to him, and finally he told the boy to say some words in Dwarvish, then - probably it was something bad he stopped him and said sorry for the incident. He found a croissant on the edge of the stage and gave them. It was funny, he later tried to figure out whose croissant it was...
Someone asked how tall is Frodo. He asked back did he mean Elijah or Frodo in the books? He said, "Well, Elijah has a pretty good height, but Frodo is 3 foot 6 exactly."
(Here some questions and answers are missing because of technical problems, sorry... If anybody has notes or recording about it, please help me out!)
Then someone asked what was New Zealand like. You know, the only disadvantage of our tea-time with him was that he didn't let us ask anymore on his shows... but this way he had to answer a bunch of stupid questions instead of our intelligent (but at least funny :D) questions *evilgrin*. Well, of course he always found a way to answer the silliest questions... He said "It's OK... very green... lots of little kiwi birds running around... trying to fly, but they can't cause they got no wings... Hobbits running everywhere..."
Next question was that in The Two Towers everyone every time was making fun of Gimli, and how about him? He said, "I tried to and they smacked me one. Real grumpy those Dwarves!"
Someone asked him about Mercy Peak. He said "I do a television show at home that New Zealand place," made it clear to the guy who asked him about NZ before, "and it's called Mercy Peak and I play a doctor who smokes a lot of drugs. A very bad doctor." I couldn't resist shouting to him, "No, he's not!" He looked at me and said smiling, "Ah, bless you!" Then he told us that the main thing in the story is that his character loves a woman, who loves someone else, etc.
Unfortunately here ended the recording because the battery died, and I took no notes and I don't remember what else happened in the last 10 minutes, sorry... It was a great time though - well could it be anything else, when Craig is there?
Sonica bought tombola tickets, so we stayed there for the tombola, but she won nothing... After it Rein, Sonica, Monia, Ada and myself went to the town to have a dinner and celebrate the successful day.