67 Years Ago Today, the Secret Weapon of The Lord of the Rings Movies Was Born (They Created One of the Most Iconic Moments)

As we approach the 25th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, nostalgia for the franchise is at an all-time high. This is true not only because of the time since they were released and the impeccable craft on display across the three movies, but also as the team behind it all prepares to venture to Middle-earth once again. Though the TV series is still happening over at Prime Video, Warner Bros. is working on two more Lord of the Rings movies, including 2027’s The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum with Andy Serkis back as the character and even in the director’s chair.

With fan interest in Lord of the Rings still so high, and the series making another comeback, it’s worth remembering one of the key creative contributors to the trilogy, as well as The Hobbit feature films, one whose work in the franchise has often gone unnoticed. Though the authorship of The Lord of the Rings trilogy is often granted to Peter Jackson as the credited director of all three movies, one of the biggest pieces of the entire puzzle is his partner in life and creativity, the elusive Fran Walsh, who was born on this day, January 10.

Fran Walsh Was a Key Contributor to The Lord of the Rings’ Success

Born today back in 1959 in Wellington, New Zealand, Fran Walsh first met Peter Jackson back in the 1980s. The pair met on a set where Walsh was working as a writer for the New Zealand TV series Worzel Gummidge Down Under, their meeting aligning with Jackson finishing work on his first feature film as a director, 1987’s Bad Taste. They quickly hit it off and not only became romantic partners, but creative ones, with Walsh co-writing all of Jackson’s feature films starting with 1989’s Meet the Feebles and including 1992’s horror hit Dead Alive.

Jackson has credited Walsh with pushing him to tell the story that would eventually become 1994’s Heavenly Creatures, the film that secured them both their first Academy Award nomination, but also put them on the creative path toward The Lord of the Rings. Even on Heavenly Creatures, though, which was inspired by the 1950s Parker–Hulme murder case in New Zealand, Jackson and Walsh’s creativity was linked. Melanie Lynskey, star of Heavenly Creatures, who was discovered by Walsh at a New Zealand high school, previously noted that the pair “felt like co-directors” on the film, adding, “Fran instantly conveys two things to you. You’re safe — protected — and you had better deliver.”

Walsh and Jackson had one more collaboration before their journey to Middle-earth, the horror-comedy The Frighteners, but after that, they were entrenched in Tolkien’s world for good. Like their previous movies, Walsh worked as a screenwriter and producer on all three The Lord of the Rings movies, returning to the same roles for The Hobbit trilogy where she an co-writer Philippa Boyens made the decision to bring Galadriel into the fold of the narrative. It’s worth noting that Walsh’s contributions are even more visible than just having co-written the scripts and produced the movies, though, as the iconic “Nazgul scream” from the films is actually performed by her. Furthermore, she worked on the original songs for the movies as well, penning the lyrics for Fellowship‘s “In Dreams” while also composing the music for “Gollum’s Song” from The Two Towers, plus “A Shadow Lies Between Us” and “Into the West” from Return of the King (the latter of which netted her an Academy Award for Best Orignal Song).

Fran Walsh Solely Created One of the Most Memorable Scenes in the Entire Trilogy

“It’s impossible to overstate her importance,” The Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis previously said about Walsh’s contributions to the film franchise, and he would know. Walsh has been credited by Jackson with being the complete creative force of one of the most iconic moments in the entire trilogy, the sequence in The Two Towers where Gollum talks to himself. In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Jackson was asked about his favorite scene in the series, noting it was one that he had no involvement with at all.

“We were shooting Two Towers and it was introducing Gollum,” Jackson said. “A key thing with Gollum, as most people know, he’s Sméagol and he’s Gollum, it’s like a split. But we hadn’t got a scene where you really got the idea of…‘This guy is two people.’ So we knew that we needed it, but we had no time to shoot it. So, Fran wrote a scene where Sam and Frodo are asleep, so they can be just lumps in the bed, we don’t even have to have Elijah (Wood) and Sean (Astin). We didn’t have anyone to direct it, so I said to Fran, ‘You wrote it, you should go and shoot it.’ So she went in for a day, and she wrote and directed a scene which has become pretty famous now.”

“It’s a universal moment for people,” Walsh said in a rare interview with The New York Times back in 2012. “We all have that voice inside: You’re not good enough and you never will be and you’re a failure. I certainly do.”

The proof is in the pudding, though, or the ‘taters to stay on brand with the above character and film, and The Lord of the Rings would be poorer without Walsh’s contributions. The best part about this, however, is that Walsh is already confirmed to be back in the mix for the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, collaborating on the screenplay along with Philippa Boyens plus Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. Given her ability to fully channel Gollum in the above sequence, we can’t wait to see what she brings to the table with that film, but for now it’s worth remembering how she helped get one of the best movie trilogies of all time to the finish line.

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