During a panel at Liverpool Comic Con this week, Lord of the Rings stars Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Sean Astin, and Dominic Monaghan took to the stage to celebrate Bernard Hill, the Titanic and Lord of the Rings actor who passed away over the weekend. Hill was a consistent presence on stage and screen for decades, but is best known for two roles in absolutely massive films that came very close together: in 1997, he played Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron’s Titanic. Then, just a few years later, he joined the Lord of the Rings trilogy as Theoden, the King of Rohan.
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Hill first broke out in Boys from the Blackstuff as the actor portrayed Yosser Hughes. During the show’s run, Yosser became a fan-fave character as they showed the highs and lows of unemployment in Liverpool. And from there, Hill’s career continued to rise. He would work on a number of high profile projects over the years and became the kind of character actor whose name you might not know, but whose face was instantly familiar.
Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings, began the tribute by saying: “So we lost a member of our family this morning, Bernard Hill passed, King Théoden. So we want to take a moment before we walk off the stage to honor him. We love him. He was intrepid, he was funny, he was gruff, he was irascible, he was beautiful.”
Boyd, who played Pippin, added, “I don’t think anyone spoke Tolkien’s words as great as Bernard did. The way he grounded those words in a realism. He would break my heart. He will be sorely missed.”
You can see it below.
“Bernard Hill blazed a trail across the screen, and his long-lasting career filled with iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent,” BBC Drama director Lindsay Salt said on Sunday. ” From Boys from the Blackstuff, to Wolf Hall, The Responder, and many more, we feel truly honoured to have worked with Bernard at the BBC. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time.”
