During the “Lord of the Rings” panel at this year’s FanX convention in Salt Lake City, stars of the movies shared favorite moments from set, their favorite characters from the franchise and how much they value moments with fans.
The panel on Thursday featured three of the franchise’s cast members: John Rhys-Davies, Miranda Otto and Lawrence Makoare. Over the course of the 45-minute panel in the Grand Ballroom of the Salt Palace Convention Center, the three actors answered dozens of questions about the movies, being on set and their lives.
The actors’ panel was one of many taking place at FanX this year, with a variety of movie and TV stars, authors and artists appearing at the pop culture convention over the course of this weekend.
One question the “Lord of the Rings” stars were asked was about fan moments that have impacted their lives. Otto, who played Éowyn in the films, said she didn’t have a specific moment but that she loves seeing how much people love the movies and how much they mean to them.
“I get so many, in particular, women who come up to me and talk about Éowyn and how much they related to the character as a kid, and what sort of strength the character gave them, and that’s a really good thing to have been a part of,” the actress said.
Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli the dwarf, shared that when he attended his first fan convention before filming “Lord of the Rings,” he thought the whole thing was weird.
Courtnee Carrigan, Meg Teeples and Sabrina Bredthauer react to actors Lawrence Makoare, Miranda Otto and John Rhys-Davies speaking on the “Lord of the Rings” panel at FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
“And I thought, ‘500 people dressed up as Captain Kirk, can’t they get a life?’” he said. He continued that later “it dawned on me actually they did have a life, and some of their lives were very rich and marvelous.”
He shared that earlier in the day, he had met a fan who, for decades, has taken care of her adult daughter with severe disabilities, and Rhys-Davies highlighted how brave she is and how incredible and strong other fans he has met are.
“I meet heroes here,” Rhys-Davies said.
Rhys-Davies was also a part of FanX last year, and did a panel alongside fellow “Lord of the Rings” stars Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd.
Makoare, who played a number of characters in the franchise, including Lurtz the Uruk-Hai and the Witch-King of Angmar, shared that early in the day, they had been visiting with kids with cancer at a local hospital.
He talked about how amazing it was to interact with the kids and to see Rhys-Davies interact with them.
“So it’s doing all those little things,” Makoare said, when talking about fan moments that have impacted him.
A large part of the movies were shot in different scenic locations across New Zealand, and this was something the three panelists mentioned multiple times.
When speaking about memorable moments on set, Otto highlighted the first time she arrived at the Edoras set.
“I think my favorite memory is waking up in the car, driving to work and seeing Edoras for the first time,” Otto said. “It was astonishing.”
She also shared about a time when she had to film a scene at dawn, and the night before, a bunch of the cast and crew camped out in the mountains on location ahead of the film shoot. Otto added that there were amazing stories shared during that night from cast members and some of the producers.
Rhys-Davies had a similar story, where he stayed out on location one night between shoots with Viggo Mortensen, the actor who played Aragorn. He said they didn’t have any food out there, but Mortensen had his fishing rod with him, so he found a stream and was able to catch two trout, which they cooked over the fire.
“It was just one of those glorious, unique evenings in your life, and I remember it with affection, with awe and respect,” Rhys-Davies said.
Miranda Otto, who played Éowyn, speaks on the “Lord of the Rings” panel at FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Rachel Cox, Mark Woodring, Shannon Woodring and other members of the audience applaud and hold up phone flashlights after actors Lawrence Makoare, Miranda Otto and John Rhys-Davies spoke on the “Lord of the Rings” panel at FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Hunter Keating asks actors Lawrence Makoare, Miranda Otto and John Rhys-Davies a question during the “Lord of the Rings” panel at FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Artemis Bredthauer, 7, listens to actors speak on the “Lord of the Rings” panel at FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Sabrina Bredthauer, Ronin Bredthauer, 4, and Apollo Bredthauer, 9, listen as actors Lawrence Makoare, Miranda Otto and John Rhys-Davies answer Sabrina’s question during the “Lord of the Rings” panel at FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Actor Lawrence Makoare speaks on the “Lord of the Rings” panel at FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. Makoare is known for multiple roles, including Uruk-hai leader Lurtz and the Witch-king of Angmar. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Actors Lawrence Makoare, Miranda Otto and John Rhys-Davies take a bow after speaking on the “Lord of the Rings” panel at FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
John Rhys-Davies, known for his role of Gimli the dwarf, speaks on the “Lord of the Rings” panel at FanX at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
The three actors talked about the difficulties of some of the costumes they had, and Rhys-Davies highlighted how heavy his armor for Gimli was.
Otto talked about the difference between fighting in a dress and fighting in armor.
“When I was fighting in a dress, it was much easier than fighting in all the helmets, and chain mail and other stuff,” she said.
Makoare shared that his makeup would take over 11 hours to put on and would take 4½ hours to take off.
They were also asked who their favorite characters in the franchise are. Otto said Samwise Gamgee, Rhys-Davies said Frodo Baggins and Makoare said Aragorn.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
