A quarter of a century ago, one of the greatest adventures in movie history began. And it all started with four Hobbits, from Hobbiton in the Shire, entrusted on a most dangerous mission by the great wizard Gandalf: to transport the One Ring, a relic of unfathomable power, to the fires of Mount Doom while evading the rising forces of darkness. That journey spanned three legendary fantasy blockbusters – The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return Of The King – that changed cinema forever. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, Empire got those Hobbits – and Gandalf – back together for an epic reunion.
The latest issue of Empire reunites Elijah Wood (aka Frodo Baggins), Sean Astin (aka Samwise Gamgee), Dominic Monaghan (aka Meriadoc Brandybuck), Billy Boyd (aka Peregrin Took), and Ian McKellen (Gandalf) for a brand new interview and photo shoot – reflecting on the mammoth undertaking of Peter Jackson’s trilogy, the unbreakable bonds they formed along the way, and why The Lord Of The Rings trilogy became an all-out classic.
©Steve Schofield/Empire
The interview – available to read in full in the March 2026 issue of Empire, on sale Thursday 15 January and available to pre-order online here – finds the five on fine, funny form as they look back on an unforgettable filmmaking experience. Here’s an extract from the conversation:
EMPIRE: Do you guys get together much? How often is it that the five of you would be in one place at the same time?
Ian McKellen: When we finished doing The Lord Of The Rings, everyone was so friendly and bonded together that we agreed that wherever we happened to be in the world, we would all congregate in the same place just to renew our friendship and our fellowship and our fraternity. And I haven’t been to a single one of these reunions in 25 years! Whether they’ve been taking place without my knowing, well, you’ll have to ask them…
Dominic Monaghan: Never, Ian. Never! The four Hobbits are very lucky because we all go to conventions together, so I think we see each other at least eight times a year. With Ian it’s a little harder, but we do try our best.
Sean Astin: I think it’s that fact that all of us want to get together that keeps the spirit alive. It’s not as though the Fellowship has utterly failed or dissolved in some way. We just can’t fucking figure it out!
McKellen: And I think, if anything, these lads are even nicer than they were when they were young.
©Steve Schofield/Empire
What’s your earliest memory of being together in costume, gathering as your characters?
McKellen: Well, on my first day I did Gandalf’s entrance into the first movie, on the horse and cart going into Hobbiton. But the next scene I did was the very last scene that Gandalf has in the third movie, where he’s setting sail and leaving everything behind, including the Hobbits, who were all on their knees to make themselves look smaller. I said to Peter Jackson, “Am I pleased to be saying goodbye, or would I be regretting it? Can you give me a quick rundown on my relationship?” Because I didn’t know them at all! And he said, “Well, you’ve been on a lot of adventures and you’re very grateful to them.” But if you look at my face in that scene, it’s absolutely blank. It’s the best thing to do: if you don’t know what to do, do nothing. I hadn’t a clue!
Billy Boyd: Yeah, that’s my first memory of us all together: filming the very end. That happened because Ian Holm was there, and they only had a month to shoot his Bilbo stuff.
Astin: I remember us all being in the make-up bus together, with the four Hobbits in a row, and Ian in the next room on his own. And I remember thinking: “Oh, shit. Ian’s right there. I could lean over and touch him!”
©Steve Schofield/Empire
How quickly did the bonds of friendship form between you, and how much were they informed by the relationships between the characters?
Monaghan: It was immediate, which was something that’s never happened to me before or since. It was an immediate connection, specifically between the nine fellows in the Fellowship, where they just said, “Oh, that’s what you like? Can I enjoy it with you?” I think it’s one of the reasons why we still are desperate to hang onto this connection, you know?
Elijah Wood: It was a really specific alchemy. It hadn’t been experienced before in our lives, because there was nothing like it. We were all brought to New Zealand for a period of time that was so far extended beyond what we were used to as actors, to live away from home and go on this adventure that was not unlike the adventures our characters would go on.
Read the full interview in Empire’s The Lord Of The Rings at 25 issue – also featuring brand new interviews with Peter Jackson, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies and more – on sale Thursday 15 January. Pre-order a copy online here.
Photography by Steve Schofield, shot exclusively for Empire
