BILLY Boyd may be doing interviews in a luxury hotel, but he turns up on foot (not, though, in hobbit feet).
We happen to arrive at the same time, him a slight figure lolloping along casually and unfazed by being accosted on the doorstep before the solicitous press people can do the formal introduction.
With some stars, you wouldn’t want to risk a tantr
um by intruding into their presence before they were ready, with Boyd, you just know it won’t be a problem. Since coming to worldwide fame with the release of The Fellowship of the Ring two years ago, he has maintained a friendly image, managing to avoid the usual Scottish resentment of the successful by a happy knack of appearing modest and aware of his luck.
Once inside, sprawling on a couch and courteously proffering snacks ("Murray Mint? Water? Do you want a bit of my sandwich?"), Boyd takes everything in his stride. He’s very likeable and knows it. "I was buying a paper just there and the guy said, can I get your autograph. But these two guys with him didn’t know who I was, so he was like ‘Lord of the Rings!’ and they were all, ‘ah, well done son, good for you’. It’s a nice attitude people seem to have. I think it’s great when people come up and congratulate you," he says, cheerfully.
But enough, for the moment, about Pippin of the Shire. It may seem like he’s spent the last three years simply promoting Lord Of The Rings, recording material for the exhaustive DVD commentaries and turning up incongruously at showbiz events like the MTV Europe Awards.
However, as well as appearing in the strange, experimental David Greig play San Diego here at the Festival and a month’s additional shooting for the third part of the Tolkein trilogy, Boyd has actually managed to fit in making a new film, which is what he’s actually here to talk about.
And it’s another epic, again based on a much-loved fictional work, with another unwieldy, punctuated title to strain cinema signs - Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World. While the Peter Weir-helmed movie, out next week, is an excellent effort at translating Patrick O’Brien’s brilliant books about the friendship between two men, which sustains them throughout decades of war, love affairs, international intrigue and umpteen sea voyages, it has to be said that Boyd’s part is even smaller than a hobbit.
Although he’s in many scenes, gritting his teeth as he steers the ship in the face of wild gales or listening attentively to Captain Russell Crowe’s speeches, his own lines tend to be of the variety of "Aye aye Sir!" in a Cockney accent. At one point, he gets to break out with a particularly dramatic "Aye, sou’ by sou’west cap’n!"
Still, it will certainly do him no harm in raising his profile, minus hobbit ears, in Hollywood, where the one-time Taggart actor has made a huge impact.
More than that, though, Boyd seems to simply have a talent for enjoying himself and to get a lot out of the process of making the movie itself.
Compared to some actors, who plan their careers as carefully as a military engagement, he seems genuinely to love the ride. Mind you, you can hardly blame him. From learning to surf and abseil while making Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, he got to do more action man stuff on Master And Commander, which was largely shot in Mexico where he learned sailing skills on The Rose, the real ship used in many scenes.
He talks enthusiastically about the two-week "boot camp" and the immersion of all the cast and crew into the world of Admiral Nelson’s navy, 200 years ago, aboard a tall ship which, as Crowe’s hero Jack Aubrey declares, is a "little wooden world". While Crowe is said to have behaved on-set and off in a captainly manner (Boyd, who got on with him, doesn’t exactly deny it), Boyd lived up to his more lowly role as the coxswain by hanging out with the stuntmen, extras and the real sailors.
"I learnt how to sail, how to turn the wheel and feel the ship turning. You have to get into the rhythm of it, if it doesn’t catch you have to bring it around. All the time we were filming I was doing that. I got to love it. On the real ship, Captain Richard got to quite trust me so he let me steer into the harbour and used to give me proper directions - south by southwest instead of the degrees that they do it by now," he recalls.
"We loved Mexico. There is a Fox studio there, a huge water tank from when they made Titanic and they can put a ship on a gimble and control it, and at other times we were out at sea.
"The sounds and smells of it are amazing. A lot of time you don’t actually know where the camera is, so it’s easy to slip into that world and feel that you’re living it. You just do the scene and make it real. It wasn’t that technical acting where you’ve got a blue screen, it was up close and authentic.
"The rain was freezing, so uncomfortable, in the storm scenes, lashing down on us. Even the supporting cast or the extras, whatever you want to call them, they were there for the full time because Peter wanted it to be that whenever you looked around the ship, you saw the same faces in the crew.
"A lot of them were real sailors and so, if you had to be turning down a sail, you could ask them how to do it. I like to surf as well and quite a few of them were surfers because they had the right weatherbeaten look and so, if we had a day off we’d go and catch some waves. I left with a knowledge of sailing and a huge knowledge of what life was like then."
While it may not be a lead part, Boyd seems contented enough with his role, due to his admiration for the director, who’s best known for The Truman Show, Dead Poets Society and Witness. "It’s satisfying because it’s a Peter Weir film and, well, you’ve done a Peter Weir film. Just watching him on set is enough fulfilment really and to be part of a film like this is great, so I’m happy."
The movie has done well in America, with talk of Oscar nominations, though it’s been beaten by witless family comedy Elf, an unfortunate sign for such an expensive film.
"It’s not a natural blockbuster movie. The built-in audience isn’t big enough for it to be a sure thing. It seems like every story is aimed at a really young audience. It’s great that Peter Weir managed to make a film that is exciting and has adventure but is true to himself."
Anyway, he says, that’s not how you should look at it. "I think it’s a great movie and one thing I hate about how people talk about films now is when it opens, people don’t talk about if it’s good or bad, but about how much it made in the opening weekend. I’ll say to someone: ‘How was Pirates of the Caribbean?’ and they say ‘It made £40 million’ but I just want to know, is it a good film?"
Ah, yes, Pirates, starring Fellowship buddy Orlando Bloom, another who’s done well out of the LOTR boom. Boyd got the part in Master And Commander after Weir saw him as Pippin; after years as a respected theatre actor in Scotland, the offers coming in for him are all down to the effect of those blockbusters.
"I do feel quite lucky," he admits readily, not taking offence at the idea it isn’t all down to his irresistible talent, as some actors might.
"I think acting has a lot to do with luck and meeting the right people. If you do it and stay true to yourself that’s the main thing. I don’t have a huge push. I never went out looking to be in movies, I never thought about it. I was happy doing theatre.
"I’m happy where I am, living in Glasgow, my friends and family are here. I love travelling and travel away enough that when I’m not working it’s nice to come home and hang out with my friends. As far as work goes I’m not aching to do s*** American movies, I would rather do good Scottish theatre. If I can do good American movies too, great."
He does want to push himself a little, though. He is hoping to appear in some Shakespeare on stage soon. Then there’s a possible British movie about surfers which he’s written a script for on spec with hobbit pal Merry, alias Dominic Monaghan. First, though, there’s the promotion (and doubtless, DVD commentary and award ceremonies) for The Return Of The King, which will finally bring the LOTR job to an end.
"I loved it. I’m still quite happy to talk about it. There comes a time for everything to end. When you start something like that you know it’s going to last a certain time, so my head is ready for it to finish. But it’s one of those things that will never leave you, the experience will always be there.
"I don’t see my career as something I’m climbing a ladder towards - my reasons for doing jobs are that there’s a great director that I’ve always wanted to work with or something like that. I’m quite lazy that way. There are a few scripts that I think are good things that should be made. And because I now have a more personal relationship with some people, it’s not like pushing it to the head of a studio. But it takes time. I don’t think I hold myself back but I don’t feel comfortable networking and that kind of thing.
"Too many people, I think, especially in this business, seem to always be aiming for something else. And of course there are things that you want to do and somewhere you are aimed at, but in between times you have got to enjoy where you are."
And with that, he smiles contentedly. "Look, are you sure you don’t want a bit of this sandwich?"
The full article contains 1836 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
