As the final part of our Adelaide Supanova coverage we have an interview with Dean ‘Fili’ O’Gorman! We talk about the Middle-Earth experience and what it’s like being part of a horder of dwarves.
G: Hello Dean.
DO: Hello!
G: Now, you’re a dwarf?
DO: Um, yes. In terms of The Hobbit, yes.
G: I was going to say that you look taller in real life.
DO: (laughs) Yeah, I am.
G: You’re part of the Fili and Kili pairing with Aiden…
DO: Aiden Turner, right.
The Dwarven Duo
G: You’re part of a very large cast but you get a lot of your own character, your own personality on screen. Do you feel like a single character or part of a big unit?
DO: How do you mean?
G: Do you feel like your own unique character or are you part of the Fili/Kili duo?
DO: Oh, well, both. Fili and Kili exist as a duo…in terms of the dwarven characters in Middle Earth they are a community. They are very close-knit and loyal characters. A big part of my character is the relationship I have with Kili but obviously they stand alone in their own ways. Most of the journey we go on we go on together. But we’re not the same person!
G: Lord of the Rings always felt like it had a tight-knit community behind the scenes. Did The Hobbit feel like a family group?
DO: It did, yeah. It became very much like a family. We worked together for almost every day of 240 days of shooting. We became like a family. We got along, we bickered, we cared for each other, we played jokes on each other. We all became very close in the way that you do when you have to work together for so long.
G: Do you have any strong memories of working in the group?
DO: Sooooo many memories. Almost two and half years of filming. So many memories…some of my favorite memories was traveling on location. Every day we were going somewhere different. We were flying around in helicopters to parts of New Zealand I’d never seen before, which were amazing, and I was doing it with this great group of guys. That would be one of my favorite highlights, definitely.
G: We’ve got two more movies coming up. What do you want to tell us – what should we be looking forward to?
DO: I would love to talk about the second and third film. Actually I wouldn’t have a clue on the third film at this stage because they haven’t even started doing ADR on it yet. The second film is fantastic. I haven’t seen it all yet and I can’t wait to see it. We probably won’t see it all until quite close to the opening date but I really like what I’ve seen. It’s action packed, there’s a lot of stuff in second film.
O’Gorman, minus the wigs and costume.
G: Is there a high point for your character?
DO: Again, there’s lots of interesting things and I just can’t talk about them. I really can’t because I feel like I’m giving away spoilers every time I say something.
G: Let’s wind it back a bit. We’ve had one movie – An Unexpected Journey – for you what was your favorite moment?
DO: Oh god, in the first one…it’s funny, some scenes are fun to watch on screen like the battle moments or particular scenes. But in terms of shooting them some of the most fun scenes to shoot weren’t necessary the most epic ones we saw on the big screen. I have great memories of working with Aiden and Martin (Freeman) in a fake tree throwing pinecones down at wargs. That day with Andy Serkis was really weird, we had a really fun time. Or when we at Lake…aw, I can’t talk about that. I was going to talk about Lake Town but I can’t talk about that either!
G: Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re the archer in the group?
DO: No, that’s Kili.
G: Right that’s Aiden (total faux pas). You had the two swords?
DO: Yes.
G: Did you do much training?
DO: Did a fair amount of training, yeah. To use two swords is something that takes quite a bit of co-ordination and getting used to. It’s not like I’ve used two swords before in my life. I’m right handed so I had to become more proficient with my left hand.
G: I think I’d cut my feet off!
DO: Yeah! Well, once you start it’s surprising how quick you can pick it up. And then it’s another thing to do in a costume. But we got round it, we got there in the end.
G: Could you hold your own if orcs came in now?
DO: Definitely.
G: So you can defend me?
DO: Yeah!
G: That’s all I really want to know.
DO: Yeah, stick with me! No worries!
Listen to the interview here!
Dwarf effect created by standing next to the very tall G-Funk.
