You can find their responses in this
three-minute video:
Below is a transcript of the video.
Additionally, here is information on the recent event in LA. A sprawling installation that spans the length of two tennis courts, the Book of New Zealand opened at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Saturday, November 30. The giant pop-up book depicts four New Zealand filming locations, along with four actual film sets from the highly anticipated forthcoming motion picture The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Here is a video showcasing the opening night of the Book of New Zealand:
If you would like additional information on the areas of New Zealand featured in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,
please click here:
TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO:
The Hobbit Trilogy cast talk about New Zealand
Richard Armitage – Thorin in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: I did everything that you could possibly do. I visited the Waitomo Caves and saw the glowworms. I skied down Mt Ruapehu. I skied at Queenstown and all of the ski locations there. I skied at Mt Hutt. I took a helicopter out to White Island. I took a helicopter to the Milford Sound. This was all in my play time.
Evangeline Lilly – Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: I had a lot of off-time so I was able to see some of the sights in Queenstown. I was able to travel down to Paradise which … I didn’t actually shoot at Paradise but I got to drive down because I heard it was so incredible, and of course it is more incredible than you can describe. It was more beautiful than I really know how to put into words … truly and utterly breath-taking.
Benedict Cumberbatch – Smaug in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: I had about a week off and I went down to Queenstown, and had a fantastic time. And I went sky diving, I went paragliding, I went down a luge and the Shotover Jet around the rapids and … I mean I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie so I kinda loved the great outdoors.
Martin Freeman – Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Yeah, the beauty of it was not lost on us and the fact that it looked like CGI … kinda looked more perfect than nature was aah it was just funny because we were just looking at mountains thinking no one is going to believe this is real.
Luke Evans – Bard in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Food and wine is incredible. A few of us – me, Jimmy Nesbitt, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman and some other friends – we all hired a house one weekend in the Marlborough region, and we went wine tasting on our bikes. We left the car at home, all took our bikes and went off wine tasting all afternoon - it was absolutely glorious.
Evangeline Lilly – Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: I shot at Pukaki, you know Lake Pukaki. That was for one day but we were staying on the lake so when I wasn’t working I just got to walk around and see the beautiful sights … and even driving from Queenstown to Lake Pukaki was such a glorious drive.
Luke Evans – Bard in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: The one thing I left New Zealand remembering is how warm the people were and how generous and kind and welcoming they are. They just are very happy people – and of course they are happy, they live in New Zealand.
Sir Peter Jackson – director The Hobbit Trilogy: It’s an interesting industry because it has a lot of off-shoots outside of the actual movie that you’re making. And it has a lot of benefits for the economy, for local economies and especially with something like these movies, they generate tourism. You know, I can’t really think of any other industry, any industry that has the reach and the depth.
It’s interesting because Tolkien wrote these books. He created the mythology. He actually said in some of the letters he wrote, he said that mythologies should be built on and adapted by other people in other mediums. It’s like that’s what mythology is, it expands, it completes. And now New Zealand has played its role in the mythology of Middle-earth, and it will always be there.
