Liz Berry and Kylee Southon saw the long and the short of it yeasterday. The Nelson pair were two of the more then 500 hopefuls who turned up to Wellington’s National Dance and Drama Centre in a bid to become extras in film director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
And they reckoned they were just what the production company was looking for. “I’m 4ft and that’s with shoes on,” laughed 21-year-old, Southon. “I could be just what they’re looking for if they’re after an elf or a hobbit.” Berry, an avid horse rider who stands 60cm taller then her friend, is keen to play a giant if she is successful.
Berry, who modeled at the 1996 Smokefree Fashion Award, confessed to not having read The Hobbit but was confident of proving herself on horseback with a sword. “I decided to give it a go for the fun of it, really, but I also like the idea of being in a film.”
The friends caught the 4.30 ferry from Picton to join the Queue for casting. They filled out forms asking for everything from head size to bra size.
They then drew an outline of their feet and were photographed Publicist Sian Clement said the production company was looking for 15,000 extras for the $264m adaptation of the JRR Tolkien book. Filming is due to start in New Zealand later this year.
“We’ll be looking over the applications over the next few weeks and deciding who’s suitable.
