ON ACTING

We used to win first prize [in poetry contests]. "The woods are lovely, dark and deep / And I have promises to keep / And miles to go before I sleep / And miles to go before I sleep." [from Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.] Not bad for a 10-year-old memory. I think those experiences are what inspired me to be an actor.
YM Magazine (USA) - January, 2003

The process of making a movie is what I love. I thrive on that. It’s an exciting miracle, a mad adventure. I love being part of it.
Vogue (USA) - December, 2002

I try not to take myself too seriously. I feel quite privileged to be able to be an actor. I still find it unbelievable I'm being paid to do something I love.
CosmoGirl (UK) - December, 2002

The role of an actor is to make every character believable.
Starlog - May, 2002

Theatre is something that I feel very important for an actor to keep doing. I think it keeps you sharp. But at the moment I'm intrigued with movies and filmmaking. It hasn't lured me away from theatre, but I'm just going to try to ride this wave and then jump onto another and see how far it takes me.
Harper's Bazaar (Singapore) - February, 2002

I was 22, I had two more days left of drama school and it was, like, 'Here, have a career.' Boom.
Harper's Bazaar (Singapore) - February, 2002

I know you can be up one minute and drop the next, so I'm trying to maintain a steady course so I can have some longevity.
Harper's Bazaar (Singapore) - February, 2002

I feel really privileged to be an actor, to be paid to do something I love.
Calgary Sun (Canada) - December 18, 2001

I'm amazed that things have panned out the way they have. I always say I'm so lucky, though my mum always says, "You make your own luck."
ThisIsLondon (UK) - December 14, 2001

ON LEGOLAS AND LOTR

Although it is a fantasy film, it’s as real as it can be. You have to imagine that an audience will buy their ticket to a cinema and get on a first-class flight and journey to Middle Earth.
Dreamwatch (USA) - February, 2002

Elves are like trees, grounded and focused from the trunk down but graceful and agile on top.
Los Angeles Daily News (USA) - December 16, 2001

They have the greatest joy and the deepest sorrow. And they’re really magical. They’re centered and focused in their movement. The way they carry themselves was something I really worked on. The physicality of these elves was important.
National Post (NZ) - December 14, 2001

Elves have this superhuman strength, yet they're so graceful. Tolkien created them to be angelic spirits, but I also saw Legolas as something out of the Seven Samurai.
Daily Mail (NZ) - December 14, 2001

Vig used to call me 'Elf boy', and I’d call him 'filthy human'. As an Elf, I never got a scratch on me, never got dirty. And Vig would come out with blood and sweat all over him. And he'd say to me, 'Oh, go manicure your nails.'
Arena Homme Plus (UK) - Winter, 2001

ON FANS

The girls have got a bit excited. I spoke to my agent and she says she's wading through the fan mail. We've got bags of it. I'm like, 'OK, well, what do we do with that, then?' And she explains that we're sending them pictures and stuff, which is great.
Express on Sunday (UK) - January 20, 2002

[Fans] see characters I play in movies and I am very flattered that they respond to them in such an excited way.
Empire (UK) - January, 2003

I'm always amazed at anyone's interest in what I have to say.
Vogue (USA) - December, 2002

ON LOVE

I'm quite sensitive to women. I saw how my sister got treated by boyfriends. I read this thing that said when you are in a relationship with a woman, imagine how you would feel if you were her father. That's been my approach, for the most part.
GQ (USA) - January, 2004

Maybe our generation is more about sex, but it feels like romance is dying out.
Rolling Stone (USA) - October 3, 2003

When you start falling for somebody and you can't stop thinking about when you're going to see them again, I love that. Women are beautiful. They deserve to be cherished and respected.
Teen People (USA) - December, 2002

ON OTHER CELEBRITY'S

It was like a drama school of its own, being on set. Peter [Jackson] is a genius. Ian McKellen is the greatest theatre actor in Britain. He's somebody I look at and say, 'That's what I would like to do.' I had studied videos of his performances, so it was bizarre to be thrown into an environment with him.
Starlog - February, 2002

The thing with Ridley [Scott] is he's been doing this forever, he knows what it is he wants and how to get it. There's absolutely no messing around on set. Having said that, he's very accessible to actors, very open to what you want to do and willing to talk about it. He casts people who he feels are going to bring something to the role and allows them to take care of the situation, to do what it is that they do.
Harper's Bazaar (Singapore) - February, 2002