Happy Birthday: Sean Astin

Sean Astin

Born: February 25, 1971 in Santa Monica, California, USA

Married to: Christine Astin (11 July 1992 – present) (3 children)

[12/18/03, about the scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) in which Sam helps Frodo up Mount Doom] It was an incredible acting experience, being on the side of a volcano with that language. That language is so beautiful: “It’ll be springtime soon, and they’ll be sowing barley on the fields.” When Peter [Peter Jackson] came up to tell me to lower my arm, something like that, tears were streaming down his face, and to see him that emotional just forced me into it . . . It [finally seeing the last three reels of the film] was a huge cry. It was all of the tension and stress and pressure of having a wife and children, having a career, the investment of these movies. I was sobbing and heaving, I could barely breathe, and the movie facilitated that. It was just a huge release.

[12/14/03, on his character Sam Gamgee] I spent the film doing lots of things, but the crying is what lived. He [Peter Jackson] tricks you into thinking you’re going to get to do all these brave, heroic things most of the time, and you have to cry once in a while . . . and then he cuts out the heroic moments and you’re left thinking, “I look like a big baby”.

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