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from Elf Fantasy Magazine
June/July 2004
by Leo Oorschot (translation by raptoe for this website)
Haldir - The breakthrough of a too short elf
Lord of the Rings actor Craig Parker (he played the role of Haldir) is one of the guests at the Elf Fantasy Fair 2004. During the shoot of the movies he was always charming and took plenty of time for his fans.
Soaps
Craig was born well over 33 years ago on the Fiji islands, just north of New Zealand. When he was very young he and his family moved to Glenfield (NZ) where he started his acting career. At first he mainly played on the stage, but later on he appeared on television as well. His breakthrough with the big audience came with the NZ-version of Goede tijden Slechte tijden (a Dutch soap opera): Shortland Street. For more than four years Parker played the popular character Guy Warner, and his departure from the series left hundreds of fans in tears. Recently he appeared in another NZ series, Mercy Peak, and he played in a theatre version of the Rocky Horror Show.
Pleads
Parker was one of the first actors to be cast in the Lord of the Rings. At first he and several other local actors were asked to provide the voices for the storyboard version of the movie (these are called animatics in movie terms and can be seen on the Extended DVD of the Fellowship of the Ring). In this context Parker played several roles like the one of Frodo, and he was able to read the first scripts that were made by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh that served as the set-up in which the trilogy would be shot as two parts. With this in mind he started to talk to the filmmakers to be part of the movie as well, when necessary as someone who took care of the coffee. This landed him the part of Haldir.
Platform shoes
That he was cast as an elf was a small surprise because with his height of 1.80 metres he was actually too short to play an elf. Thus many of his scenes were filmed with the help of platform shoes and small crates on which he could stand. And despite the fact that the character of Haldir was only on the screen for a few seconds in the first part, he still made a memorable impression on the audience. In the extended edition he was to be seen for a few more seconds and in The Two Towers Jackson cleverly used his presence to let him lead the elf army that was coming to the aid of the Rohirrim at Helm's Deep.
Rings Misery
Many would have given their right arm to be a part of the experience, but every now and then Parker can't resist to talk about the less glamorous parts of life on the set of Lord of the Rings. About the fact that he had to shave two times a day, the struggle to avoid getting dirty (because that meant another hour in the make-up room to get rid of the dirt), Parker can talk with a great sense of humour. Without a doubt he has plenty of things to talk about at the Elf Fantasy Fair. | | |