The greatest heroes in the Lord Of The Rings saga aren’t just to be found in the Fellowship. You have ethereal Elf warriors Galadriel and Arwen – played by Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler, respectively – who aid Frodo on his quest, delivering spiritual guidance, literally saving his life, and joining the fight against the forces of darkness.
In Empire’s epic 25th anniversary reunion issue, we brought Blanchett and Tyler back together to reflect on their time in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, looking back on their time together, their first meeting, and what it was like to become part of a cinematic phenomenon. You can read the full interview in the magazine, on newsstands from Thursday January 15 – and here’s a sneak peek, in which they discuss learning Elvish, Arwen’s lost role in the battle of Helm’s Deep, and a shared deleted scene.
Did you have to work on Elf body-language and speech together?
Cate Blanchett: We had Roisin [Carty, dialogue coach]. I heard you speak Elvish, and that sound just seemed to roll from you. It was so mellifluous and beautiful to listen to.
Liv Tyler: I used to listen to it [Elvish] on cassette tapes. I would walk around listening to it over and over. My character was so interesting because she’s not in the book a lot. Originally, when I came into the project, I was included in the Fellowship. I was in Helm’s Deep, fighting.
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And you shot those scenes, didn’t you?
Tyler: I was there with Viggo and everyone. It was fucking hard, man. It was brutal. And it didn’t really work. Then it changed again. Over the course of three years, I didn’t always have something to hold on to with the text, so I had to really lean into this idea of unwavering love and groundedness that was the role of Arwen in the story.
Blanchett: You’d see Viggo [Mortensen] and Pete [Jackson] going to knock off another few shots from the battle sequences, which I was longing to be part of. But it really felt like they were invested in finding a way that the female characters could anchor things, so that even though they weren’t a huge part of the narrative, they weighted the story in quite a profound way.
You had one scene together, that was cut. Arwen went to Galadriel for advice before Helm’s Deep. Does that ring a bell at all?
Tyler: I remember a scene where we’re talking. I think I’m sitting in a chair? I’ve only seen the first half of the first [film]. I try to play it for my kids, who aren’t that interested.