Scottish actor Peter Mullan, who plays dwarf King Duran III in ‘The Rings of Power’ discussed what nearly forced him to quit the show, the hours he spends in the make-up chair, and why he’s glad to play a “junkie” king.
The cast and crew of ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power’ were attending the Season 2 World Premiere at the BFI Southbank in London. The first three episodes of the new season launches on Prime Video on Friday August 29th, 2024. Report by Burtonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
The cast and crew of ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power’ were attending the Season 2 World Premiere at the BFI Southbank in London. The first three episodes of the new season launches on Prime Video on Friday August 29th, 2024. Report by Burtonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Everybody, it's Peter, my little war horse.
00:02There you go.
00:04A first.
00:05I got you.
00:06It's a first.
00:07I'm surprised to overhear you say that you don't get recognised by Lord of the Rings, Rings of Fire fans.
00:11Never.
00:12That can't be true.
00:13No, never.
00:14Why would they?
00:15I'm a dwarf with a big nose and big ears.
00:18I wouldn't recognise... I don't recognise me.
00:20I'd probably be insulted, I guess, if they went...
00:24Are you that big-nosed dwarf guy?
00:27You have obviously been involved in so many fantastic films and TV series over the years.
00:32How has Rings of Power compared to all of those previous projects?
00:35I would have assumed it would be fan reaction, but I guess not for yourself.
00:37No, I don't get any of the fan stuff.
00:41It's a tough old gig physically.
00:44I mean, you're not working down a...
00:46Well, actually, that was the thing.
00:48I used to...
00:49Normally as an actor, you say it was tough physically.
00:52And then you say...
00:53I mean, it's not like working down a mine.
00:56In this thing, you go...
00:58Actually, I'm working down a... mine.
01:01I'm stuck in a mine for, like, months.
01:04So it was tough.
01:05And I was working down a mine.
01:07But I was working down a mine with a false nose and false ears.
01:09It's a tough one physically.
01:11It's a great one to do because of the lads I'm working with and the lassies.
01:15Like Sophia and Owen and Rob and Kevin.
01:20I mean, you have a really nice time.
01:22But physically, getting up at 3 a.m. and then sitting in a make-up chair,
01:27with the smell of the glue and all that.
01:30So that when you walk on set at 7.30,
01:34you're halfway through your day.
01:36Everyone else is just starting.
01:38So everyone else is up.
01:40And you're...
01:42Physically, it's demanding.
01:44But I didn't work.
01:45I mean, I think in total, I did maybe 12 days.
01:48There's the famous story.
01:49There's the famous story.
01:50I don't know if you know it, of Jim Carrey when he's doing the Grinch.
01:52And he, like, went through that training where his mind would go.
01:54Well, he had a breakdown and then he did the training.
01:56How would you cope when you were up to six on set for something?
01:59I used fans.
02:02Like, two air fans to push away the smell of the glue.
02:07And two things saved me.
02:10One was beautiful Sarah who did the make-up.
02:13Because she had the same energy level as me.
02:15So at 3 a.m., we're chatting away.
02:18That's our energy levels.
02:20If she'd been a more quiet kind of waking up, I'd have struggled.
02:24Because I like to go...
02:26I pretend everything's rosy in the garden.
02:28Because it gets you through it.
02:30Some actors like to sleep and stuff.
02:33I couldn't do that.
02:34And the other thing that got me through is a thing.
02:36It's a cool vest.
02:38And believe it or not, Lord of the Rings is one of the very few productions that have them.
02:43Because the company went bust, apparently.
02:46And it was really hard to get one.
02:48And a cool vest is like an electric blanket in reverse.
02:52And I know it sounds terribly boring and technical.
02:54It saved our lives.
02:56It was Owain who said to me, put the cool vest on.
02:58Because in New Zealand, I was going to pull out.
03:00I last did my first day and I thought, I'm going to have to say to these guys,
03:04I'm really sorry, but I can't do this.
03:06It was too suffocating.
03:07Then you put this cool vest on and they plug you into an ice...
03:11Do you know them?
03:12I've never heard of them, but honestly, it sounds like a great invention.
03:14You get plugged into an ice bag and the ice water goes through you.
03:19And you go from overheating to being genuinely really cool.
03:24And you can think straight.
03:26And suddenly you don't feel as claustrophobic.
03:28You don't feel as trapped.
03:29And I know it sounds like...
03:31But literally me, Owain, ask any of the lads about the cool vest
03:35and they will tell you they couldn't have gotten through it without it.
03:38And sadly, the company, I'm told, has gone bust.
03:41I don't know why.
03:42I know.
03:43My final question for you is,
03:44I imagine that you've played kings and royalty before,
03:47but when you're playing royalty, I know you're a dwarf,
03:49but royalty within a fantasy genre,
03:51does that give you more room to really hammer the royalty in your character?
03:56No, I was lucky I didn't, no.
03:59Because as the old adage says,
04:02you don't play royalty, everybody around you plays it.
04:05You don't.
04:06They're doing all the work for you.
04:08If they doff a cap, you're a royal.
04:10If they don't doff their cap,
04:11you're just...
04:12You know, who thinks he's a royal?
04:14Which is an interesting character, but you're a different character.
04:17So you're completely dependent on everybody else being subservient
04:23in a creditable fashion.
04:26But I was lucky in this one because I'm a junkie.
04:29So he's a junkie king, and that's interesting.
04:32You know, a guy with all the power, all the crowns,
04:35but the truth is he needs his head.
04:37And if he doesn't get his head...
04:39Because the first day, everybody was tiptoeing around that word,
04:43that concept, and we were in the middle of doing it,
04:46and I had to say to the director,
04:48because you only get little bits of script.
04:51And I said, so I'm a junkie.
04:54And there was this silence, and everybody went,
04:57because I wasn't being cheeky or facetious or flippant.
05:02I meant it, because I didn't have the full script.
05:05I don't have any backstory.
05:07And out of nowhere, I think it was Patrick or J.D.,
05:10one of the showrunners, just bawled,
05:13yes, yes, Peter, that's what you are!
05:17And I know it sounds, again, it sounds basic,
05:21but then you've got a through line.
05:23Then it's interesting.
05:25It's like, wow, I'm a little dwarf king,
05:28and the first season's kind of down to earth.
05:31Nice wee guy, but now he's addicted,
05:34and now he's capable of being deeply unpleasant
05:38because he needs this hat,
05:40and if you take that from him, he'll hurt you.
05:44And that's obviously, from an acting point of view,
05:47more fun than just being the nice dwarf.
05:50I am not one of those people.
05:52Oh, pleasure, pleasure. Take care.
05:54All the best, man. Take care.