25 years ago, on December 19, 2001, a cultural phenomenon arrived on cinema screens worldwide with the same anticipation as the total solar eclipse coming this August 12. The first installment of The Lord of the Rings, director Peter Jackson’s audiovisual adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s work, inaugurated a cinematic universe that continued the success of the British writer’s literary work, which had already sold over one hundred million copies and been translated into 25 languages. Among all the actors who made up the privileged cast of The Fellowship of the Ring — many of whom reprised their roles in the subsequent trilogy installments — four faces remained in the hearts of those who surrendered to the saga: the honorable hobbits (or halflings), turned into improvised bearers and defenders of the dangerous ring of power, portrayed by Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Sam), Billy Boyd (Pippin), and Dominic Monaghan (Merry).
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On the occasion of the quarter-century celebration of the adaptation that made them famous, these four actors, who off-screen are of human height (much taller than the 1.20 meters a hobbit measures) and maintain a good friendship, are touring various cities in the United States these days — as some of them show on social media — where they meet fans of the film.
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After their reunion at Fan Expo Denver in May, the start of their summer tour took place last Friday, August 7, in Cambridge (Massachusetts). The four dined at the Peruvian restaurant La Royal, which documented this unexpected visit on its Instagram profile, where they posted several photos with the actors and a table selfie with Wood, Astin, Boyd, and Monaghan: “Once upon a time, when the spirit of The Lord of the Rings descended upon La Royal, the world rejoiced!” says the text accompanying the photos of the visit, before thanking the actors “for making the forces of the universe align for a magical evening at La Royal!!”
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Their stops across the United States can be followed on the actors’ social media (not Elijah Wood’s, who does not have an Instagram account). “The band is reunited,” Astin celebrates on his profile on this social network (823,000 followers) alongside another photo at the Peruvian restaurant in Cambridge where, although somewhat blurred, the four look at and smile at the camera. Nostalgic phrases follow in the comments on his post, and some dare to turn the actors’ dinner into one of the famous “second breakfasts” of the hobbits, who hardly forgive missing one of their six daily meals.
Monaghan, the most active on social media of the four, also reflects his latest adventures with his companions on his Instagram profile (with nearly 900,000 followers): Merry shared the photo from Cambridge over the weekend and also more recent ones from Monday, August 10, this time in Boston, where the actors participated in the city’s pop culture convention Fan Expo.
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In both selfies — the first during the event, and the second (this time without Astin) after dining at a famous oyster bar, Neptune Oyster — the actors seem to enjoy their time together like any group of friends reuniting for a vacation. In the first, Monaghan also allows himself a fun message for the American magazine People, which on August 8 published an article about their dinner in Cambridge titled that the hobbits were “unrecognizable”: “I would say that, among all the casts appearing in photos 25 years later, we still look practically the same. The four of us have been lucky to age very little! What a strange headline! Unrecognizable?! I totally disagree!” writes the actor in a post that already has more than 26,000 Likes.
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For his part, Billy Boyd, Pippin in the trilogy, has documented on his Instagram profile (386,000 followers) another favorite activity of any hobbit: drinking beer. In another selfie (again without Astin), the three actors posed enthusiastically at the entrance of Boston’s Green Dragon tavern, according to Boyd’s text accompanying the photo, the place from which “the only beer for the brave and loyal” comes (the best definition of their characters).
The journey of the four actors celebrating 25 years of The Fellowship of the Ring — much calmer and more relaxed than the one they undertake in the film — will continue next weekend, this time at the Fan Expo in Chicago, held from August 14 to 16. Monaghan announces this in one of the photos with his friends. Later, they will be at Fan Expo Canada, which will take place from August 27 to 30 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. There, their presence will be highly sought after by fans: according to the Daily Mail, Astin, Boyd, and Monaghan charge $110 for photos and autographs, while Wood charges $120 for autographs, $120 for selfies, and $125 for photos.
Not surprisingly, the one who brought Frodo to life until the last The Lord of the Rings (The Return of the King movie, released in 2003) is the only one of the original four hobbit friends chosen to participate in the prequel Andy Serkis is preparing, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which is expected to premiere on December 17, 2027. The others, although now charging for photos, gained no more money than fame after working on the saga’s films. Sean Astin (Sam) recently admitted this to The Guardian: “There was a disconnect between the attention I received and the amount of money we had. It wasn’t much money! In fact, I had to sell my house because I negotiated a tiny amount for the trilogy.”
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