It was this scene here (towards the end of the clip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU_zsyulWDg - it looks like it was only in the extended edition.
I was somewhere in the back of that mob listening to him do the speech. That's when I really understood what good acting was because I was actually getting stirred up listening to it. I wanted to go after the Rohan's for taking my land! I was ready to fight!
Anyway, it's not much. I didn't even speak to him but it made me realize how great actors project almost an aura of belief around them when they're acting.
He gave him permission to play Gandalf, funnily enough.
Of course, Lee made a career of playing villains and monsters, so I find it completely unsurprising that he was cast as Saruman instead.
Is there a way I can read some of this? Sounds fascinating.
"I was attached to the SAS from time to time but we are forbidden – former, present, or future – to discuss any specific operations. Let's just say I was in Special Forces and leave it at that. People can read in to that what they like."
That's quite impressive!
From Peter Jackson's DVD commentary:
When I was shooting the stabbing shot with Christopher, as a director would I was explaining to him what he should do"... "And he says, 'Peter, have you ever heard the sound a man makes when he’s stabbed in the back?' And I said, 'Um, no.' And he says 'Well, I have, and I know what to do.'"
Christopher Lee responded that a person in that position, (due to punctured lung I suppose) wouldn't be able to scream, so it would be more of a strangled noise. Apparently this drew on his experiences in special forces in WW2.
edit: the scene is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bG8CVUujhs Saruman is stabbed, it is Grima Wormtounge who gets the arrow.
An ultimate badass. RIP
For the final few months of his service, Lee, who spoke fluent French and German, among other languages, was seconded to the Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects.[62] Here, he was tasked with helping to track down Nazi war criminals.[63] Of his time with the organisation, Lee said: "We were given dossiers of what they'd done and told to find them, interrogate them as much as we could and hand them over to the appropriate authority ... We saw these concentration camps. Some had been cleaned up. Some had not."[63]
Rest in Peace, Mr. Lee. You are an inspiration to all.
I don't have any ties to the subject, but I loved the movie for its purely cinematic quality. It would be sad if it stayed forgotten as it is now. Maybe it will only re-emerge when the conflict surrounding this part of history becomes less heated and gives way to peace.
Check this if it helps:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11f96g_quaid-e-azam-muhamm...
The original Wicker Man actually holds up surprisingly well; I'm surprised it got made when it did.
Edward Woodward's performance in it is so bad that it elevates Lee, so it's a pretty good showcase for non-Saruman non-Dracula Lee.
I always felt that most of his later roles, what the telegraph calls "among the most fruitful" years, were too much of a type-cast.
requiescat in pace
too bad not many studios have balls to release similar dark stories, most one can expect is darkly-themed, sugar-sweet ones.
IMDB lists 281 acting credits, from 1946 to 2016.
RIP Sir Christopher Lee
