David Wenham - The Two Towers - Take Three

THE LORD OF THE RINGS

The Two Towers

Departure from Tolkien's book

David Wenham as FARAMIR

In the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, Faramir is played by David Wenham. The actor jokes that he got the role because he and Sean Bean, who played Boromir, both had large noses. [Cameras in Middle-earth: Filming The Two Towers, DVD Documentary]

Faramir and his brother's appearances were slightly altered from the book: in the films, they have fair hair and are slightly bearded, whereas in the book they were dark-haired and, following a statement in Unfinished Tales, lacked beards. [Tolkien, J. R. R. (1980), Christopher Tolkien, ed., Unfinished Tales, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, "History of Galadriel and Celeborn": "Of Amroth and Nimrodel", ISBN 0-395-29917-9]

The plot of the second film, The Two Towers, introduces a significant deviation from the book: Faramir does not at first let Frodo, Sam, and Gollum go, but decides to bring them and the Ring to Gondor.


He takes them to Osgiliath and not until the Nazgûl attack the city and Frodo comes under the threat of capture does he release them. This change received some criticism, and the character in the film was jokingly dubbed "Filmamir" or "Farfromthebookamir", among other names. ["The Reading Room". Caption Contest 33!!!!!!!!!!!! - Filmamir! er... Farfromthebookamir! No wait... it's Faramir!.]

Jackson's explanation is that he needed another adventure to delay Frodo and Sam, because the episode at Cirith Ungol was moved to the third movie, and so a new climax was needed.


In fact, according to the time line given by Tolkien, Frodo and Sam had only reached the Black Gate at the time of the fall of Isengard. Jackson also argues that it was necessary for Faramir to be tempted by the Ring because in his films everyone else was tempted, and letting Faramir be immune would be inconsistent in the eyes of a film audience. ["The Next Reel"]


A scene that received additional criticism is the Rangers' treatment of Gollum, who is beaten up, and Faramir's implicit compliance. ^{["The Nature of Faramir: A Response". Old Special Reports. TheOneRing.net.] ["The Faramir Changes: Arguments Against". Old Special Reports. TheOneRing.net.]}

In the book, Faramir called the creature Sméagol instead of Gollum, and told his men to "treat him gently, but watch him".
[Two Towers 1954b, "The Forbidden Pool", p. 300]

Co-screenwriter Philippa Boyens and actor David Wenham defended the changes to Faramir's character in order to increase dramatic tension: Faramir's "sea-green incorruptible" nature in the book would not have "[translated] well filmically". Wenham also found Tolkien's original "dramatically dead", despite having not read the book until after filming had commenced. [The Lord of the Rings film trilogy - From Book to Script: Finding the Story. [DVD]. New Line Cinema, 2003.]

David Wenham - First Post
David Wenham - How can this be the Second Post when I was so wrong
David Wenham - The Two Towers - Third Post
David Wenham - The Two Towers Extended - Fourth Post

David Wenham - The Two Towers Extended Version - Fourth Post

LORD OF THE RINGS

The Missing Scene

David Wenham as FARAMIR

This scene is barely two minutes long, but its exclusion from the theater version of The Two Towers left out an important piece of the puzzle that made Faramir who he is.

Brothers - Faramir and Boromir

"Faramir has grown up in a strange situation...but not an uncommon one. Growing up in a family where he has a father who obviously prefers the oldest son. Sometimes fathers prefer the youngest son but not in this case."

Faramir, Boromir and their father Denethor

Denetor wants Boromir to go to Rivendell and get the ring for Gondor. Boromir thinks his place is with his people not in Rivendell.

Faramir: "If there is need to go to Rivendell, send me in his stead."

Denethor: "You? Oh, I see. A chance for Faramir, captain of Gondor, to show his quality. I think not. I trust this mission only to your brother. The one who will not fail me."

Faramir being called by the ring

Faramir: "So… this is the answer to all the riddles. Here in the wild I have you. Two haflings and a host of men at my call."

Faramir: "And the Ring of Power within my grasp."

[Faramir reveals the Ring with the tip of his sword.]

[The Ring calls.]

Faramir: "A chance for Faramir, captain of Gondor, to show his quality."

A few changes were made for Faramir between book and film for The Two Towers. In contrast to the film, Faramir never had any desire to keep the Ring for the use of his people, nor did he take Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath.

David's view on the rest of the cast: "Wonderful. Peter was very brave to choose only the actors that he wanted to choose for the movie, despite the fact that a lot of big stars wanted to be involved in it. Peter chose not very famous actors, like me for example, just because he thought that we were good for the roles." [fortunecity.com]

David Wenham - First Post
David Wenham - How can this be the Second Post when I was so wrong
David Wenham - The Two Towers - Third Post

David Wenham - The Two Towers - Third Post

LORD OF THE RINGS

The Two Towers

David Wenham as FARAMIR

The mysterious leader of the Rangers is Faramir, the younger son of Denethor - the Steward of Gondor, and brother of Boromir. As a captain of the Rangers Faramir has the task of patrolling the land of Ithilien to prevent the Orcs and other servants of Sauron from crossing the border into Gondor.

Faramir finds and captures the Hobbits in Emyn Muil.

When Faramir learns that Frodo carries the One Ring at first he is tempted to use it to his advantage and deliver the hobbits, and their scrawny companion who was found fishing in their sacred, Forbidden Pool, to his father.

"A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality."
Faramir

However he realizes that Frodo carries a great burden and has a worthy quest and so not only sets Frodo, Sam and Gollum free, but tries to help them along the way.

• David Wenham - First Post

• David Wenham - How can this be the Second Post when I was so wrong

David Wenham - How can this be the Second Post when I was so wrong?

BEFORE GOING ON...

I need to make a MAJOR revision to my first post about David Wenham.

What I wrote was... Since being part of Lord of the Rings, several actor's careers have sky-rocketed. Another one who has gone on to bigger and better things is David Wenham.

I WAS SO UNINFORMED. WOEFULLY!

While I was sitting in the dark, thinking, "Oooooo. Who is he?" others were already aware of this popular actor. He's been around a while now--long before The Lord of the Rings.

Well, I'm not one of the clueless any longer.

David Wenham is a versatile, red-haired actor whose chameleon-like ability to disappear into his characters has found him successful in everything from large-scale epics to intimate domestic dramas.


"Up until 2001, actor David Wenham remained largely unknown outside of his native Australia. But with a small role in "Moulin Rouge!", a key supporting performance in "Russian Doll" and leads in the art-house fare "Better Than Sex" and "Dust,” the handsome, red-haired actor offered displays of versatility that impressed critics and moviegoers. While there may have been detractors who might lump him in with the many performers from Down Under who were making forays into US markets, Wenham possessed a charismatic screen presence and solid acting chops that could not be dismissed. By the time he was seen as Faramir in "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" in December 2002, audiences were primed and international stardom seemed assured." -- Copyright © Baseline 2009.


Between 1987 and 2001 David Wenham has 27 TV and movie credits. Far too many to list here. IMDb

(Credits that didn't make it to my First Post)
Russian Doll (2001)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
The Bank (2001)
Dust (2001)
The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002)
Pure (2002)

(First Post Credits)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
After the Deluge (2003) TV mini-series
Gettin' Square (2003)
Basilisk Stare (2003)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Van Helsing (2004)
Stiff (2004) (TV)
The Brush-Off (2004)
Three Dollars (2004)
The Proposition (2005)
Answered by Fire (2006)
300 (2006)
Married Life (2007)
The Children of Huang Shi (2008)
Australia (2008)
Deadliest Warrior" .... Narrator (9 episodes, 2009)
Public Enemies (2009)

David Wenham - First Post

Karl Urban - The Two Towers - Second Post

LORD OF THE RINGS

The Two Towers

Karl Urban as EOMER

Son of Theodwyn and Eomund;
a nephew of Theoden, King of Rohan;
Third Marshal of Riddermark.

Karl Urban launched into the second installment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Two Towers, starring in the dynamic role of Rohan warrior Eomer. Director/Writer/Producer Peter Jackson cast New Zealand actor Urban in The Lord of the Rings after viewing a rough cut of the critically acclaimed indie film The Price of Milk, which garnered Urban a Best Actor nomination at The New Zealand Film Awards.

Read an awesome Karl Urban [interview.]

11 days until the release of Star Trek.