RUSSELL BAILLIE talks to four born-again fans of New Zealand - and checks out their local knowledge.
You won't find bigger fans of our place than the four young actors who returned for the New Zealand premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Ask variations on that tired old question, "So what did you think of New Zild?" of American star Elijah Wood and Brit newcomers Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd and Orlando Bloom, and they gush like a Whakarewarewa geyser.
And despite having spent 15 months here shooting the three films back-to-back, they are considering staying even longer.
The four have been applying for residency and have talked about buying a house together they can use as a timeshare.
"You guys might be stuck with hobbits. I'm sorry," says Wood.
English actor Bloom, who plays the elf Legolas, even goes as far as to say it's "the sort of place I would want to raise my kids one day".
The day after the premiere we encounter the three hobbits together - the fourth, Sean Astin, couldn't make it.
They make a fine triple-act with the various accents - Wood is Californian, Monaghan English and Boyd Scottish - as they talk about encountering everything from Wellington nightlife to dolphins in Lyall Bay and Milford Sound and earthquakes in Te Anau.
Wood: "I've been in earthquakes. I'm from Los Angeles. It's a shaky place. But that was one of the coolest. It was very groovy."
Yes, but did they learn anything about this place? We set them a little test just to see if they're qualified to be honorary Kiwis ...
What is paua?
Monaghan: "Paua is a shell. I'm actually wearing a paua ring. Paua is a shell, in America called abalone and it's a semi-precious kind of shell."
Wood: "It's a shellfish as well."
Correct.
Name Wellington's Super 12 rugby team and its most famous player?
Wood: "The All Blacks?"
Monaghan: "No, the Wellington team."
Wood: "Oh, ok, that's not the New Zealand team."
Boyd: "I don't watch rugby."
Monaghan: "Are they called the Hurricanes?"
Wood: "Oh the Hurricanes."
Monaghan: "And Jonah Lomu."
Wood: "Oh. Nice."
Correct.
What is the name of the body of water between the North and South Islands?
Boyd: "The Cook Strait."
Correct.
What is Jelly Tip?
All together: "A Jelly Tip?"
Monaghan: "Are they ice creams with the things on top?"
Wood: "Yes!"
Boyd: "Yes!"
What is a jandal?
Boyd: "Is it footwear?"
Monaghan: "Are they the jelly ones?"
Boyd: "No. Rubber flip-flops?"
Wood: "Mate! Nice! I never would have known that."
Okay, back to the showbiz questions.
Are they worried they could suffer the curse of, say, Star Wars star Mark Hamill and have the trilogy become a very long shadow over the rest of their careers?
Monaghan: "I don't know about Elijah, but ... it just puts us on a different plateau ... it's a great springboard. The only thing you have to watch out for is that you are not constantly cast as a hobbit - a sprightly, high-energy kind of person."
All the hobbits, says director Peter Jackson, had to be between 1.65 and 1.7 metres tall to allow them to be shrunk down to 1.2m and still look the right proportion.
Which makes one wonder if they have ever lost a role because they were too short ...
Boyd laughs. "No, I don't think so. But if I did - the bastards, I'd find a way to get back at them."
They may have done just that.
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