New faces in The Two Towers: Faramir

Faramir is the brother of Boromir (Sean Bean), who was killed in the first part of the trilogy, and the younger, less-favoured son of Denethor, the last ruling Steward of Gondor.

He's played by David Wenham as "Diver Dan" in hit Aussie television show SeaChange. He's a good physical match to Bean.

"I think the casting was pretty bloody good because you look at photographs of Sean and myself and there is quite a striking physical resemblance there."

That Wenham had fenced in his younger days helped.

"That came in handy. I learned with a foil but the type of weaponry in Lord of the Rings is sort of different. And the footwork isn't quite as delicate either. It's slash and bash as quickly and as bloodily as possible."

Herald feature: Lord of the Rings