New Zealand actor Stephen Hunter has become a favourite within the Oz Comic-Con family, having already been along for Perth and Adelaide conventions so far in 2014, with the upcoming events in Brisbane and Sydney this September set to add to his rising pop culture expo count. Currently starring as ‘Bombur’ in Peter Jackson‘s latest dive into the world of Tolkien with The Hobbit trilogy, the fact that it’s all coming to an end with the December release of the third and final film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, hasn’t escaped the Sydney-based actor.
“It’s going to be very exciting.” he enthuses. “We don’t know what’s happening with all the premieres and stuff like that, that’s out of our hands, but there are mixed feelings. It’s the end of it, you know? When the teaser trailer came out with Billy Boyd singing on it, that just have me chills. There’s going to be mixed feelings about it being over, I’m looking forward to new projects, but this has been such a big part of all our lives.”
Having discussed the end of the trilogy and what it means for the now tight-knit cast with Hunter’s co-star Dean O’Gorman earlier in the year, there’s a definite air of bitter-sweetness which hangs overhead. Akin to a graduating class, Hunter opens up about how working on these films have brought a cast of actors – based all around the world – together to what has become, like in the film, a brotherhood.
“Hopefully most of us pass!” Hunter laughs. “Dean’s a guy who we’ve gotten really close to, you know. We’ve all been through a lot over the last couple of years, as a group and personally as well, and we’re very close. We still email each other, usually just real childish things we’ll email each other! That’s a bond that will never be broken, between all of us.”
“We had rings made,” he continues. “I’ll be wearing mine in Brisbane and Sydney too. A lot of us chose the thumb rings, which I guess for us, we figured it was a bit more dwarvish and manly! Who knows! Some people think they just look ridiculous. I was too big of a wuss to get a tattoo and we didn’t want to do the same as the other guys did. Ian McKellen showed us his tattoo and we were like, ‘We want to do something different’. Because dwarves make things with metal, a lot of us got bronze rings. From the outside, you can’t tell that there’s anything on it, but it’s all inscribed on the inside. We got WETA to make these especially, these were something we decided we wanted to buy. They were quite expensive, so we didn’t expect to be given them. People were flogging stuff off set, just ask Jed Brophy!”
As to what he knows about the status of the final film, Hunter isn’t giving much away, though he is about to head back to resume some work on it and excitingly, be able to view some of it for the first time!
“I haven’t been to Wellington since this time last year,” he notes. “We’d just arrived home this time last year. I’m doing some ADR actually later this week, I get back just before the conventions, so I’m going to be doing some bits and pieces on the third movie. I’ll finally be able to see some footage! That’ll be exciting. My wardrobe is full of piles of all sorts of things from the trip and one day I’ll have a room I can put it all in so I can remember when I was famous!”
As with The Lord of the Rings film franchise, the popularity of The Hobbit within both the Tolkien fandom and that of the filmgoers who’ve only cottoned onto the original material through these releases has only continued to grow. With Oz Comic-Con and other similar events continuing to feature cast members, animators and other people involved in the process of bringing these stories to life on screen as well, it’s not a momentum which stands to die or fade with the release of the final film. Oz Comic-Con has continued to up the stakes with their enticing guests as well, following on from Benedict Cumberbatch/Smaug/Sherlock making appearances in Adelaide and then in a special Sydney-only event in April, Brisbane and Sydney fans will be able to get around Orlando Bloom/Legolas next month now. With the trio of actors confirmed for both events, fans of The Hobbit and indeed the original Lord of the Rings film are going to have an absolute field day.
“It’s always good to have one of my mates there,” Hunter agrees. “Nothing against Orlando, he’s a lovely guy as well, but Dean and I have spent a lot time together, so that’s going to be a lot of fun. I think getting Orlando there was such a huge coup and that’s going to drag a lot of people in. Everyone likes the elf! My daughter who is three and a half, she knows that I worked with The Hobbit and she knows that I work with Bombur, but she doesn’t know I am Bombur. We’ve kept that mystery alive for her, but when I ask her what her favourite character in The Hobbit is, she always says one of the elves! I think she’ll be quite happy that Legolas is going to be there. It’s going to be really good, him being there, a lot of people are going to be really excited by it. I can’t even recall him ever doing a con. Hopefully it’ll really get the numbers up.”
“I’ll certainly be enquiring about that one!” Hunter laughs, referring to Bloom’s recent hero status following a scuffle with Justin Bieber/Joffrey. “I don’t know if he actually landed one [punch] or if he just attempted to, but I think he expanded his fan base by doing it!’
The continued existence and popularity of these type of events around the world does more than just give the film or product a continued lifespan/presence, they also provide opportunities for the actors to get together after various time apart. For The Hobbit in particular, this is a cast who have spent an intense amount of time in close quarters with each other for a long amount of time, so as Hunter acknowledges, Oz Comic-Con and related events are never a bad thing.
“The good thing is, we just get invited to go and talk to people all over the world and the best thing about that is that’s how we get together. We do one in Germany called HobbitCon every year, I think the last one is coming up next year. It’s good, because that’s one of the real ones where we all get together; usually they don’t want too many dwarves in the room all at one time, so you’ll get one or two or three at a time. But that’s where a lot of us go to. It is different, because everyone’s in the same hotel and everyone’s staying in the same place. All the fans and all the cast get to mingle. The notorious parties downstairs at the bar and the dancing…Dirk, who runs it, he does RingCon and stuff like that and he was personally on the dance floor with us! It’s quite unique and I think the last one will be next year and I think that’s a good tie up. I think just the three is all we need of those. The rest are fun too, I did Oz Comic-Con in Perth and Adelaide earlier in the year and I just had a great time! I think it’s nice to be closer to home, because it does take out of your work and your family life when you need to travel around the world for these things. It’s nice to do something at home.”
When he’s not working on The Hobbit or playing dad at home, Hunter is obviously still a working actor and creative. Coming out of a franchise or extended work project of any type, it’s understandable that the actor is going to be wondering what’s next and where the next job is coming from. Hunter is keen to be involved in further projects, but notes that the process of landing work hasn’t become any easier since working on this series, nor should it.
“There’s a bit of work coming up, so we’ll have to try and keep that going.” he says. “I’ve got a very good agent in Sydney now and he really does put it in perspective for me; it’s certainly increased my profile, it’s sparked people’s interest when they found out what I was in but at the same time, as great as the role was, it didn’t’ really showcase what I can do. You can’t see my face and I’m more of a physical character. You don’t just get cast in too many things, it’s more like, the opportunities for auditions will come up and I still have to work just as hard as I used to. There’s that old saying of, ‘You’re only as good as your last job’, so I’ve just got to keep working and that’s the nature of this industry. You’ve just got to keep going.”=
“I’ve got a YouTube channel,” Hunter says. “My Twitter handle – @stephenjhunter1 -is my YouTube handle as well and I’ve been just trying to produce my own stuff and do writing and just learn how to use cameras properly. It’s so easy just to film something and whack it online and see what the response is like. Because you’ve got Twitter and Facebook and Vine, you can really test the waters with what you’re doing and I’m a firm believer of if you keep busy, work will come, rather than sitting back and waiting for a job. You just can’t.”
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You can meet and see Stephen at Oz Comic-Con Brisbane and Sydney next month! The event comes by Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 6 & 7 before heading for Sydney’s Exhibition Centre on Glebe Island come September 13 & 14. Tickets and event information are available from www.ozcomicon.com.
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