‘Lord of the Rings’ director Peter Jackson pays tribute to Ian Holm

Washington D.C.: Director Peter Jackson on Saturday shared a heartfelt note expressing grief over the demise of veteran actor Ian Holm.

Jackson who directed the late actor in the movie ‘Lord of the Rings’ shared a rather lengthy note on his official Facebook page recalling the conversation they shared during the course of their shoot.

The director dubbed Holms as a “delightful, generous man,” who is “quite, but cheeky, with a lovely twinkle in his eye.”

“Back in early 2000, before we started shooting our Bilbo scenes for The Fellowship of the Ring, I was nervous about working with such an esteemed actor, but he immediately put me at ease. Standing in Bag End on the first day, before cameras started rolling, he took me to one side and said that he would be trying different things in every take, but I shouldn’t be alarmed. If, after five or six takes, he hadn’t given me what I needed, then by all means I should give him specific direction,” his statement read.

He added: “And that’s exactly what we did. But incredibly his varied line reads and performances were all quite wonderful. He rarely needed direction. He gave us an amazing range of choices to select from in the cutting room.”

‘The Lovely Bones’ director further talked about the later actor’s character as Bilbo Baggins in the trilogy and how easily he would portray the role immediately the camera rolls in.

The internationally acclaimed actor, Ian Holm died at the age of 88, reported Variety.

He was widely popular for his theatre, on-stage performances. He was a leading performer and a prominent face of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

After making his acting mettle strong in theatres, he began working in films, debuting with an adaptation of his stage performance in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in 1968.

The late actor is widely recognised for the high-profile movies, including ‘Alien’, ‘The Fifth Element’, ‘Lord of the Rings’ sequel, and ‘The Return of the King’ and ‘Hobbit’ and ‘The Battle of the Five Armies’.

But his finest work was from the independently made productions like ‘Chariots of Fire’, an Oscar best picture, which brought him a nomination as best supporting actor in 1982.

His other internationally acclaimed performances were seen in movies like ‘The Madness of King George,’ ‘Joe Gould’s Secret,’ ‘Big Night and ‘The Sweet Hereafter’.