Lord Of The Rings Director Peter Jackson Has Posted A Lovely Tribute To The Late Sir Ian Holm

Sir Ian Holm, the actor who portrayed Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy (among many other roles over his long career), passed away on June 19 at the age of 88. Tributes have poured in for the actor, and on June 20 Jackson himself weighed in on what made Holm special, and what his presence on the set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy meant to him.

Jackson, who posted his tribute on Facebook, opens by saying that Holm was "was such a delightful, generous man. Quiet, but cheeky, with a lovely twinkle in his eye." He recalls being nervous about "working with such an esteemed actor" before shooting his beloved trilogy, but writes about how Holm "immediately put (him) at ease." He recalls how Holm alerted him that he would "be trying different things in every take," and that if he hadn't given Jackson what he needed after five or six, he should give him specific direction.

"Incredibly his varied line reads and performances were all quite wonderful," Jackson recalls. "He rarely needed direction. He gave us an amazing range of choices to select from in the cutting room." He recalls how Holm enchanted a group of kids they were filming with during a long shoot with a lot of downtime by telling them stories between recording.

Years later, Jackson was hoping that Holm could return for the opening scenes of his Hobbit trilogy, but was shocked to learn that the actor had been diagonosed with Parkinson's disease, and had quietly retired from acting. However, over a long dinner, they eventually planned for a way to have Holm return to the role one last time. "I knew he was only doing it as a favour to me, and I held his hands and thanked him with tears in my eyes," Jackson recalls.

He also says that Elijah Wood came to London to help capture Holm's scenes, as the two had become friends during filming of The Lord of the Rings and he wanted to offer support.

"Watching Ian Holm perform taught me so much - as Ian was being his usual quiet self, that just somehow happened," Jackson says. "It was a privilege to work with him, and a blessing to know him."

A new Lord of the Rings TV series is in development at Amazon Studios. There's also a new MMO in the works, as well as a game about Gollum coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X.