Sean Bean, Who Dies A Lot In Movies, Talks About Why LOTR Death Is His Favorite

The characters that actor Sean Bean play in movies and TV shows have a tendency to die, but which death is his favorite? Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said Boromir's death from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring takes the morbid honor.

"It's my favorite death scene, and I've done a few," he said with a launch. "You couldn't ask for a more heroic death."

Boromir was killed by the Uruk-hai leader Lurtz in Fellowship after being pummeled by arrows. Bean wore a metal breastplate under his clothes that held the arrows in place. Across multiple takes, Bean acted as if he was getting shot. Thanks to his performance, this was one of the most powerful and memorable scene from across the entire trilogy.

Boromir's dying words to Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) in the movie are, "My brother, my captain, my king." Bean, Mortensen, Jackson, and co-screenwriter Fran Walsh wrote the line (it was not in the book) over beers and wine the night before shooting.

Finally, Bean talked about his approach to acting for a character's final moments, including Bormir. "You can't show off," he said. "You can't be vain or posing…. Because every time you die, it's a big f***ing moment!"