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Recently Fox Searchlight brought Collider and a few other journalists to London to visit the shooting location of their upcoming J.R.R. Tolkien biopic: Tolkien.

Tolkien hits cinemas on May 10th, and we were fortunate enough to speak with several people who worked on the film, including Tolkien cast members Patrick Gibson (The OA), Anthony Boyle (Derry Girls), and Tom Glynn-Carney (Dunkirk), who portrayed Robert Gilson, Geoffrey Smith, and Christopher Wiseman respectively.

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We spoke with Gibson, Boyle, and Glynn-Carney together about bringing this iconic group of friends (self-styled the “TCBS” or “Tea Club, Barrovian Society”), to life on the silver screen. Although some of their characters suffered untimely deaths, each influenced characters in Tolkien’s most famous works. Each of these young men were as formative to Professor Tolkien himself as they are to the expansive narrative Tolkien brings to life. We discussed the sense of fellowship between the three actors and Tolkien’s leads: Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins.

Check out what Patrick Gibson, Anthony Boyle, and Tom Glynn-Carney had to say in the player above, and below is exactly what we talked about:

  • While their characters obviously inspired the four hobbits from The Lord of the Rings, which Tolkien character the actors think they are most like
  • What the casting process was like creating the TCBS
  • Was it difficult for each of the men to be the second actor portraying the same character in Tolkien?

Here is the official synopsis for Tolkien:

Tolkien explores the formative years of the renowned author’s life as he finds friendship, courage and inspiration among a fellow group of writers and artists at school. Their brotherhood strengthens as they grow up and weather love and loss together, including Tolkien’s (Nicholas Hoult) tumultuous courtship of his beloved Edith Bratt (Lily Collins), until the outbreak of the First World War which threatens to tear their fellowship apart. All of these experiences would later inspire Tolkien to write his famous Middle-earth novels.

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Image via Fox Searchlight, Chernin Entertainment
tolkien-movie-images
Image via Fox Searchlight, Chernin Entertainment
tolkien-movie-images
Image via Fox Searchlight, Chernin Entertainment