Peter: I always loved the name of ‘simbelmynë’, which is the name that Tolkien gave to those white flowers, and they’re flowers that only grow on the graves of the dead.

Philippa: Mmm.

Peter: And I, kind of, always thought that was a pretty amazing thing, which is why I wanted to feature them here: there’s no real reason for it, but it’s kind of a neat idea. [screen cap] This was an authentic shot. It’s –. No CG involved with that big crane up. It just shows you how remote this location really was! Because it is literally that remote: there’s no buildings much within about a thirty mile radius of where we are here – we’re right in the heart of the mountains of the Southern Alps.

Fran: But the flowers are artificial. The flowers are –.

Philippa: No! Don’t ruin it!

Peter: The flowers were just little bits of white cloth, actually, like white silk.

Fran: And the other thing that came as a shock was the pronunciation of… We always thought it was ‘simbelmoon’…

Philippa: [at same time as Fran, phonetically] ‘Simbelmoon’.

Fran: … didn’t we?

Philippa: Yeah.

Peter: Yeah.

Fran: And then we had adjust –.

Peter: [phonetically] ‘Simbelmoonya’, or something, I think.

Philippa: Mmm.

Fran: Yeah, we had to adjust to this –

Peter: I’m the worst guy to ask about pronunciation.

Fran: – late read on it, which was –

Peter: I have enough trouble with English!

Fran: – we never liked it as much.

Philippa: I didn’t like it as much, no. (beat) That great line, “No parent should have to bury their child” came from Bernard, actually.

Peter: Yeah. He does a great job.

Philippa: He’d spend all day with Gabriel, his son, running round, playing on the side of that set.

Peter: Gandalf the White, we had to make more vibrant and more, sort of, energetic; he does get more likeable in the third movie: I mean, he’s a bit [Philippa: Mmm.] of a dry character in ‘The Two Towers’ – he, sort of, comes back, he’s changed, he’s not quite the affectionate sort of Gandalf that we liked from ‘The Fellowship’ – and he tends to loosen up a little bit, and he has definitely some much more humorous and intimate moments in the next movie; but here he’s like… It’s almost like a cameo, really: I mean, Gandalf’s appearance in ‘The Two Towers’ is like an extended cameo to some degree: he’s about –.