Elijah Wood has claimed a Lord Of The Rings Orc was styled on Harvey Weinstein’s image after the movie mogul sparked fury with cast and crew.
Speaking to Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast, the star, 40, who played Frodo Baggins in the franchise, revealed that the disgraced movie boss, who is currently incarcerated for sex offences, was the inspiration behind a beast.
Orcs – fictional humanoid monsters similar to goblins – have deformed mottled faces and Elijah revealed: ‘One of the orc masks — and I remember this vividly — was designed to look like Harvey Weinstein as a sort of a ‘f**k you.’”
Who’s who? Elijah Wood has claimed a Lord Of The Rings Orc was styled on Harvey Weinstein’s image after the movie mogul sparked fury with cast and crew (Weinstein, left in 2014, Gothmog the Orc, right in Lord Of The Rings)
Weinstein’s film company Miramax had the initial rights to Lord Of The Rings in the Nineties, yet caused a plethora of issues with creator Peter Jackson.
When he managed to take the movies to New Line Cinema for a separate deal, the New Zealand-born moviemaker and his team found a way to raise two fingers to Weinstein through the form of the monstrous villains Orcs.
Elijah details how his co-star Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee, said in another interview that he spotted the recognisable mask on-set.
He explained: ”He had seen these orc masks. And one of the orc masks and I remember this vividly — was designed to look like Harvey Weinstein…
A new look: Although he did not specify which Orc was designed to look like the movie boss (left last year), Gothmog (right), the lieutenant of the Witch-king in the Third Age from Minas Morgul, who is played by Lawrence Makoare, appears to bear the most striking resemblance
‘[It was] sort of a ‘f**k you,’” I think that is OK to talk about now, the guy is f**king incarcerated. F**k him.”
Although he did not specify which Orc was designed to look like the movie boss, Gothmog, the lieutenant of the Witch-king in the Third Age from Minas Morgul, who is played by Lawrence Makoare, appears to bear the most striking resemblance.
Elijah’s words come just two weeks after Weinstein again pleaded not guilty to another sexual assault charge at court in Los Angeles.
The back-and-forth fight between prosecutors and the disgraced movie producer’s attorneys over one of the 11 sexual assault charges he’s facing continued on 20 September with Weinstein pleading not guilty – a second time – to the charge.
Back then: Speaking to Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast, the star, who played Frodo Baggins in the franchise (pictured), revealed the news
A month ago, Judge Lisa Lench threw out the charge – sexual battery on a woman at a Beverly Hills Hotel in September 2010 – after accepting the lawyers’ challenge that the statute of limitations had run out on the alleged offense.
Still, the judge gave leave to prosecutors to amend the charge and bring it back to her at criminal court in downtown LA as a new indictment for her to re-consider.
They did that and Judge Lench accepted the re-written indictment on the revised charge, to which Weinstein’s lawyer, Mark Werksman, entered a plea of not guilty.
Changes: Weinstein’s film company Miramax had the initial rights to Lord Of The Rings in the Nineties, yet caused a plethora of issues with creator Peter Jackson (pictured in 2019)
But the judge also gave Werksman leave to file another challenge and scheduled a hearing October 25 for that challenge to be heard.
On that date, Judge Lench will also hear prosecution arguments for a ‘1108 motion’ which, if granted, would allow them bring in evidence of Weinstein’s past sexual misconduct at his upcoming LA trial.
That could include evidence from his trial in New York where he’s serving a 23-year prison sentence after being convicted of raping and sexual assaulting two women.
Weinstein – wearing brown prison overalls and white mask and sitting hand-cuffed in a wheelchair at court – said ‘Yes, your honor’ when Judge Lench asked him if he would waive his right to a speedy trial and agree to his trial starting April 7 next year.
Uh oh: Elijah details how his co-star Sean Astin (left), who played Samwise Gamgee, said in another interview that he spotted the recognisable mask on-set
He already entered not guilty pleas on all 11 charges when he appeared in court in July after being extradited to LA from New York following his sexual assault convictions there.
In LA, the man who unwittingly helped spark the #MeToo movement, is accused of sexually assaulting five women in 11 separate incidents between 2004 and 2013. If he’s convicted, he’s looking at a maximum total sentence of 140 years in prison.
In addition to sexual battery, the LA charges include rape, forced oral copulation and forced sexual penetration.
Shocking: Elijah’s words come just two weeks after Weinstein again pleaded not guilty to another sexual assault charge at court in Los Angeles