Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films had no shortage of tear-jerking moments, and one of the most emotional was the scene at the Grey Havens from the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Having done their part to save Middle-earth, it was time for Elrond, Galadriel, Celeborn, Gandalf, and Bilbo to sail to the Undying Lands. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin gathered there to see them off. This departure was already bittersweet, and it became even sadder when Frodo revealed that he was joining them on their voyage; the other three hobbits had to say goodbye to one of their closest friends.

As revealed in behind-the-scenes footage, the events at the Grey Havens were extremely difficult to film. The actors needed to tap into deep emotions to accurately portray the hobbits’ heartbreak, which drained them for the entire day. It was not even the end of filming, so they could not use their real feelings about parting ways with one another. But the emotional weight was not the only thing that made this scene so tricky to create. Due to a comedy of errors, the actors needed to perform this section of the script in its entirety three times across three days.

The Lord of the Rings’ Actors Disliked Filming the Grey Havens

Main Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings
Actor in Jackson’s Films

Frodo Baggins
Elijah Wood

Samwise “Sam” Gamgee
Sean Astin

Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck
Dominic Monaghan

Peregrin “Pippin” Took
Billy Boyd

During the first attempt to film the Grey Havens scene, Sean Astin was missing part of his costume. On his lunch break, he had removed his Elven cloak and his vest, and though he remembered to put the cloak back on afterward, he forgot about the vest. Neither the cast nor crew noticed this at the time, so they continued filming with Astin in just his jacket and white shirt. The next day, after reviewing the footage and realizing the error, they needed to redo the entire scene just to fix it. The actors were annoyed at having to perform such a difficult sequence a second time. In behind-the-scenes footage, Astin jokingly recounted, “I remember the three other hobbits looked at me like, ‘We will kill you, you jerk.'”

That was not the end of the cast and crew’s difficulties; during the second attempt to film this scene, the cameras were out of focus, so the footage was blurry and unusable. They had to film the sequence a third time the following day, and that was the version that appeared in the final cut of The Return of the King. Despite these mishaps, the scene was excellent, though the actors do not necessarily agree. In the cast commentary track for The Return of the King, they aired some grievances about the Grey Havens. Dominic Monaghan stated that he thought he looked ugly when he cried, and Billy Boyd expressed his disappointment at the removal of some dialogue between Pippin and Gandalf, who had come to form a strong bond throughout the trilogy.

The Grey Havens Scene Was a Perfect Conclusion to the Trilogy

Such complaints illustrate that those who work on a project are often more critical than those who view it. Frodo’s departure from the Grey Havens was one of the trilogy’s most emotionally effective scenes, ending the story on the heart-wrenching note of Frodo leaving Middle-earth forever. His fellow hobbits were not the only ones who needed to say goodbye; the audience did as well. After over nine hours of film — or eleven hours for the extended editions — the fantasy epic came to its grand conclusion at the Grey Havens. Once Frodo sailed away, all that was left was for Sam to return home to his new family.

The events at the Grey Havens were slightly different in J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel. Frodo told Sam about his intentions to leave Middle-earth before they went to the Grey Havens rather than waiting until the last moment. He also gave the Red Book of Westmarch to Sam back in the Shire instead of at the Grey Havens. Further, Merry and Pippin were not present for most of the scene; they arrived just before Frodo left. The film condensed these moments mainly for the sake of time, but the suddenness of Frodo’s departure had the added benefit of making the emotional gut punch hit even harder. The production hurdles that the cast and crew faced to bring this scene to life were well worth it.