There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale

Here we have Sean Astin’s adventures as Samwise Gamgee during filming of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He recounts how he first heard about the audition, how he prepped for the role, the delights and difficulties of doing such a long shoot in New Zealand, and how the role changed his life going forward. Told with candor, humor, and sometimes gentle criticism, I found this book quite engaging.

This was an educational delight all around. First, I love that Sean Astin was unfamiliar with Tolkien’s work prior to scheduling an audition for the role of Samwise. I found it amusing and endearing that Astin showed us his initial ignorance of The Lord of the Rings. I hope Tolkien’s works opened a door to other great fantasy and science show more fiction works.

Prior to listening to this book, I was unaware of Astin’s parentage and it’s a rather convoluted one that involves his birth father’s true identity, step dads, and DNA tests. Even though I have been an Astin fan since seeing Goonies when I was 12, I had not delved into Astin’s personal life. This book lifts that curtain a bit and we get to know this actor for more than just his famous movies.

There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes bits about filming in New Zealand, Astin’s fellow actors, Peter Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh, and his own doubts and personal victories. I was pleasantly surprised at how Astin chatted about the peculiarities and ticks of his fellow actors. Any criticism he offered was done in a gentle fashion and yet still had that center of truth to it.

I first read The Lord of the Rings when I was 13 or 14. So long before the movies came about, I knew just how important Samwise was to story. Therefore, I was a bit surprised at how Samwise, and Astin, were not considered that important to the storyline of the filming until the last movie. Logistically, it makes sense but I could sympathize with Astin’s periodic frustrations with this aspect of filming.

This book also covers the lengthy daily makeup sessions, accidents and near accidents that happened on set, the vagaries of weather, and the toll such a lengthy filming can take on not just the actors, but also their families. All around, this was an eye opener. Quite an enjoyable read!

The Narration: Sean Astin did a great job with narrating his own book. I loved how he would slip into Samwise’s voice at the appropriate moments. He also does a great job expressing his emotions without going over the top. show less

Unfortunately, this book suffers from the author's apparent needs to 1) come off as modest and self-effacing and 2) not offend or piss off anyone in the movie industry.

I was fascinated to read an insider's story about what it had been like to film my favorite movie trilogy of all times - Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. And who better to tell this tale than Samwise Gamgee himself, actor Sean Astin.

Rather than a narrative or collection of anecdotes about what filming such an epic film had been like, Astin meanders all over the place, introducing events and industry people who had little to do with the movies but in some way affected his life. Too, Astin spends inordinate amount of time confessing how he often felt jealous of other show more actors and directors or envious of their talents/breaks/successes/whathaveyou as some sort of explanation from what I can only imagine had been some douchey behaviour on his part.

Whenever Astin came remotely close to criticizing a fellow actor or director, he was quick to clarify that his first impression had been wrong or that he was in some way at fault for his feelings or that, really, despite behaving like a jerk, that person really was quite a great guy/girl. It was as if Astin feared that everyone would read this book and if he pissed off the wrong person, his career might be in jeopardy.

Too, Astin would stick a toe over the line of boastfulness only to then throw a 180 degree turn and spend paragraphs reiterating how his accomplishments are nothing to be proud of and that others surely would do at least as well. It reminded me much of a person who purposely insults himself only so that others will reassure him of his own greatness.

These problems conspired to create not an insider's glimpse into the adventure of making TLotR trilogy but a faintly sycophantic, self-promoting plea for recognition for his part in something great. show less

I loved the Lord of the Rings movies and thought Astin was well-cast as Samwise, so I went into this memoir expecting to like it. Alack! Instead Astin comes across as self-pitying, self-aggrandizing, and self-absorbed and there are few tidbits about the LotR movies to make up for it.

This book is one of the most appropriately pun-titled books that I've read in a long time. I'm sure the pun was not intended, but there you are.

I like Sean Astin as an actor and thought he was a fantastic choice for Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. I'd wanted to read the book because I loved the movies and I expected to read some of the more close-in stories that occurred during such a long shoot and re-shooting processes to bring the film to life.

For the most part, I was wrong. Reasonably, the book started with Sean's description of his growth as an actor, including the battles (reasonably presented) for representation by an appropriate agent. We learn the experiences and connections he had that brought him to a show more point he would be considered for the "role of a lifetime" and how excited he was to get the role. He told how much in awe he was of Peter Jackson and Peter's wife Fran. He stated how fantastic and talented the crew and various skill coaches were. He was thrilled to work with fellow actors who were more talented than he was. It was like having a 500 foot overfly of the process of shooting the film. The first quarter of the book was really interesting. The second quarter we are on the actual shoot. Sean belabored his feelings of inadequacy among a group of actors who were more talented than he. How fantastic and talented the crew and various skill coaches were. How much he was in awe of Peter and Fran. How much he was in awe of the fantastic and talented crew and skill coaches. How much he was in awe of the more talented actors in the ensemble. How much he was in awe of .... but you get the point. I felt like we never left the 500 foot overfly. We went There and we went Back Again ... and again ... and again ... and it took half the book. It got to the point that it was just awe-ful, pun intended. It was like having an adventure film set to the plot of My Dinner with Andre. I was seriously considering putting the book down and not picking it up again if that continued.

Then we got to the end of the Principle Shoot, the end of the year and Sean brought up The Prank. From there it got interesting. There were the stories, the details, the interplay of the people that had been missing from half of the book, the closeness to the fun that I had expected. Would I recommend that anyone read the book? Nah, unless you are so dedicated a fan of Sean Astin that you would treasure even having some of his lawn clippings. show less

I have to give Astin props for being honest. Many of the things he says in this book give a much more blunt assessment of what it was really like to make LOTR than can be gathered by the overly positive soundbites that came from the press machine. That said, maybe this honesty should have been saved for a diary, because he comes off like a whiny, ungrateful, self-absorbed jerk. He relates multiple anecdotes about getting offended because some person did not want to be friends with him as desperately as he apparently needed them to be. He also repeatedly expresses regret over his outrageously oversensitive behavior, but never seems to learn from his mistakes. Ultimately, I respect his honesty, but after reading this I definitely wouldn't show more want to be friends with him. show less

Hedged my bets with this book because it was about a Hollywood star but Sean came across surprisingly personable and likable.

He describes himself (before LOTR) as a journeyman actor. Could I really feel for someone who "only" got $250,000 for the three years to be part of the LOTR trilogy? For me, he managed to cross that line from Hollywood brat to just a person trying to become something and be part of something special.

And aren't we all?

You'll get next to nothing of Goonies and LOTR only comes into play in the second half of the book. He has some great insights there.

I'd heard a lot of snark about this book from a site I frequent, so I was prepared to be both shocked and amused by Astin's allegedly pretentious attitude. After all, he does make a bit of an ass of himself in the DVD commentaries on the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions - the boy is so fond of fifty-cent words he has to make change for a twenty half-way through. I believe that one of the problems people have had with the book is that it's very uneven.

While the overall tone tries to be friendly and conversational, the vocabulary is overdone. It's written exactly the way he speaks. The kid who got co-writing credits clearly did not have the guts to actually edit or even advise Mr. Astin about turns of phrase or how a writer can show more dangerously overuse the thesaurus.

Yes, he is pretentious, but he's also almost heartbreakingly honest. It's funny, but I'm liking him despite his best efforts to the contrary. Yes, he sounds like a complete twit when he imagines that Peter Jackson may have faked a conversation with Johnny Depp just to impress him. But the overwhelming feeling I get from the book is that Sean Astin is desperately insecure.

He seems to have a smart, patient wife and two beautiful children, for which he is frequently grateful. And that's nice to see. But for all of his intellectual posturing, Astin seems to really be the most adept at analyzing himself.

Most of the reviews I've read have been caught up in all the gossip in the book - what Astin has to say about his family, co-stars and bosses - but to me, the most shocking thing is how deep inside his head Astin allows the reader to go. I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that I still like lil' Mikey - although God knows he needs a better editor. If he's bitter, it's only because he's had to see Pauly Shore get top billing. show less