The change in actor Billy Boyd is, no pun intended, quite dramatic.
In the past few months the once-slight creature who could easily slide through tiny crevasses into the subterranean chambers of Middle Earth has morphed into a bloke who could most likely kick the evil Sauron’s ass.
The shoulders of the former Lord of the Rings star are as defined as a Tolkien character and the new biceps are clearly testing the stitching of his grey cotton shirt. Why the new shape? A nod to method acting, he reveals. The 42-year-old is set to appear in a touring production of The Proclaimers’ musical Sunshine On Leith. Boyd plays Davy, a desert soldier who has to come to terms with the blinding reality of returning home to work in a call centre.
“I have been working out in the gym,” he says, relaxing in a grand room of the King’s Theatre and wearing a pleased expression on his face. “I wanted to achieve the squaddie image. You see lots of them look quite muscley so I figured I’d go for that look.”
The Sunshine central storyline is about personal reinvention, about comprehending that while your life experience has altered your head immeasurably, those at home have carried on regardless. It’s a story that resonates with the actor from the east end of Glasgow, having spent two years in New Zealand working on the Rings’ film trilogy, working with the cream of film talent, making new life-long friends in the likes of Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom, (they all got Rings’ tattoos) – only to come home to a massive life and culture shock.
How hard was it too return to the “normality” of Glasgow?
“Totally weird,” he says. “At first it was great to come back and see my family and meet the mates I went to school with. But one day as I was vacuuming the flat I found it all so strange. I realised everyone’s life had carried on as normal; getting married, having kids, etc, but mine had changed so much. But others didn’t acknowledge that. It’s the same with my character in the play, who has to accept this new normality.”
An underlining theme of Sunshine is the attachment to Scotland, the feeling that it’s great to explore other worlds – yet the umbilical cord is still attached to the mother country. Perhaps surprisingly, given that Boyd has recently spent a year in Los Angeles, with partner Ali and their four-year-old son, Jack, he says he needs to come home.
“When I was living in Santa Monica, Elijah lived round the corner in Santa Monica and I saw him all the time. And I’m still really close to Dom too. But I feel this huge connection to where I’ve grown up. It’s family, familiarity, whatever. And if you move abroad you have to think about the big chunks of time when you’re not working, what to do with yourself. I like it here at home, just walking round the park.”
His voice becomes more serious; “It’s all important to keep your head together because a lot of people in the business try to tell you what you’re supposed to be doing. ‘You’re supposed to be in LA. You’re supposed to be in a TV show in the States.’ But you have to sign up for five years in one of these shows. Do I want to do that?”
The former bookbinder who was brought up by his gran after his parents died and found his way into drama college – and then world fame as a Hobbit – acknowledges he has new responsibilities these days. “When you’re single you can stay in the house for a couple of weeks and live off beans. But when you’ve got a wife and a wean who needs new shoes, it’s different.”
Yet, he tells a Hollywood tale which highlights he won’t compromise himself for a job. During the carousel ride that is the LA casting sessions, he turned up to audition one day in a very ordinary office building in Los Angeles – to find himself surrounded by semi-naked, gorgeous young women. But far from wallowing in the moment, the actor realised he was in the wrong movie.
“I had gone along to audition for a part in a horror film, and the story was set on a beach, where a killer runs loose,” he explains, with a wry smile on his face. “But all the girls who turned up for the auditions wore bikinis. You see, in America, if you go up for a part you actually dress for the role. If you want to play a lawyer you dress as a lawyer would.”
He breaks into a laugh. “I once went up for a western film and another guy walked in dressed as a US Sheriff. I was stunned.”
Should he have turned up at the fright film audition to meet the myopic casting directors wearing skin-tight Speedos?
“Yes, and a good Scottish tan and a pair of swimming goggles,” he jokes. But the refusal to wear swimsuits or Wyatt Earp outfits has added resonance. Boyd knows he still has to battle against his Pippin perception.
“Casting people find it hard to see you out of a role you’re known for. They cast to type all the time. But what I think is most important is doing what you want to do. Not selling yourself short. Don’t get me wrong, doing films in LA is great because you get a chance to experience that world. But it’s not the only work. In fact, right now I can’t wait to start rehearsals for Sunshine On Leith.”
Cynics will claim this is a case of struggling film actor dropping back down into theatre. However, that’s not the story. The year in LA paid off, with Boyd landing a role in a new art forgery film, Carmel, alongside Alfred Molina, appearing in Moby Dick with William Hurt and another film Witches of Oz. Indeed, yet another movie offer came in after he’d accepted the Proclaimers’ musical.
“I’d actually liked the idea of doing this play a while back. The director spoke to me about it and Stephen (Greenhorn, creator of BBC soap River City) is a cracking writer and I’ve worked on his plays before. But I didn’t commit to it then because with theatre you have to sign up so far in advance. And it could have meant missing out on a film or whatever. But then I thought, ‘You know what? I’m going to do this’.”
Boyd is a big of fan of musicals. “I once went to New York for a week to see the big shows and I saw Sweeney Todd, Wicked, and Spamalot, and I had a great time. And my first ever job on leaving drama school (in 1995) was the musical The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. I haven’t done a musical since, but I really love them when they’re done right.”
And when he’s not working or spending time with the family, Boyd is playing music with his band, Beecake (should they be renamed Beefcake?) Last week saw the release of a new album, Soul Swinging.
“It’s easier when you’re 16 and the band is your whole life. We’ve all got families and mortgages now and it’s harder to find the time to commit, yet it’s still really exciting for us to get into he rehearsal studio in Bridgeton or play in some of the bars in Sauchiehall Street. I just love it. It keeps me sane.”
What of his film future? It’s claimed that director Peter Jackson is set to make two new Hobbit films.
“I met him last week, funnily enough. And I didn’t want to ask him if he was making the films. I figured everyone will be asking the same question.”
And it makes you look like you’re asking for a job? “I guess. But my gut feeling is that he hasn’t made his mind up yet whether he’s going to do it. Perhaps it’s long enough since we made the Rings he’ll have forgotten the 20-hour days. But I’d go back to New Zealand, if asked, in a heartbeat.”
A Pippin with a six-pack? He’ll need to lose the muscle first. “Maybe,” he says, grinning.
Sunshine on Leith, Dundee Rep Theatre, Aug 31 to Sept 18, Inverness Eden Court, Sept 21 to 25, Glasgow King’s Theatre Sept 28 - Oct 2, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Oct 12 to 16, Aberdeen His Majesty’s, Oct19 -23.
LIFE AND LOVES
Career high: Getting my first job at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews, in rep, playing in Adrian Mole and The Slab Boys at the same time.
Low: I really, really wanted to do Rent, but I didn’t get it. But Lord of the Rings came up two months later.
Favourite food: Roast chestnuts.
Favourite film: Gregory’s Girl. It was amazing to see my life on screen. And I fancied Clare Grogan like mad.
Favourite music: Bands like Radiohead or Elbow. Those who like to experiment.
Last book read: The Elegant Universe. It’s a physicist’s theory on the universe.
Best personality trait: Loyalty.
Worst personality trait: I can be withdrawn at times.
Best advice received: Whatever job you get, buy something with the wages. It provides a great memory. After Rings I stole my Pippin ears, but I bought lucky greenstone.
Biggest influence: My gran, who taught me to appreciate the sheer joy in life but yet work hard.
Perfect dinner guests: Ali, my partner, and Jack, who eats with us. Plus Einstein, John Lennon, Peter Sellers, Groucho Marx and Gandhi. And Mae West. Oh, and Judy Garland, for a song.
musical
