If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.
All these years later, filming The Lord of the Rings made New Zealand a magical place for Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan
The Merry and Pippin actors still count it among their favorite travel memories, more than 20 years after they left New Zealand.
Popverse's top stories
- Why is Five Nights at Freddy's 2 such a hit? Because it knew what the fans wanted
- Watch now: WATCH: Toei Animation presents the Digimon Beatbreak panel featuring Megumi Han from NYCC 2025
- Superman and Guardians of the Galaxy stars Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, Mikaela Hoover and Sean Gunn are coming to Seattle's Emerald City Comic Con 2026!
To say that filming The Lord of the Rings was a life-changing experience seems to be a bit of an understatement. The whole cast seems to have come out of it as great friends, and, all these years later, their time in New Zealand continues to be a fond memory for Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, who played Merry and Pippin in the films. In fact, of all the places they’ve travelled together in the ensuing years, nothing has quite matched New Zealand for the pair.
In the midst of their busy schedule at C2E2 2025, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan sat down with Popverse’s very own Ashley V. Robinson, where she asked what the favorite place they’ve travelled together is. Monaghan had a little back and forth trying to think of the best answer, but Boyd pretty quickly settled on a familiar destination for Lord of the Rings fans.
“I think, together, I would say for me,” Boyd explained. “Would be New Zealand. Cause we saw so much of it and so many memories.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t just work,” Monaghan agreed. “We did travel quite a bit.”
It isn’t surprising that the actors have such fond memories of New Zealand – they spent over a year in the country while filming The Lord of the Rings trilogy, plus additional shots in the following years. An experience like that is bound to stay with you, especially when you keep running into each other on the convention circuit in the decades that have followed.
Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out Popverse's guides to:
About C2E2 2025
Dates
-
Follow Popverse for upcoming event coverage and news
Find out how we conduct our review by reading our review policy
Let Popverse be your tour guide through the wilderness of pop culture
Sign in and let us help you find your new favorite thing.
Comments
Want to join the discussion? Please activate your account first.
Visit Reedpop ID if you need to resend the confirmation email.