While there are many things fans don't know about the making of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in Peter Jackson's epic adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", there's something about the first screening of the movie that even fewer people know about. Peter Jackson has been quite transparent about some of his creative decisions, including the expansion of Liv Tyler's role in the movies and what the key to making The Lord of the Rings was. But even the biggest LOTR fans have absolutely no clue that the very first screening of The Fellowship of the Ring is that it took place at his mother's funeral.
The Very First Showing Of The Fellowship Of The Ring Was All About Peter's Mom
In a 2004 interview with the now-disgraced Charlie Rose before the release of The Return of the King, Peter Jackson went into detail about his relationship with his parents and how they helped him become a filmmaker. Of course, Charlie had to ask about whether or not his parents lived to see his biggest success, The Lord of the Rings movies. It turns out, Peter's dad, William Jackson, died in 1998 when he was still in pre-production on the movies. At least, William was able to see that his son was working toward something absolutely massive; although he didn't get to see just how positively the world would respond to Peter's hard work.
Unfortunately, neither did Peter's mom. Joan Jackson passed away right before The Fellowship of the Ring was completed.
"Mom didn't quite get to see The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film," Peter Jackson told Charlie Rose. "She actually died three days before we finished the film. She was sort of hanging on. She had Parkinson's and was very old and frail and was sort of slowly going downhill over a year or two [before]. And, um, And she was sort of hanging on to see the movie."
Because Peter felt that his mother was really trying to make it to see her son's biggest success but didn't make it, Peter decided to honor her by showing The Fellowship of the Rong for the very first time in her honor.
"We played it at her funeral. We had her funeral. I had all my relations there. All my family. You know, extended family. And so I took them all into a theater on the afternoon of the funeral and played them the movie. And I said, 'Listen, mom would've loved the idea that this was being played at her funeral.' And that was the first-ever showing of The Fellowship of the Ring."
Peter's Filmmaking Journey Is Owed To His Mom And Dad
In the 2004 interview with Charlie Rose, Peter Jackson also went into detail about his relationship with his parents. Without a doubt, he explained, he wouldn't be where he is without them.
Peter Jackson grew up as an only child in a small town outside of Wellington, New Zealand. Being forced to spend a lot of time on his own helped him to develop his creativity and, eventually, his love for cinema. His parents were extremely supportive of him and the pursuit of his dreams, which is something that Peter says has inspired him in his own journey as a parent.
All of this is extremely impressive given that his parents had absolutely no interest in cinema themselves. Joan and William weren't exactly the creative type. They were blue-collar workers who emigrated from England in search of a better life. But, as Peter explained to Charlie Rose, they could see that their son wasn't frivolously into film... He was dedicated to it. And they loved their son and wanted to see him succeed.
"My interests and hobbies were so removed from what they were interested in but they were there for me all the time. Always," Peter Jackson explained to Charlie Rose. "They would buy me a new movie camera for Christmas when I was 14-years-old."
Peter's parents would also drive him around to film things as he didn't have a driver's license until his twenties because he was too busy making movies.
"They devoted so much of their time to helping me," Peter explained.
Peter's mom, Joan, also made some of the vomit that was used in one of his movies. And on Meet The Feebles, one of his earliest movies, Joan even cooked all of the meals and catered to the entire cast and crew.
Given how much support Joan gave her son in the earliest days of his filmmaking career, it makes sense why he wanted to honor her by showing The Fellowship of the Ring at her funeral. Not to mention the emotional final line of his acceptance speech when he won the Best Director at the Academy Awards...
"For Bill and Joan, thank you."