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Sean Astin (born February 25, 1971 in Santa Monica, California) is an American film actor, director, and producer. He portrayed Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Sean Astin had been acting since he was a child and was best known for his role as Michael "Mikey" Walsh in the American adventure-comedy The Goonies. Astin most recently played Frack in The Witches of Oz, directed by Leigh Scott.

While working on The Two Towers he persuaded a number of fellow cast and crew members, including director Peter Jackson, to act in or work as crew on his short film, The Long and Short of It (2003), which takes place on a street in Wellington, New Zealand. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, 2003, and appears on the "standard edition" DVD of The Two Towers as an extra feature together with a "making of" video.

He also provides the voice for Rapheal in Nickolodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Lord of the Rings

In the early 2000s, Astin experienced a career breakthrough with his role as Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, released in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Along with the many awards bestowed upon the trilogy, particularly its final installment The Return of the King (winner of eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture), Astin received many award nominations for his own performance in Return of the King, taking home the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor and awards from the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, the Seattle Film Critics, the Utah Film Critics Association, and the Phoenix Film Critics Society. As an ensemble, the Return of the King cast received awards from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and the Screen Actors Guild.

He and other cast members became very close and very good friends through the filming process. He became particularly good friends with Elijah Wood.

Astin's daughter, Alexandra, can be seen in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. She plays his onscreen daughter, Elanor Gamgee, who runs out to him as he returns from saying goodbye to Frodo, Bilbo, and Gandalf.

While working on Lord of the Rings, Astin persuaded a number of fellow cast and crew members, including director Peter Jackson, to assist him in making his second short film, The Long and Short of It. The film takes place on a street in Wellington, New Zealand. The Long and Short of It premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and appears on the DVD for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, along with a "making of" video.

In 2004, Astin released There and Back Again (ISBN 0-312-33146-0), a memoir (co-written with Joe Layden) of his film career with emphasis on his experiences with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The title is derived from the subtitle of The Hobbit, by Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien; the title also appears in the film Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King.


Personal life

Sean is the son of actress Patty Duke and was born Sean Patrick Duke, but took the name of his adoptive Father, John Astin. Sean is the older half brother of actor Mackenzie Astin, the two recently starred opposite each other in the movie The Final Season (2007)- In which Sean's character's lover was played by Rachael Leigh Cook, an actress whom had also played the lover of his Lord Of The Rings co-star, Elijah Wood, 8 years earlier in the movie The Bumblebee Flies Anyway.

Sean has been married to Christine Harrell since 1992. They have three daughters: Alexandra (b. 1996), Elizabeth (b. 2002) and Isabella (b. 2005)- they all share the middle name of Louise.

Sean's eldest daughter, Alexandra (Ali), made a cameo appearance in The Return of the King as Sean's character Sam's eldest daughter, Elanor the Fair.

Trivia

  • While filming the Fellowship of the Ring, in the scene where Frodo leaves the fellowship to go to Mordor on his own, while Sean was walking towards Frodo's boat, he stepped on a shard of glass that pierced his foot. Twenty-four hours and twenty stitches later, Sean was back on set.

Sean AstinSean BeanCate BlanchettOrlando BloomBilly Boyd
Marton CsokasBrad DourifBernard HillIan HolmChristopher Lee
Lawrence MakoareSir Ian McKellenDominic MonaghanViggo MortensenJohn Noble
Paul NorellMiranda OttoCraig ParkerAndy SerkisJohn Rhys-Davies
Liv TylerKarl UrbanHugo WeavingDavid WenhamElijah Wood


External links

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