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'We Lost Member Of Our Family': Lord Of The Rings Cast Members Pay Tribute To Bernard Hill After His Passing
Following Bernard Hill's passing, the Lord of the Rings cast paid heartfelt tributes, describing him as family. Known for his role as King Théoden, Hill evidently left a lasting impact on his co-stars.
The Lord of the Rings cast paid tribute to fellow co-star Bernard Hill at the Comic-Con Liverpool event on Sunday after the actor's demise on the same day, i.e. May 5. Hill, who played King Théoden in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, was 79.
Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Sean Astin, and Dominic Monaghan, who portrayed the four hobbits in the franchise, bid their final farewells to their “funny, gruff, beautiful” co-actor. Hill had been scheduled to appear at the Merseyside event but withdrew at the last minute.
‘Lost a Member of our Family’ — The Lord of the Rings cast pays tribute to Bernard Hill
At the aforementioned event, Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in the trilogy, remembered Hill, saying, “We lost a member of our family this morning, Bernard Hill passed, King Théoden. So we want to take a moment before we walk off the stage to honor him. He was supposed to be here. He was supposed to be here today and yesterday. We love him. He was intrepid, he was funny, he was gruff, he was irascible, he was beautiful.” 
Boyd, who played Pippin in Lord of the Rings, said, “I don't think anyone spoke Tolkien’s words as great as Bernard did. The way he grounded those words in their realism. He would break my heart when I saw him on the screen. He was a wonderful man, and he will be sorely missed.”
ITV’s Lauren Ostridge posted a video documenting the above interaction on X - Check it out HERE!
At the time of his death, Bernard Hill was accompanied by his fiancee Alison and son Gabriel, per BBC.
Bernard Hill in and beside The Lord of the Rings
Hill joined The Lord of the Rings in 2002 for The Two Towers, the second film in the trilogy. He returned to the franchise for 2003's The Return of The King, which scored 11 Oscar Awards.
Besides his time in the aforementioned franchise, Hill was also recognized for his role as Captain Edward Smith in Titanic. However, before any of the above-mentioned acting credits made him a household name, Bernard Hill got his big break via the 1982 BBC TV drama Boys from the Blackstuff, in which he played Yosser Hughes, a character who faced unemployment in Liverpool. The show went on to win a Bafta for Best Drama Series in 1983 and, in 2000, positioned itself at No. 7 on a British Film Institute list of Best TV Shows ever made.
After Hill’s demise, Alan Bleasdale, the writer of Boys from the Blackstuff, of his performance on the show, said, “It was an astonishing, mesmeric performance—Bernard gave everything to that, and you can see it in all the scenes. He became Yosser Hughes.” He added, “You always felt that Bernard would live forever. He had a great strength, physically and of personality.”
Throughout his decades-long career, Hill had other notable acting credits, including roles in I, Claudius, Gandhi, Shirley Valentine, The Scorpion King, Valkyrie, and more.
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