3 hours ago
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It was their precious.
“Lord of the Rings” star Elijah Wood surprised and delighted a couple of fans who were getting married on the Shire set, which is still standing in New Zealand.
“We were just finishing the signing of the paperwork when all of a sudden Elijah Wood started to walk down the aisle,” newlyweds Sharik and Jessica Burgess-Stride told the Waikato Herald.
“At first I thought, nah that’s not him – then oh sh–t it is him!” said Sharik.
Wood, 44, starred as the hobbit Frodo Baggins in all three of the beloved “Lord of the Rings” movies, which came out between 2001 and 2003.
He posed for photos with the shocked couple and congratulated them.
In an Instagram post, their wedding photographer, Cath Ullyett, described what happened.
“Jess and Sharik had the most welcome surprise guest at their Hobbiton wedding yesterday. While they were signing their wedding documents, Elijah and his family were escorted past the ceremony garden, and had stopped to watch,” they explained.
The photographer recalled, “I rushed around to meet him and asked him to come and have a few photos with the couple. Being the gentleman he is, he didn’t want to interfere, however with some friendly encouragement he stepped in and was welcomed by all.”
The groom told the New Zealand outlet that he’s been a fan of “The Lord of the Rings” since childhood, and included references to the fantasy franchise in his wedding vows.
The couple are from Rotorua, New Zealand. The Peter Jackson movies were famously filmed in that country.
The “Lord of the Rings” Hobbiton set is a tourist attraction in Matamata, New Zealand, and some superfans such as Sharik and Jess even use it as a wedding location.
Wood, who is American, was back in his old stomping grounds with other cast members for the Armageddon Expo in Auckland.
“Thank you Elijah for making their special day that much more memorable. We all loved it,” said Ullyett.
In 2022, Dominic Monaghan, who co-starred as Frodo’s friend and fellow Hobbit, Merry, said that people “lose their marbles” whenever he, Wood, Sean Astin, and Billy Boyd attend conventions together.
“I would be the same,” he told The Post. “If I saw Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, C-3PO and Chewbacca having dinner, I would be geeking out, too.”
“I think those movies are kind of timeless,” he added. “Multiple times a day, people will tell me they just finished watching those films, and how much it moved them, or how important it was to their family. So, I don’t know if the interest has ever truly waned.”
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