HobbitCon 3: Third Time's a Charm

William Kircher (Bifur)

If other dwarf actors usually appeared in groups, or at least in twos, William Kircher was different. The black-bearded Kiwi was like a one-man orchestra: singing, dancing and answering questions. He didn’t get to sing as much as he would have liked to: William would have loved to bring his band «California Dreamers» along to the HobbitCon, but the budget didn’t allow for it. So he had to do the singing and the dancing all by himself — and by the way also told one or the other story about his work on «The Hobbit».

As some have noticed, in the final scene of saying goodbye to Bilbo in «The Battle of the Five Armies» Kircher is missing his famous axe in his forehead. Still, he wouldn’t answer our question about the particulars:

William Kicher: We did an incredible scene with that axe! You have to wait for the Extended version! Let’s just say, I might have found the orc who put it there. The scene involves Bofur and Bombur as well!

There was a question if Kircher has kept the axe from his forehead as a souvenir. And Kircher slapped himself on this very forehead:

William Kircher: I have the axe upstairs in my room! I forgot to bring it! I’ll have it at the autograph table tomorrow.

On working with stunt doubles:

— Well, we all had stunt doubles. They were always standing by in case someone of us gets tired. And the AD said to us: «Do you want to step out and let the stuntman do it?»And we all went: «NOOOO!»

On Peter Jackson:

— Peter Jackson once came into the studio fully dressed in a World War I khaki uniform, really detailed. That was his subtle way of saying: «Stop whining, it’s not like you’re dying in a war!»
And one other time, he drove in a car from the film «Chitty-Chitty, Bang-Bang» — he actually owns it! He drove it into the studio and everybody in the parking lot was staring at it. That was amazing!
Still, Peter is totally relaxed, a total Dude. Okay, when I’m a millionare, I’ll be a total Dude, too!

The role of Bifur actually sticks out if compared to the usual acting portfolio of Mr. Kircher:

William Kircher: Generally in my career, I get to play policemen or murderers. There was a film called «Out of the Blue» about a real massacre which happened in an New Zealand coastal village. I played a policeman who was one of the first to check out the crime scene. It’s a good film, by the way! Karl Urban is in it.

William Kircher used to work not only with Karl Urban, but also with many other Kiwi «Hobbit» colleagues in the past. For example, he starred with Dean O’Gorman and Jed Brophy in the movie «Return to Treasure Island».

William Kircher: That film was terrible! Don’t you ever tell Dean about it, he’ll be really upset! It was at the start of his acting career.

But the filming was great, really. We were at Fiji and lived on a cruise ship. They were serving us excellent food, brought us to the islands to shoot, and afterwards we were swimming in the ocean… It’s fun being an actor sometimes! You’re on a little boat, firing a gun — who else gets to do that?

— Who of the dwarves would you like to be in «Snow White»?

William Kircher: In «Snow White»? I’d be Bifur. I’d just kick ass out of Dopey, Grumpy, Sneezy…

Again a question from us: what was your favorite New Zealand location for filming «The Hobbit»?

William Kircher: Pelorus River. That was my hangout place as a kid, I often went there. And when we went there all these years later, it was just amazing!

Kircher, whose panel was early in the day, was full of praise for German water which he consumed quite a lot — no wonder, after the long party the night before:

William Kircher: German water — the elixir of life!

On the relationship between Bifur, Bofur and Bombur:

William Kircher: Bofur is like the leader for the three of us. Still, I am probably a bit closer to Bombur than to Bofur. Because Bombur is also disabled in some way. And about how good Bifur cooks… Bifur can’t cook! He can hardly put two words together, what does he know about cooking? Bombur, however — I think he was born cooking. He would be boiling an egg when he was three.

On the challenge of acting without words:

William Kircher: It’s not what you’re saying. It’s about being seen thinking.

Final Words

But the three days which were filled to the brim with panels, workshops, autograph sessions, photo ops and a great homely atmosphere at last came to an end. And when Mark Ferguson started a sad chanting with the audience at the closing ceremony, about being a sad hobbit at HobbitCon 3, the overall atmosphere became rather melancholic, and the first signs for the famous «con blues» were showing: a feeling of emptiness and sadness after a great convention weekend…

…however, this feeling lasted for just two seconds: when Mark Ferguson, who was lifting three fingers up, slowly stretched out his fourth finger — and the crowd exploded with cheers. The organizer of the event, Dirk Bartholomä, went out on stage and declared that there will be a HobbitCon 4! And, once again the excited crowd started to chant along with Mark, happily this time: «Nummer Vier, Nummer Vier!»