Lily Collins has revealed that she’d been unaware of how to correctly pronounce J. R. R. Tolkien’s name before starring in a biopic of the Lord of the Rings author.
The actress, who stars as the writer’s future wife Edith in the forthcoming Tolkien biopic, confirmed the correct pronunciation to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on today’s edition of This Morning.
Schofield explained that the film “absolutely fascinates” him as he is “as massive fan” of the fantasy author, before he admitted to Collins: “I have just realised that I’ve been pronouncing his name wrong forever.”
Luckily, the 30-year-old star was sympathetic to Schofield’s mistake, telling him: “Join the club, I think most of us were.”
“He is Tolkien [Tolk-een], so that’s the correct pronunciation,” the presenter clarified to viewers.
The actress said that she and her co-star Nicholas Hoult (who plays the author) had to correct themselves while working on the film.
“I think Nick and I were both surprised and a lot of times on set we found ourselves having to correct oneself,” she told the hosts.
Collins, who will also appear in the forthcoming Ted Bundy biopic Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile opposite Zac Efron, went on to reveal that she has been “a huge Tolkien fan” since she “can remember reading.”
“I’ve loved fantasy and magic my whole life so The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were very much where I existed in my own head,” she told Willoughby and Schofield.
Her co-star Hoult recently defended the film after the author’s family distanced themselves from the project, telling ITV London that he “hoped” they would “like” the finished feature.
“You do the best performance you can and be respectful and honourable,” he said.
Tolkien’s estate previously issued a statement announcing that they “did not approve of, authorise or participate in the making of this film” and “do not endorse it or its content in any way.”
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV from 10.30am. Tolkien is released in cinemas on May 3.
