Tributes are flowing for beloved actor Bernard Hill who has sadly passed away aged 79, but the ones that have fans sobbing extra hard are the ones from his Lord of the Rings co-stars.
Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, the actors who played the four lead hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin in LOTR, paid tribute to their co-star at Comic Con in Liverpool.
“We love him. He was intrepid, he was funny, he was gruff, he was irascible, he was beautiful,” Astin said.
“I don’t think anyone spoke Tolkien’s words as great as Bernard did. He would break my heart. He will be sorely missed,” Boyd added.
The actors paid tribute to Hill upon learning about his death. (Credit: ITV News)
Wood has also taken to social media to pay tribute to the late star, writing: “So long to our friend, our king, Bernard Hill. We will never forget you. For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning.”
Monaghan shared the same photo that Wood shared — which was taken by none other than Viggo Mortensen who played Aragorn — via Instagram and wrote: “The Broken king has passed to the grey havens but he will always be remembered. #ripbernard photo by Viggo @theoneringnet.”
Monaghan’s Instagram post. (Credit: Instagram)
The comments of the post have been inundated with fans quoting heartfelt passages from the trilogy.
“I go to my fathers. And even in their mighty company I shall not now be ashamed,” one fan commented.
“He was strong in life. His spirit will find it’s way to the hall of his fathers,” wrote another.
A third fan wrote (brace yourself for tears, if you’re not bawling already!): “But Merry stood at the foot of the green mound, and he wept, and when the song was ended he arose and cried: ‘Théoden King, Théoden King! Farewell! As a father you were to me, for a little while. Farewell!’”
His agent confirmed the news of his passing on Sunday morning UK time, BBC News reported.
He had been due to speak at Liverpool Comic Con over the weekend but pulled out of the event the day prior, claiming at the time that his partner had become “very ill”.
His fiancée Alison and his son Gabriel were with him at the time of his passing.
King Théoden was a beloved character in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. (Credit: Lord of the Rings)
Hill was best known for his role as King Théoden in the movie adaptation of the iconic book series as well as for playing Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Oscar-winning flick Titanic.
RIP king.
