Sean Astin famously played Samwise Gamgee in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film series, and it’s a role he continues to be very well-known for, alongside his characters in The Goonies and Rudy. In a new interview with Collider, Astin reflected on the 20th anniversary of The Return of the King and also listed off some of the phrases from The Lord of the Rings that people yell at him in public.
The most-quoted line that Astin gets in public is exactly what you might have guessed it was: “Po-tay-toes! Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew,'” Astin said.
Sam utters this line in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, as he’s trying to convince Gollum that the best way to eat rabbits is by cooking them in a stew with “taters.” He delivers the iconic “po-tay-toes” line to hammer it home to Gollum, and then lists off the various ways in which one can eat them.
Astin went on to say that people also quote other lines said by Sam, including “There’s some good left in this world” and, “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you.”
Reflecting on the 20th anniversary of Return of the King, Astin said, “There’s so much work and creativity and sacrifice and reward, and so many relationships, so much identity just wrapped up in the whole thing.”
Astin said he and his other Hobbit cast mates continue to have a text thread, and they talk and interact with each other regularly. “I’m so grateful that the movie still seems to hold up for audiences, the special effects still seem to hold up, the performances, the mythology of it,” he said.
The Return of the King is back in theaters right now for a special event to mark the franchise’s 20th anniversary.
Return of the King swept the Oscars, winning 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Peter Jackson, among other accolades. Jackson followed up those films with a Hobbit trilogy, and while it was not as adored critically, the three movies earned billions at the box office.
As such, it’s not a big surprise that Warner Bros. Discovery just recently announced plans for additional The Lord of the Rings movies. It’s still early days, but for now, you can check out GameSpot’s breakdown of everything we know about the new Lord of the Rings movies.
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