Billy Boyd

Boyd’s Scottish voice gives Pippin in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) an immediate familiarity. We hear a young, inexperienced person before we start thinking about hobbits. That helps in Peter Jackson’s fantasy, where the battles occasionally crowd out the people and the actors have to keep us interested in individuals. Boyd makes innocence engaging without asking us to admire it, and sits comfortably in an ensemble that gives Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood much of the dramatic weight.

The role continued through The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), with Jackson directing and Dominic Monaghan a fellow member of the ensemble. This was Boyd’s breakthrough, and it remains the sensible place to begin with his work. We were moved by his singing of ‘The Edge of Night’ in The Return of the King: the unforced delivery feels unexpectedly vulnerable amid so much battle. He also composed the song.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) is a useful companion, with Boyd playing the coxswain Bonden for Peter Weir. William Sandell’s production design and Russell Boyd’s cinematography make the ship convincing as a place where people work, eat and live. A supporting actor has to belong to that daily routine, and Boyd does; we accept him as one of the crew without needing the film to stop and explain him. The middle could be tighter, but this is the sort of detailed ensemble film in which we would happily see him again.

His later work has included stage appearances, television guest roles and voice acting, with Glen / Glenda in Seed of Chucky (2004) an early example of the latter. That is a wider spread of work than the persistent Pippin association suggests, but a youthful voice can also become an easy casting choice. We would like more parts that ask something awkward of his likeability, rather than simply relying on it. Start with Jackson’s trilogy, then watch how readily he belongs aboard Weir’s ship.