Review: There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale

There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale by Sean Astin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Oh dear.

I am sorry to say I will actively discourage LOTR fans from buying this book.

Why Sean Astin chose to write a biography that shows him in such a negative light is beyond me. Did he really believe saying 'I regret my attitude/action/behaviour/thoughts' was enough to make people think highly of him after this?

This entire book makes him sound like a petulant child and, yes - sorry Sean - it makes it sound like he is a nightmare to work with.

He complains about nearly every other actor/director/producer etc that he meets, and despite relating events in which Peter Jackson repeatedly demonstrated how much he cared, he talks about how he felt left out, neglected and overlooked. Sorry, WHAT?

He was clearly desperate to be the star in a story that is literally about people working TOGETHER.

There's also so many references to him being a child of Hollywood, of having famous parents and knowing the trade, and it all comes off as so arrogant, and like he is criticising others who weren't as familiar with the industry. There was even a point where he mentioned that Orlando Bloom made some career decisions that he wouldn't have made - boy, I can see how that went really badly for Orlando. *eyeroll*

There were just so many things in this book that left me feeling disillusioned and questioning everything I'd been told about the comradery on the set of these films.

I honestly hope that if he went back and re-read his own words here (written in 2004), that he would be ashamed. That seemed to be his process in the book - do or say something self-centred, obnoxious or mean, then regret and reflect on how he wishes he'd done differently.

This book just made me heartsick.

If you have no feelings (or negative feelings) towards LOTR, and are interested in a little insight into Hollywood, you might appreciate some of the technical stuff here. But if you're a Lord of the Rings fan and want your Samwise Gamgee to stay the wholesome, devoted character we all know and love, I genuinely implore you to avoid this one.

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