Photo: Louise Hatton
One of the many delights of having Peter Jackson as guest editor is the chance to throw questions at him at unexpected times. He’s the boss, so he can hardly refuse to answer. **Empire **put that theory to the test by enlisting a cadre of movie stars, filmmakers and miscellaneous public figures to ask probing questions of the Kiwi legend. Want to hear Ian McKellen wondering why he was chosen to play Gandalf or the Hoff pitching for a role as an Ent? Tomorrow’s January issue is the place to go. Here's a sample.
Am I going to get a call in three years about The Silmarillion? I just want a head's up, to know now how I'm going to spend my 80th birthday.
MARTIN FREEMAN
You may well be doing The Silmarillion when you're 80, Martin (although God know who you'll be playing - Bilbo doesn't appear in it). But me? I'll be on a beach in Fiji, looking forward to watching it on my iPhone!
Do you like Game Of Thrones?
KIT HARINGTON
I'm looking forward to bingeing on them when I'm finished with these Hobbit movies, Kit. I'm a big fan of George R. R. Martin - I loved a book he wrote called Fevre Dream way back when I was a teenager.
There was also plenty of love for **Heavenly Creatures **from Jackson's big-name interlocutors. It gave him the chance to reminisce happily about a film that also features in a special 20th anniversary feature reuniting its stars Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey in a different part of the issue. "Heavenly Creatures remains a very fond memory," he tells Bill Paxton. "(Co-writer) Fran [Walsh] and I are already working on another Heavenly Creatures-style script. It's a terrific story, and one I look forward to making the next couple of years."
For the full Q&A, featuring contributions from such luminaries as Julianne Moore, Ben Affleck, Ice Cube, Roger Moore, Gareth Evans, Jason Reitman and Brad Bird, among others, grab a copy of E****mpire’s Peter Jackson-edited January issue. It will be in all good and not-so-good newsagents on November 28.