THE GATHERING OF THE FELLOWSHIP TORONTO, CANADA DECEMBER 15 - 17, 2003



Guests at the convention were: Bruce Hopkins, Craig Parker, and Mark Ferguson.


Photo courtesy of Diana.


Message from Bruce:

GATHERING OF THE FELLOWSHIP 2003

As if the build up to Christmas was not hectic enough. Two weeks out from the day when the big fella comes down the chimney and Christians celebrate the little guy's birthday, I was boarding a plane, flying to the other side of the globe, not knowing what lay in store.

Thanks to Air New Zealand for a generous upgrade I spent the Auckland to LA leg of the journey mixing it in first class……now there’s the way to travel. From LA to Toronto it was back to roughing it with masses in the standard seats. Maybe it was meant to be a steady downhill journey, because when I finally arrived at Toronto airport, guess what………there was no one there to meet me. From first class to sad arse in 12,000 miles.

Having put in a couple of phone calls to the hotel, who had no idea what was going on either (security for the event meant that my name was not on the guest list), I called my mate Rebecca in LA. Rebecca was able to reassure me I had travelled to the right city on the right day at the right time. I decided to get a bus into town and in doing so probably crossed paths with the lovely Tracey, who by that stage had got word that I was not in fact arriving the next day and consequently was blasting her way through Toronto traffic and snow to get to the airport, intending to pick up an actor who was no longer there.

I’m pretty sure there’s a film script in here somewhere!

Needless to say there was good mileage got from this incident over the next few days.

I want to send my thanks to Tracy, Donna, Ginger, Ed, Paulina and the rest of the team who worked their butts off to put this gig together. It was a huge undertaking and they did it in style. Bloody well done to you all.

I was also chuffed to be able to catch up with not only Rebecca, Craig and Mark again (they who define the term party animals!!!), but also to be able to spend time with the “tribe”. Beth, Janet, Ellen and Kathy provide me with so much support and encouragement it is quite humbling. We got to have a birthday bash while in Toronto to celebrate the 1st birthday of this here web site. These guys are so generous and enthusiastic, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

As for you lot who came from literally all over the globe to be at this event, you’re all wonderful. Whether it was dishing out hugs through the course of the day (the world can always do with more hugs), standing chatting to you at 2am in the foyer of the hotel, or your warm and giving participation during my talks, you were all so lovely to be with (even the late comers to my talk fest, who were actually just turning up to see Craig and Mark, but had to sit in on 20 minutes of me!!!). I had a lot of people telling me after that I should be a comedian, well for your information I find it scary enough trying to be serious. The laughs you lot give are a bonus. I did not even have to resort to juggling!

Mcing/hosting the finals of Tolkien Jeopardy was a real blast. Very small audience, lots of technical hitches and thus lots of time to fill. I had a ball, and am in awe of the contestants who got through to the finals. How the hell do you lock all that information in? I must say doing an interview for a Christian television chat show was another of the bizarre little twists that The Gathering had in store. This is a great way to train yourself off the profanities. Yet again I spent time with the folk who run the Games WorkShop areas. I even won a game, playing with non other than “Gamling”, we kicked some serious Orc/Uruk butt.

My trip home kind of reflected the arrival in Toronto. I had to fly to Vancouver before connecting to Honolulu then reconnecting to Auckland. Trouble was Vancouver had a bio-security scare just before the plane I was on arrived. A 5 hour stand down at Vancouver therefore meant that the flight to Honolulu was so late, it was a sprint to clear customs and board the plane to Auckland. This was a sprint I made but my baggage did not. Two days after landing back in the Land Of The Long White Cloud, I was reacquainted with said bags and so my kids were also introduced to their presents (you can’t have a trip overseas without presents!)

Thanks to those of you who deem Gamling worthy enough that you purchase photos, thanks to those of you who come, like the 3 wise guys of christmas, bearing gifts and thanks to those of you who just want to share your love of the amazing creation that is Lord Of The Rings (both book and movies).

Some highlights (so bloody many!!!)

  • Just being in snow covered Toronto.
  • Walking in the falling snow.
  • Knowing not to eat the yellow snow.
  • Watching the Maple Leafs (not leaves!!!) give it to those New Yorker's.
  • Delicious hotdogs from streetside stands. If you don’t eat them el pronto they become hotdog popsicles.
  • Standing on stage not knowing what I’m talking about and watching the audience build from maybe 250 to about 1500 (yes,……… I was the support act to The Elves)
  • Sitting with Professors Jane Chance, Mike Foster, and Amy Sturgis, being the “film guy” for the panel on LOTR-The Film vs The Book. Wonderful discussion, great people. Thanks Anthony and Jessica for having me there.
  • The amazing Medieval Times banquet, seeing Rebecca get her flower. (How many chickens died for the cause that night!!!)
  • Judging the costume parade. Some stunning work on show.
  • Niagra falls close up (headache or not)
  • Sleeping (a rare commodity)
In the interest of my ongoing career as an actor, I am going to be shameless whore here. I want to keep acting, however the industry here in NZ is very small and jobs can be few and far between. My desire is to start working in movies etc. offshore. To do this I need the producers and directors to know I’m around. So if any of you reading this feel so inclined get online create dialogue in the various forums about not only LOTR but also the character of “Gamling” and where possible mention the actor who played that role. Also if you can, and if you genuinely feel it, let the movie industry sites know if you want to see this actor in more roles.

Till next we meet, get out there and keep on being crazy. As Albert Einstein said (I’m trying to learn to live this myself) "I never think of the future. It comes soon enough".

Love and respect to each and everyone of you.
Photos by Jmsstyxnyes. Do not use on other web sites or message boards. Use the URL(http://bruce-hopkins.com/photos/gathering03.html) to link here to direct fans to the photos on this site.

Press Conference Photos by Jmsstyxnyes (Janet)


The staff at Bruce Hopkins.com, (l-r)Janet (Jmsstyxnyes)(Web builder and designer), Ellen, Bruce Hopkins, Owlharp, Beth.(Sue, Not pictured.)
The T-shirts we are wearing are created by Mouse at Queen of Denile. You can order them from her site.

Photos by Web Master Jmsstyxnyes, not to be used on other web sites.

Snaps from Michael Coren Live. A Canadian show they did during the time of the Gathering. Photos courtesy of Lori Joyce.

Fan Photos
Seansbeanie in costume posing with Bruce. Photo courtesy of Seansbeanie. Seansbeanie with Bruce. Photo courtesy of Seansbeanie. Bruce during his Q and A. Photo courtesy of Cpquinn. Bruce during his Q and A. Photo courtesy of Cpquinn.
Bruce gives the thumbsup during the auto session. Photo courtesy of Rachelle Mitchell. Craig Parker and Bruce during the auto session. Photo courtesy of Rachelle Mitchell. Mark Ferguson, Craig Parker, and Bruce during the autograph session. Photo courtesy of Rachelle Mitchell. Cliff 'Quickbeam' Broadway, our Mc for the Gathering. Photo courtesy of Rachelle Mitchell.
Mark Ferguson (Gil-Galad and Witchking from Fellowship of the Ring.) Photo courtesy of Rachelle Mitchell. Bruce with Rachelle Mitchell. Photo courtesy of Rachelle Mitchell. Heather Lynn with Bruce. Photo courtesy of Heather Lynn. Heather and Bruce. Photo courtesy of Heather Lynn.
Bruce takes a photo of Heather taking a photo. Photo courtesy of Heather Lynn. Tessa with Bruce. Photo courtesy of Heather Lynn. Photo courtesy of Diana. Photo courtesy of Diana.
Photo courtesy of Diana. Fans pose with Bruce at the Medieval Times. Photo courtesy of Marcia Banach. Bruce with Penny Stewart. Photo courtesy of Penny Stewart. Bruce with fan Terry Schinaman during the Gathering. Photo courtesy of Kelly Veiders.

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 The sites listed below have some wonderful photos of Craig, Mark Ferguson and Bruce Hopkins from this convention.



If you have photos from the con and would like to share them here,You can e-mail me at:jmsstyxnyes@yahoo.com and I will provide proper credit and a link back to your site if have one.



The Gathering Actor's sites: