Sean on weapons training:
Did you do much weapons training?
SB: Yes, we did that. As soon as we got there, if we weren't working,we'd spend two or three hours training with those swords and shields.We'd do three hours in the morning. Shields are not that heavy, but they can be after three hours! It's very intrinsic to the whole thing.They were so much a part of the way they (the Greeks and Trojans) fought, that it was almost like an extra appendage.
Had you ever fought with shields before?
SB: I fought with shields in 'Lord of the Rings,' but not as much as in'Troy,' where it was very much part of everyone's style of fighting -and the swords were not very long, only about a foot-and-a-half, likedaggers. They weren't broadswords, they were quite vicious in a way.
Did you train as much for 'Lord of the Rings'?
SB: That was a similar situation. When we got to New Zealand, we werefighting with Bob Anderson, this old stunt guy, who was great and whotrained Errol Flynn, and we had some good guys on that, like GeorgeMarshall Ruge. In the end, the sequence where I get killed, we trainedfor that for about seven or eight months, from day one. We were withthe stunt guys in this sort of army barracks and we had to do a coupleof hours of fighting three or four times a week and just create thisfight and then modify it and polish it, so by the time we came to film,we didn't waste any time trying to get the moves right. I remember whenwe did, you've got people coming at you from every angle and there's alot of twisting and turning and spinning, and here the weapons wereheavy, they were quite heavy swords, and so that was quite tough. Andthe conditions were difficult. It was quite flat in 'Troy,' but in'Lord of the Rings' we were in an ancient forest and it wasn't thatfirm underneath and you could easily trip.
How do you make sure you don't?
SB: It's just concentration. And that's one thing I've learned tovalue: Concentration. Even so, I got a few knocks on the hand, and abit of a clunk on my thumb. But I have been lucky. I have never had an experience where I feltanything other than really secure and very confident with the stuntmen. They can make or break a film - especially on 'Troy.' They hadmore than 50 on that who were really good, then others on the peripherywith some experience, and toward the back lines the ordinary people.The stunt men are the heart and soul of these epics.