Why I Do What I Do

While shooting the Lord of the Rings trilogy back-to-back-to-back, the men who play Tolien's diminutive woodland creatures (from left, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin, Elijah Wood and Billy Boyd) bought surfboards and took advantage of New Zealand's raddest natural resource. Studio execs undoubtedly cringed while the stars of their 4270 million project braved thundering waves and coral reefs. Viggo Mortensen suffered a black eye his first time out. But the actors swear their offscreen bonding made their on-screen chemistry work. "Surfing is when the Hobbits really become the Hobbits--it's all about the camaraderie and bonding. It was massively keen," Wood says. "We called ourselves the Black Riders. It kind of because official when we made up some T-shirts that said LORD OF THE RINGS SURFING CLUB.:

Photograph by Sam Jones