Background:

Scottish actor and musician Billy Boyd is widely known for his role as heroic hobbit Peregrin “Pippin” Took on “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. He picked up a Phoenix Film Critics Society Award, an Empire nomination and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for “The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), an Online Film Critics Society Award, a a Phoenix Film Critics Society Award and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for “The Two Towers” (2002) and a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, a National Board of Review Award and a Phoenix Film Critics Society nomination for “The Return of the King” (2003). He is also memorable for playing Barret Bonden in “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” (2003), with Russell Crowe. Other films he has acted in include “Seed of Chucky” (2004), “On a Clear Day” (2005), “The Flying Scotsman” (2006), “Stone of Destiny” (2008), “Glenn, the Flying Robot” (2010), “Pimp” (2010) and “Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy” (2011). In 2002, Boyd was ranked No. 1 on the Top 100 Most Eligible Men in Scotland list.

An accomplished musician, Boyd sings and also plays the guitar, drums and bass. He fronts a band in Scotland called Beecake. The band has recorded the albums “Just B” and “Soul Swimming.” Boyd also made a guest appearance on Viggo Mortensen's 2003 album, “Pandemoniumfromamerica,” in which he played the bass on two songs, as well as drums on another.

Boyd is an avid surfer. During the production for “Lord of the Rings,” he spent his free time surfing in New Zealand. He also holds a Grade 7 in foil fencing, and trained in martial arts. He is one of the patrons of Scottish Youth Theatre, Scotland's National Theatre 'for and by' young people, as well as the National Boys' Choir of Scotland.

On a more personal note, Boyd welcomed a son, Jack William Boyd, on April 26, 2006 with his long time partner Alison McKinnon. The two eventually married on December 29, 2010. Boyd has a home in Glasgow, Scotland, but sometimes stays in Los Angeles, CA.


Book Binder

Childhood and Family:

Son of William and Mary Boyd, William Boyd was born on August 28, 1968, in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He developed a love for movies at an early age, and was inspired to try acting after watching George Lucas' “Star Wars.” At age 10, Bill got his first taste of it when he played Artful Dodger in his school's production of “Oliver Twist.” His parents were very supportive to him, but sadly they passed away when he was 12 years old. Along with his older sister Margaret, Bill was subsequently raised by his grandmother. Throughout high school, he performed in amateur productions at local art center and in annual Christmas shows. Bill quit school at age 17 and then worked as a book binder for six years before deciding to pursuing acting as a career. He then applied for a place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and was accepted into a selective three year, acting intensive diploma program. During his days at the book-binders, Bill used to spend his nights singing with a band on the Glasgow pub circuit.

On December 29, 2010, Bill married his long time girlfriend Alison McKinnon in a small ceremony of only 30 guests at Oran Mor in Glasgow's West End. Fellow cast mates Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan attended the wedding. Bill and his wife have a son named Jack William Boyd (born April 16, 2006).


The Far Side of the World

Career:

Billy Boyd started his professional acting career with the Byre Theatre in St. Andrews, where he appeared in the production of “The Slab Boys” and played the title role in the musical “The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole.” He continued to perform at Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre and the Traverse Theatre in such shows as “Widows Alexis,” “An Experienced Woman Gives Advice” and Irvine Welsh's “Trainspotting.”

Boyd made his first television appearance in the popular Scottish series “Taggart” in the episode “Dead Man's Chest” (1996), where he played an autistic teenager named Jamie Holmes. Two years later, he appeared in the short “The Soldier's Leap” and made his feature film debut in Geneviève Jolliffe's award winning drama “Urban Ghost Story,” in which he played the supporting role of Loan Shark. In the following year, he portrayed Jimmy Campbell, the Scottish drummer of an English band during the '60s, in the cult musical “Julie and the Cadillacs,” starring Tina Russell, Ben Richards and Peter Polycarpou, and made his television film debut in the Annie Griffin directed “Coming Soon,” which won the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Television Production.

Boyd's big break arrived when he landed the role of Peregrin 'Pippin' Took, one of the Hobbits who are entrusted with destroying a magical ring before it falls into the wrong hands in the Peter Jackson helmed adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkein's “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Released on December 10, 2001, the film received high acclaim from both critics and fans and was a major box office success. It grossed over $870 million worldwide (against a budget of $93 million), and was the second most successful film of 2001 in the U.S. and worldwide. “The Fellowship of the Ring” won a total of four Academy Awards (Best Music, Original Score, Best Makeup, Best Effects, Visual Effects and Best Cinematography), in addition to another 76 wins and 84 nominations. For his efforts, Boyd won a Phoenix Film Critics Society (PFCS) in the category of Best Acting Ensemble, and was nominated for an Empire Award for Best Debut and a Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture. Still in 2001, Boyd starred in the stage play “The Ballad of Crazy Paola” at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh.

Following a guest stint in the UK TV comedy series “Still Game” and a starring turn in a 25 minute TV short “Sniper 470,” by Paul Holmes (both 2002), Boyd reprised his role as Hobbit Pippin in the 2002 sequel “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” which was met with high critical praise and a tremendous box office success. With over $925 million earnings worldwide, against an original budget of $94 million, the film is currently the 17th highest grossing film of all time. The film won two Academy Awards in the categories of Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing. Boyd shared an Online Film Critics Society for Best Ensemble and a Phoenix Film Critics Society for Best Acting Ensemble as well as a SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture and DVD Exclusive's DVDX Award nomination for Best Audio Commentary (New for DVD) for his work on the film.

In 2003, Boyd returned to play Pippin in the last of the trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” The film earned rave reviews and became one of the greatest critical and box office successes of all time. “The Return of the King” won all eleven Academy Awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, making it the first and only time a fantasy film has done so. It grossed $377,027,325 in the USA and Canada and $742,083,616 in other countries for a worldwide total of $1,119,110,941, making it the highest grossing movie of 2003 worldwide and the highest grossing movie in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. For his performance in the film, Boyd jointly nabbed a Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Broadcast Film Critics Association's Critics Choice Award for Best Acting Ensemble, a National Board of Review for Best Acting by an Ensemble and a PFCS nomination for Best Ensemble Acting.

2003 also saw Boyd assumed the supporting role of steersman Barrett Bonden in director Peter Weir's “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” opposite Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. The film won two Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Editing. The film opened at No. 2 in the US box office, with over $25 million, and went on to gross a total of $93 million in the US and Canada. The film collected a worldwide total of over $212 million.

Boyd provided the voice of Glen, chucky's offspring in the horror film “Seed of Chucky” (2004), the fifth entry in the “Child's Play” series. Written and directed by Don Mancini, the film received mostly negative reviews. It grossed over $17 million in the US and over $24 million worldwide. The actor played Danny in the British drama film “On a Clear Day” (2005), opposite Peter Mullan, Brenda Blethyn and Sean McGinley, voiced Puck in the computer animated film “Midsummer Dream” (2005), which is loosely based on Shakespeare's play “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” was cast opposite Jonny Lee Miller, Laura Fraser and Brian Cox in “The Flying Scotsman” (2006), a British drama film adapted the life and career of Scottish amateur cyclist Graeme Obree, and had the leading role of Vince Sandhurst on the Swiss/UK film production “Save Angel Hope” (2007), directed by Lukas Erni.

In 2008, Boyd revisited the small screen when he starred as Tony MacBryan in a six episode BBC Two sitcom, “Empty,” opposite Gregor Fisher. The same year, he landed a supporting role in the adventure/comedy film “Stone of Destiny,” opposite Charlie Cox, Kate Mara and Stephen McCole. He went on to support Mélanie Laurent, Justin Bartha and Valérie Benguigui in the Canadian/French production movie “Jusqu'à toi” (2009), have a leading role in the Belgium science fiction movie “Glenn, the Flying Robot” (2010) and portray Chief in the British film “Pimp” (2010), which was directed and co-written by and starring Robert Cavanah. Boyd played Elijah in the two episode British TV miniseries adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel, “Moby Dick” (2011), opposite William Hurt, Ethan Hawke, Charlie Cox, Eddie Marsan, Gillian Anderson and Donald Sutherland. He also played Nick Chopper in the TV miniseries “The Witches of Oz” (2011) and Woodsy in the Canadian dark romantic comedy film “Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy” (2011), opposite Adam Sinclair, Kristin Kreuk and Carlo Rota.

Boyd has completed filming a supporting role as Bernie in the Lawrence Roeck directed light drama film “Carmel,” which is set to be released in the US in March 2012. He will play Anton in the Canadian science fiction film “Space” (2012), opposite Kristin Kreuk and Amanda Tapping, and is rumored to star in the UK film “Space Milkshake” (2012), directed by Steven Forrester.


Awards:

Broadcast Film Critics Association: Critics Choice Award, Best Acting Ensemble, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ,” 2004
Screen Actors Guild: Actor, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” 2004
National Board of Review (NBR): Best Acting by an Ensemble, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” 2003
Online Film Critics Society (OFCS): Best Ensemble, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” 2003
Phoenix Film Critics Society (PFCS): Best Acting Ensemble, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” 2003
Phoenix Film Critics Society (PFCS): Best Acting Ensemble, “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” 2002
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