Sarah McLeod (born 18 July 1971) is a New Zealand film and television actress. Her most notable role was in the Peter Jackson films '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' as Rosie Cotton, a female

hobbit Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, ...

who marries Samwise Gamgee. McLeod also co-starred in the New Zealand soap opera ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

'' as Cindy Watson from 2008 to 2009.

Career

McLeod knew Liz Mulane, the casting director of Peter Jackson's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'' from an earlier film of his that she had appeared in called ''

Forgotten Silver ''Forgotten Silver'' is a 1995 New Zealand mockumentary film that purports to tell the story of a pioneering New Zealand filmmaker. It was written and directed by Peter Jackson and Costa Botes, both of whom appear in the film in their roles as ...

''. McLeod was six months pregnant when she auditioned for the role of Rosie Cotton, a female hobbit. Four months later, she was told that she had won the role. She explained, "This was after I had the baby, so my first day on the set, the baby was 12 weeks old. So from the first time I auditioned for the role, until the whole thing comes out, the third film, my baby will be four years old, it just goes to show you how big and long this production is." Her daughter, Maisy, played the infant son of Rosie and Samwise Gamgee, seen in the final scene of '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''. ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...

'' observed in 2004 that McLeod was "notable for having the most significant role of the few New Zealand actresses in the trilogy." In 2007, McLeod and fourteen other ''Lord of the Rings'' actors from New Zealand sued

New Line New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, as they felt they were legally entitled to five percent of the trilogy's net merchandising revenue. From 2008 to 2009, McLeod co-starred in the New Zealand soap opera ''

'' as Cindy Watson. McLeod conducted legal and personal research on surrogacy for the role, as her character's storyline involved asking her friend to be a

surrogate mother Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...

for Cindy and her husband. In a 2010 episode of ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

'', McLeod appeared as herself on the set of

Hobbiton The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other works. The Shire is an inland area settled exclusively by hobbits, the Shire-folk, largely sheltered from the goings-on in th ...

, where the contestants participated in a ''Lord of the Rings''-themed photo shoot.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLeod, Sarah New Zealand film actresses New Zealand television actresses People from Putāruru 1971 births Living people New Zealand soap opera actresses 20th-century New Zealand actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses