The elves and a dwarf ... Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, Evangeline Lilly and Richard Armitage at the Los Angeles premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies. Picture: Chris Pizzello Source: AP

Without his long blond wig and pointy ears, it’s almost impossible to recognise the man who plays the haughty Elven King Thranduil in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy. The same can be said for the Elven subjects Orlando Bloom (Legolas) and Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel) as they sit by his side in a London hotel after the day after The Hobbit: The Battle Of the Five Armies’ London premiere.

After much banter, the trio decide it all comes down to jealousy of the undisputed rock stars of Middle Earth.

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“We are after THE Elves” ... Orlando Bloom at the Los Angeles premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Picture: Robyn Beck Source: AFP

“We are after all THE Elves,” decides Bloom, and Lilly nods her agreement.

“We catch a lot of flak and we catch a lot of love,” the Canadian beauty says. “I like being in the middle of controversy. I mean would you rather be in the middle of controversy or would you rather be the one no one is talking about? And that’s kind of fun for the Elves — especially the Elves who technically weren’t in the book.”

“We catch a lot of flak” ... Elves Tauriel (played by actress Evangeline Lilly) meets Legolas (Orlando Bloom) in a scene from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Picture: AP / Warner Bros Source: AP

Lilly has a point there. The inclusion of her character, entirely made up by Jackson and his co-writers to inject some much needed femininity into Tolkien’s boys own tale nearly broke the internet as the purists cried foul.

“I got told today that there is a Facebook page of Tauriel haters, which I didn’t know and I was devastated by,” sighs Lilly. “I do know there have been mixed reviews from the beginning but thankfully the prevailing view has been very positive and there are lot of adorable young women who love her. I really did care. I really didn’t want to be the mulligan in the film, the thing that tarnished these films for any Tolkien fan.”

In the films but not the books ... Two of The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies’ elves, actress Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel) and actor Lee Pace (Thranduil). Picture: Frazer Harrison Source: Getty Images

With his long shoots, remote locations and arduous scenes, Jackson is renowned for fostering a close-knit, fun atmosphere on his sets and Pace, Lilly and Bloom all left New Zealand with fond memories as well as some kick-ass memorabilia.

Pace, who kept his impressive sword says the scenes he filmed to create his CGI elk steed were close to his heart — as was Jackson’s wicked sense of humour.

“I think Peter kind of enjoys torturing his actors and gets a kick out of it when they hurt themselves,” he says. “So the stunt guys would be moving the elk so it was galloping and I fell off more than once and you’d hear this ‘hee hee hee … is he hurt?’”

“I like being in the middle of controversy” ... Actress Evangeline Lilly with writer/director/producer Peter Jackson at the LA premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Picture: Kevin Winter Source: Getty Images

Lilly, who pocketed a moon rune, was taken by her diminutive director’s acting “skills” while demonstrating scenes.

“He would essentially give a quasi-Elvish performance as a way of explaining what he wanted you to do,” she says. “It was like a Hobbit trying to pretend to be an Elf. It was so ridiculous and it gave me the giggles every time.”

Bloom, now 37, was 21 when he was first cast as Legolas in The Lord Of the Rings, names a scene from The Two Towers as his favourite Jackson moment.

“I remember walking up to Edoras with Pete,” he says. “Just me and him walking through this field up to this giant set and he just looked at me and said ‘now that’s a MAN’S set’. It was giant and fully formed. It was a really sweet moment — he was really chuffed about it. I got my bow from Lord of the Rings — I’m still waiting on my white knives.”

In defence of the elves ... Lee Pace as Thranduil in a scene from The Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies. Picture: AP / Warner Bros Source: AP