Hey, aren't you Bilbo Baggins?

I sat next to Ian (Bilbo) Holm on a flight between London & Bangkok once, in I think, 1995. It was a hugely crowded flight & cattle class was living up to its name.

I looked at the guy, and I knew instantly it was Bilbo, even though he hadn't yet played Bilbo, but I was familiar enough with his work.

I wondered what he was doing in economy, I mean, even then he was very well known in the UK, and fairly well known elsewhere as a result of films like Alien. Not sure if the Sweet Hereafter was out by then... someone later suggested that as the flight was so full, that was the only seat he could get.

Anyway, I could tell he wasn't happy about being there, he told me as much. He resented having someone sitting next to him too. Even someone as charming & interesting as me. He didn't talk much, but it was a long flight & I managed to wheedle some information reluctantly out of him.

He told me he was an engineer of some type, who regularly spent time in Thailand. I refrained from my gut reaction "Hah! You're Ian Holm!" reasoning that he was irritated enough & clearly valued his anonymity.

I refrained also from asking him what it was like working with Sigourney Weaver. That might have given the game away. I speculated that perhaps he was off to Thailand to play a curmudgeonly engineer & was getting into character. Or that he was embarrassed to be a well known actor who could only stump up the fare for a seat in economy class. Or that he was so tight fisted that that's all he was prepared to pay for.

I expected the flight attendants to molly coddle him. But they didn't. I guess you'd have to be Brad Pitt in economy class for that.

I wish I could remember what he was reading, probably something very worthy involving a character he might one day portray. But I can recall that it was neither a script, nor an engineering plan or report.

Anyway, to this day I regret being too polite to call his bluff & ask him if he wasn't really an engineer, but an acclaimed British actor of the stage & screen. Hey, we could have hit it off & he might have stayed with us when he was in NZ for the Lord of the Rings! (and since we're fantasising, why wasn't it Cate Blanchett?)

Can anyone tell me if Ian Holm was filming in Thailand in the mid 90s?