Principal photography
The Two Towers shared principal photography with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King between October 11 1999 to December 22 2000. Scenes in Rohan were shot early on, and Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies' scale double Brett Beattie sustained many injuries. Mortensen broke his toe when he kicked an Orc helmet when he found the remains of the Uruk-hai and believes Merry and Pippin to be dead; this take is the one in the finished film. Bloom fell off his horse and broke his rib, whilst Beattie dislocated his knee. All three spent two days of pain for the running sequence with these injuries.[15]
Afterwards, they went on for three months filming the Battle of Helm's Deep. John Mahaffie handled most of the night shoots. Mortensen got his tooth knocked out during the nightshoots, and Bernard Hill also got his ear slashed.[15] Nonetheless, the 700 extras had fun, insulting each other in Māori[16] and improvising scenes, such as the Uruk-hai stamping their spears before the battle begins.[15] They did get annoyed by the craftsmanship of the Art Department: the Gates were too reinforced for the Battering Ram scene.[13] Mortensen greatly respected the stunt team, and head butting them became a sign of respect.[16]
Wood and Astin were joined by Serkis on April 13, 2000.
source:Wikipedia
