BILLY BOYD has taken his cues from Herman Melville himself.

The affable actor known by millions of fans as the Hobbit Peregrin (Pippin) Took in The Lord of The Rings trilogy spent a week on Nova Scotia's South Shore working on a new production of Moby Dick, before flying to New York on Thursday.

In preparing for his role as Elijah in the new film adaptation of the 19th century American classic, the Scottish-born actor picked up a copy of the novel and began reading.

"I'd never actually read the book so I kind of went to the book first," he said during an interview Wednesday in the makeup trailer on the set in Shelburne.

"I wanted to kind of get a real good feeling of the sort of world that it happens in. Most of the hints you need . . . are in the book. It's all there."

Boyd, who also played Coxswain Barrett Bonden in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, said the sets in Lunenburg and Shelburne for Moby Dick have been nothing short of brilliant.

"I've never been on a film set where the supporting artists, the extras, look so perfect.

"Normally you'll pass and you'll go, 'Oh, wait a minute. This guy doesn't look he from the 19th century,' or whatever . . . but everything looks so perfect in this, I think."

He said the seafaring theme has rekindled fond memories of Master and Commander.

"It was weird because when I came on set for this, the memories of doing Master and Commander really came flooding back. It was just like . . . deja vu, you know. Even though it's obviously slightly different."

Boyd still remembers lots of seafaring terms and procedures that were drilled into the cast of the 2003 Napoleonic-era film.

His Moby Dick character remains ashore though.

"It's a shame Elijah doesn't go on the boat, you know, he's not part of that. But I'd love it because I could show off to the other actors. I know how to tie all the knots and I know what everything's called, you know."

Moby Dick has been filmed several times, including the award-winning 1956 version starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab.

So how can this film be made more memorable than any before it? "With something like this that comes from a great novel . . . you've just got to go for the truth of it and make the best that you can and . . . not think about the other ones," suggested Boyd.

Before he left Nova Scotia, Boyd thought about renting a surf board and trying some South Shore beaches. He's an avid surfer, having taken up the sport in New Zealand while filming The Lord of The Rings projects.

"I almost had a surf today. I don't know what beach it was but there were waves breaking and I thought, 'That looks nice.' "

It didn't come to pass though, and Boyd, also a composer and accomplished musician, left for New York to play some gigs with his band.

"The band's called Beecake and we just finished our first album. We're working up to do an East Coast tour to kind of promote the album. So we're playing like Boston, New York, Philly," he said.

He recorded the album of original guitar compositions in Glasgow. Boyd also composed a song for The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King.

"I wrote a song called Steward of Gondor, which they put into the third movie," he said.

The cast and crew of Moby Dick have spent time in Lunenburg and will be in Shelburne for a few more days of shooting before heading to Malta for more high seas work.

Moby Dick stars William Hurt as Captain Ahab and Ethan Hawke as First Officer Starbuck. Donald Sutherland plays Father Mapple and Gillian Anderson plays Captain Ahab's wife, Elizabeth.