It's a young actress's dream - spending a couple of years surrounded by a cast of great-looking men on one of the film world's biggest blockbusters.

But Liv Tyler admits her role in the eagerly-awaited The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring wasn't always a magical experience.

The Hollywood star spent two years in New Zealand making the fantasy epic, based on JRR Tolkien's classic novel, and admits to getting extremely homesick.

"I'm not going to lie about it," she says. "I definitely did suffer at times and felt quite homesick a lot of the time, being so far away from my home and family. It was almost like a life commitment and there was no turning back."

Not only that but Tyler had precious little to go on with her character, the immortal Elf maiden Lady Arwen, who appears infrequently in the book.

"It was a big challenge to take on the role of an Elf because they are extraordinary perfect beings," she explains.

"It took me a long time to figure out how to portray someone who is immortal and full of wisdom and power and around 3,000 years old.

"That was particularly hard for me as I was a 22-year-old flawed American at the time," she says with a laugh.

"Part of the reason it was so difficult for me at times was that we had to take a chance on my character, because she's not fleshed out in much detail like the other characters in the book.

"It was my job to capture the essence, the idea of who she was. I saw her as someone who brings a touch of femininity to the tale of Middle Earth.

"In the midst of war she has fallen in love with a mortal and becomes the backbone and motivation for his fight."

Even so, the stunning actress's anxieties were well worth it in the end. Tyler, who has appeared in a string of successful movies, such as One Night At McCool's and Stealing Beauty, claims this is her best work to date.

"The first time I watched it I had to push the whole of my jaw back up to my mouth," she laughs. "I thought it was an absolute masterpiece and the best film I'd ever been in.

"The shoot was so long that during filming I didn't always pay attention to exactly what the finished product would look like.

"I had very high expectations, but it was far more beautiful than even I had anticipated."

The Fellowship Of The Ring is the first instalment of the trilogy - all three have been filmed simultaneously at a cost of some £200m -and it is a tale of good battling evil.

Part one tells the tale of a wide-eyed Hobbit called Frodo Baggins, who inherits a magic ring which he has to destroy before it falls into the hands of its evil maker, Sauron The Dark Lord Of Mordor.

Tyler, who joins an all-star cast including Sean Bean, Sir Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee, also features in parts two and three but is happy the gruelling schedule is behind her.

It means she has more time to spend with her fiance, British-born musician Royston Langdon.

The Leeds-based rocker is the lead singer with group Spacehog, and Tyler admits she had a huge crush on him before they got together.

"We'd known each other for about six years and I used to fantasise about him all the time," she says, blushing.

"I never thought we'd get together. I'm madly in love with him and we have a very special relationship. One of the hardest things about the Lord Of The Rings shoot was being away from him for so long."

The pair, who got engaged on Valentine's Day, are now planning a summer wedding and Tyler says marriage and stability are very important to her.

"Marriage isn't something that should be taken lightly. It's everything," she states firmly. "And I'm a hopeless romantic too."

There's another reason why Tyler, who is the daughter of Aerosmith rock star Steve Tyler, is glad to be out of Middle Earth and her Elf costume.

"I always had glue coming out of my stick-on ears," she says with a laugh. "All the actors were constantly picking themselves.

"I'd go home to New York and a week later I'd still be picking big, black chunks of glue out of my ears.

"I don't miss the wake-up calls either," she adds. "The hardest thing was the 4.30am call and the three hours in hair and make-up to get the wig and ears on."

But, however much she suffered for her art, Tyler doesn't regret a thing.

"It was painful, but well worth it. The impact of this movie is just overwhelming and I still can't quite believe I'm a part of it," she says, with the hint of an elfin grin.

Lord of the Rings (PG)