[Lotr_announce] BREAKING: Hobbit Casting Announced! TheOneRing.net

[Michael Regina]

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/10/21/39458-deadline-peter-jackson-sets
-first-names-for-the-hobbit/ 

The Cast (so far.)

Martin Freeman - Bilbo Baggins
Richard Armitage - Thorin Oakenshield
Aidan Turner - Kili
Rob Kazinsky - Fili
Graham McTavish - Dwalin
John Callen - Oin
Stephen Hunter - Bombur
Mark Hadlow - Dori
Peter Hambleton - Gloin

BREAKING: While Peter Jackson and Warner Bros are figuring out where they'll
shoot back-to-back installments of The Hobbit, Jackson and his partner Fran
Walsh have begun to set his cast for the ambitious projects that will begin
shooting in February for release in December 2012 and 2013. The castings
were announced by New Line Cinema COO/president Toby Emmerich, Warner Bros
COO/president Alan Horn, MGM co-CEO Steve Cooper, and Jackson. As Deadline
told you last week, Martin Freeman is set to play Bilbo Baggins, the
adventurous Hobbit whose adventures and discovery of the One Ring leads the
story up to The Lord of the Rings. Freeman has appeared in films ranging
from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Hot Fuzz to  Love Actually.

Jackson has cast several other significant Dwarf characters. Richard
Armitage (MI-5 and Captain America: The First Avenger) will play Thorin
Oakenshield, leader of the Company of Dwarves which sets off to reclaim the
Lonely Mountain from a thieving dragon. Aidan Turner (Being Human) and Rob
Kazinsky (EastEnders) will play Kili and Fili, members of the Company of
Dwarves. Graham McTavish (Secretariat) will play Dwalin, John Callen (Power
Rangers Jungle Fury) will play Oin; Stephen Hunter (All Saints) will play
Bombur, and Mark Hadlow (King Kong) plays Dori, while Peter Hambleton (The
Strip) will play Gloin. That casting has just beginning, and there will be
many more opportunities for the kind of career-changing roles that went in
the original trilogy to the likes of Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Viggo
Mortensen, Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. None of this is set, but I've heard
that James Nesbitt and David Tennant are up for roles, and that Ian McKellan
and Andy Serkis are expected to reprise Gandalf and Gollum, though I don't
believe they have made deals. Stephen Fry, Saoirse Ronan and Bill Nighy (as
the voice of the dragon Smaug) are possible participants, and Aiden Turner
is in contention for the Elf King.

"Despite the various rumours and speculation surround this role, there has
only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us," Peter Jackson said. There are a
few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born
to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin. He is
intelligent, funny, surprising and brave -- exactly like Bilbo and I feel
incredibly proud to be able to announce that he is our Hobbit."

Of Armtage, Jackson said: "Richard is one of the most exciting and dynamic
actors working on screen today and we know he is going to make an amazing
Thorin Oakenshield. We cannot wait to start this adventure with him and feel
very lucky that one of the most beloved characters in Middle Earth is in
such good hands."

On his choices of Turner and Kazinsky, Jackson said, "Rob is an extremely
talented young actor with a huge career in front of him. I'm thrilled that
he has agreed to take on the role of Fili. Besides his talent as an actor,
Rob is also a champion sword fighter and I'm looking forward to seeing the
damage he can do to a horde of marauding Goblins ... Aidan is a wonderfully
gifted young actor who hails from Ireland. I'm sure he will bring enormous
heart and humor to the role of Kili."

As for the rest of the Dwarves played by McTavish, Callen, Hunter, Hadlow
and Hambleton, Jackson said: "Graham is a terrific actor, with a great depth
of experience, which I know he will bring to the role of Dwalin. I have
worked with Mark Hadlow on many projects, he is a fantastic actor...I am
also proud to annouce the casting of New Zealand actors as Peter Hambleton,
John Callen and Stephen Hunter. Fran and I know that they will bring great
depth and talent to our Company of Dwarves."

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2010/10/21/39458-deadline-peter-jackson-sets
-first-names-for-the-hobbit/ 

 

 

All the best,

Michael Regina - Editor in Chief - TheOneRing.net
PH: 514.947.5221
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