Ringer spy Kristi alerted us to these clips of Mikael Persbrandt, cast as Beorn in the Hobbit. “This one’s all in English. It’s especially interesting near the end when Mikael talks about entering a special world that some directors are able to create,” Kristi says. Mikael Persbrandt interviewed by James Lipton.
This clip, showing his work as a Unicef ambassador in Afghanistan, gives us another insight into Persbrandt’s character. “This is a role outside his acting career, and I think it does him credit, and shows a Beorn-ish side that the filmmakers must have seen in him.”
Month: January 2011
Merie sends this in: From iftn.ie – “Ros Hubbard is a world renowned casting director having worked on hugely successful films such as ‘The Commitments’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘Father Ted’ with her family. IFTN caught up with the Irish talent spotter to talk about casting hobbits and dwarves for Peter Jackson, her trouble finding thin Irish children and ‘Father Ted’ bringing out her catholic guilt!” She basically confirmed that Saoirse Ronan has a part in “The Hobbit”. More..
linuxelf sends this in: Sir Peter Jackson was admitted to Wellington Hospital last night with acute stomach pains, and underwent surgery for a perforated stomach ulcer, Sir Peter’s surgery is not expected to impact on his directing commitment to The Hobbit beyond a slight delay to the start of filming.
TORN Staffer Ostadan writes: More information, with nice pictures, is trickling out about Fantasy Flight’s forthcoming Lord of the Rings ‘Living Card Game’. This time, the information comes from the French publisher’s site, for some reason. It appears that perhaps the game will be available a bit earlier in French (the buzz is that the English version will appear in April). The article reveals a bit more about gameplay and has several sample cards that you don’t have to read French to enjoy. More..
Sir Peter Jackson was admitted to Wellington Hospital last night with acute stomach pains, and underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer, according to a statement issued to the media today. Read More
UPDATE: From Hobbit publicist – “Sir Peter Jackson was admitted to Wellington Hospital on Wednesday night with acute stomach pains. He subsequently underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer. Sir Peter is currently resting comfortably and his doctors expect him to make a full recovery. Sir Peter’s surgery is not expected to impact on his directing commitment to The Hobbit beyond a slight delay to the start of filming.”
Quick Facts: A perforated ulcer is where an untreated ulcer can burn through the wall of the stomach, allowing digestive juices and food to leech into the abdominal cavity. Treatment generally requires immediate surgery. JRR Tolkien himself suffered the same condition shortly before his death in 1973. However since then cases of perforated ulcer have gone down and the condition is extremely treatable. There is no need to worry on Sir Peter’s behalf, I am certain he is getting the best medical care in the world.
All that to say ‘Get Well’ from your friends at TheOneRing.net
Our Swedish message board member macfalk has alerted us to a story over at Swedish website Nöjesbladet (the same that had previously broken the news that Michael Persbrandt had been cast in the role of Beorn) that talks about the Swedish actor prepping for the upcoming Hobbit films.
Here’s the English translation of the relevant bits of the article courtesy of macfalk:
This spring, Persbrandt has a super-tight schedule. February 15 is the day when filming begins for “The Hobbit” where he plays Beorn, a shape-shifter character on the good side. According to Nöjesbladet’s sources, Persbrandt is now working out twice a day to get in shape for the two films besides taking lessons to improve his English before debuting in Hollywood.
Find the rest of the transcription over at our message boards.
Read more about Michael Persbrandt and his character Beorn over at TORN’s exclusive Hobbit section.