NZ Herald: Actors journey to Middle-earth

The New Zealand Herald has written this nice piece on ‘The Hobbit’ actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Mikael Persbrandt:

They might be leading men in their respective countries but it’s not their famous faces which have got them heading to New Zealand to join the cast of The Hobbit.

English actor Benedict Cumberbatch – best known as the latest television incarnation of Sherlock Holmes – will be motion captured as dragon Smaug as well as delivering the voice of Necromancer (later known as Sauron in The Lord of the Rings trilogy). The other, Swedish star Mikael Persbrandt, is already in the South Island playing Beorn, a shapeshifting mountain man who is sometimes a bear. While The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a career launchpad for many actors, both Cumberbatch and Persbrandt come to The Hobbit with established profiles. Read More…