TORn message board member AlexMaglor has pointed us to a great interview (albeit in Spanish) with Martin Freeman over at Spanish website elpais.com. But thanks to the linguistic skills of message board member Empedocles, we’ve now got the entire interview translated in English.
Here’s some snippets from the translated interview:
“I know my work plan” says Freeman. “I start in January, then I’ll have a break in the summer so I can shoot the second season of Sherlock, the BBC show where I portray Watson, and then I’ll be back in New Zealand in September in order to finish the movie by the end of the year”. The Englishman says summer because he’s thinking about the northern hemisphere seasons, but it will be winter in New Zealand.
“I wasn’t a fan of Tolkien before, I am now. A couple of weeks ago, I tried Bilbo’s hairy feet for the first time, and also the ears, although mine are big enough already, and the hair too. Moreover, they made molds out of those parts of my body since I’m going to be using prosthetics for many months. How did I look? Really different… but I’m ready to be Bilbo.”
Head over to our message boards for the translated interview and to read about Freeman’s conversations with Guillermo and PJ during the past couple of months.
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PETER JACKSON ANNOUNCES LATEST ADDITION TO THE HOBBIT CAST James Nesbitt Confirmed to Play Major Role in The Hobbit. (LOS ANGELES November 1, 2010) –One of Britain’s most beloved actors, James Nesbitt (Millions and TV’s Cold Feet), is the latest actor to join the ensemble cast of The Hobbit, it was jointly announced today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema; Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros.; and Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Nesbitt will play Bofur, a disarmingly forthright, funny and occasionally brave Dwarf. “James’s charm, warmth and wit are legendary as is his range as an actor in both comedic and dramatic roles. We feel very lucky to be able to welcome him as one of our cast.” said director Peter Jackson.
Newcomer, Adam Brown will play Ori, another of the Dwarf Company which sets out to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the infamous dragon, Smaug. Jackson comments, “Adam is a wonderfully expressive actor and has a unique screen presence. I look forward to seeing him bring Ori to life”.
Nesbitt and Brown will join the cast announced on October 21, which includes Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage (soon to appear in Captain America: The First Avenger), Aidan Turner (TV’s Being Human), Rob Kazinsky (TVs EastEnders), Graham McTavish (Secretariat), John Callen (TV’s Power Rangers Jungle Fury), Stephen Hunter (TV’s All Saints), Mark Hadlow (King Kong) and Peter Hambleton (TV’s The Strip).
Since The Hobbit films received a green light on October 15, pre-production has been in full swing with release dates set for December, 2012 and December, 2013. The two The Hobbit films are being co-produced by New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production, Warner Bros Pictures handling domestic distribution and MGM distributing internationally.
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Carolynne Cunningham are producing the films, with co-writer Philippa Boyens serving as co-producer and Ken Kamins as executive producer. The Oscar-winning, critically acclaimed LOTR trilogy, also from the production team of Jackson, Walsh and Cunningham, grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide at the box office. In 2003, “Return of the King” swept the Academy Awards, winning all of the 11 categories in which it was nominated, including Best Picture – the first ever Best Picture win for a fantasy film. The trilogy’s production was also unprecedented at the time. Continue reading “BREAKING NEWS: James Nesbitt is Bofur & Adam Brown is Ori!”
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It’s been a long time coming, but there was finally cause for rejoicing in Middle-earth last week when director Peter Jackson announced he’d cast several key roles in his adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel, The Hobbit. The casting of Martin Freeman of the UK Office fame as Bilbo Baggins was widely expected, but some Tolkien fans were surprised and slightly befuddled to see English actor Richard Armitage, best known for the BBC series MI-5, cast as Thorin Oakenshield, the gruff leader of a company of dwarves. What was Jackson doing hiring a hunky actor to play a character most often depicted in illustrations — and in the 1977 animated Hobbit movie — as a squat, crabby, Wilford Brimley-ish old dwarf with a long white beard? In an interview (after the jump), Jackson tells EW the choice is actually right in line with the casting of Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn and Orlando Bloom as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. More..
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For all those who’ve been concerned about the fact that there hasn’t been any casting news about returning cast members yet, here’s something that should ease the mind a bit.
Sky News caught up with Andy Serkis and chatted him up about all things “Hobbit“, and here’s what the man has to say about filming in New Zealand and reprising his role as Gollum.
“I’m sure The Hobbit will be in New Zealand at the end of the day. These are stories that have to be told, films that have to be watched. People are dying for them to come out. It has had a strange ride. I think the worse of it is over and it’s all going to come together soon.”
“I haven’t signed up. Of course I will be there. I will be there to support Peter Jackson in his endeavour again to pull off what will be an amazing magical feat of cinema, wherever that will be.”
There’s more to read and watch over at Sky News.
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New Zealand actor Mark Hadlow, revealed only a couple of days ago as being cast as the dwarf Dori in The Hobbit, says he received text and phone messages three weeks ago telling him not to sign on to any roles for the film. Hadlow, who isn’t a member of NZ Actors’ Equity, had got callbacks for four different roles in The Hobbit.
About the missives he received Hadlow says,
“What arrogance. What is that about? No one tells me where I can or can’t work.”
Like many others, Hadlow too hopes the Hobbit movies will be made in New Zealand. Here’s what he says about that:
“I’ll do my utmost to try to convince everybody that New Zealand is the best country in the world to film a film in.”
However, if that’s not the way things work out, Hadlow hopes he can be wherever they film the movies.
Head over to Stuff.co.nz to read the entire article.
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How will the cast of “The Hobbit” look together as they journey to the Lonely Mountain and encounter trouble along the way at every turn? Probably not exactly like this but IanH was kind enough to give us a glimpse of actors with digital photoshop makeup in the roles recently announced. Enjoy!
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