Entertainment Weekly has a recent interview with actor Aidan Turner – otherwise known as Kili in the upcoming ‘The Hobbit’ films. Some highlight below, and for the full story visit Popwatch at EW.com:
You were sporting a pretty impressive beard at the Hobbit press conference. Is that for Kili? AIDAN TURNER: Yeah, it is. I’m growing out the beard. We’re giving it a chance, seeing what it looks like.
Is that how Peter Jackson plans to make you less handsome and more dwarf-like?
To de-handsomify me? [Laughs] No, not really. I mean, famously in the books, the dwarves have really long beards, so we’re just trying stuff out and seeing what it looks like.
Are you in “hobbit boot camp” now?
Yeah. Well, it’s dwarf boot camp, not really hobbit boot camp. It’s just all dwarves—training and stuff.
[Read More] (Thanks to Ringer Irfon for the heads up!)
On this episode of Hobbit in 5 The Dwarves and Bilbo make there first press appearance since arriving in New Zealand a month ago. Also Sir Christopher Lee receives a Bafta Award, location scouting, character studies and much much more!
Ok so maybe it ran a little long this week but there was a lot to cover!
Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) will take time off from The Hobbit this summer to star in ‘The Syndicate’ a the Chichester Festival Theater:
Running July 21-Aug. 20 with an Aug. 2 opening at the venue’s 283-seat Minerva Theater, the play is Mike Poulton’s new version of Eduardo di Filippo’s “Il Sindaco Del Rione Sanita,” one of three world premieres in the venue’s 2011 season.
If you plan on attending the production, please send us your thoughts and reactions to Sir Ian’s performance. Thanks to Ringer Kookie for sending in the link. [Read More]
From The Dominion Post: Though the rest of the cast have expressed their enthusiasm for being in New Zealand, it seems The hobbit actor Sir Ian McKellen isn’t quite as excited. In a blog, McKellen – who will reprise his role as Gandalf – said he was relieved to have negotiated an “escape clause from Middle-earh” so he could play a Mafia don on stage. He will take a break during the 18 months of filming to fly back to Britain and star in The Syndicate, at the Chichester Festival Theatre, The Daily Mail reported. On his blog, McKellen also questioned his decision to play Gandalf, saying sequels aren’t necessarily as rewarding to act in as their originals. “My worry that I could not escape from Middle-earth was lifted.” McKellen is apparently on holiday in India, and will travel direct from there to New Zealand, where he will start filming on February 21.
UPDATE Sir Ian took to Twitter to correct a mistake in the above story. His start date for filming is now March 28th, and not February 21st.
Bruce Hopkins writes: I have uploaded this 2007 audio from an early morning visit to the studio by Sir Ian McKellen, Sylvester McCoy and Jonathan Hyde, truly the A Team of acting. They were in NZ with the Royal Shakespeare Co, performing King Lear and The Seagull. I took them on some sight seeing around Auckland and after the final show took them to a bar called Shanghai Lils. When I said I had to go to my talkback radio show Ian inquired if they were coming also, and so they did. The callers to the show didn’t really know who the guests were and my co-host Joe, wasn’t making a big deal of it. Highlights include Sylvester playing the spoons while a regular caller, 75yr old “Leggy Peggy” plays a knees up medley on piano. It’s 20mins long but has some great moments! Thanks to the producer Jason Beaumont for having the sense to record it. More..
Veteran actor Sir Christopher Lee has received a Bafta Fellowship at the academy’s film awards. The event ended with a standing ovation for the distinguished thespian, who is famous for his roles as Dracula, and in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Wicker Man and The Man with the Golden Gun. He accepted the Bafta Fellowship from director Tim Burton, who described the 88-year-old as an “electrifying screen presence”. More..
Entertainment Weekly has a recent interview with actor Aidan Turner – otherwise known as Kili in the upcoming ‘The Hobbit’ films. Some highlight below, and for the full story visit Popwatch at EW.com:
