On this episode of Hobbit in 5 we talk about Saoirse Ronan not taking part in The Hobbit, Hugo Weaving’s return, do a character study on Kili, and more!
Den of Geek has a great new interview with Sylvester McCoy who’s been cast in the role of the Wizard Radagast the Brown in The Hobbit. A few excerpts follow:
You’re heading off next to New Zealand to do The Hobbit, then! This must be the biggest adventure of all now?
I think it is, yeah. I think it’s a big one. I’ve had quite a lot of wonderful adventures in my life, and this one, I’m so excited.
When did you first hear, then, that you were close to landing a part inThe Hobbit? Because the rumour mill had been going for a while.
Well, last summer, Peter Jackson, Fran, and Phillippa flew over, and invited me for tea. So they got me a car, and drove over for tea. I thought it was more auditioning, because I’d screentested for it. But when I got there, they said would you play the part? Would I? No! Of course not!
They knew you from before…
Well, they saw my screentest for Radagast The Brown, and Guillermo del Toro, who was going to direct it, he’d okayed it. He was keen that I play the part. I didn’t know this, but I got it from the screentest. It wasn’t until I went to see them for tea that I knew. They were asking my permission to be in it!
There’s more Hobbit-related bits in the interview, and trust us, you’ll want to read all of them!
From the Dominion Post: Gig-goers at the San Francisco Bath House on Saturday night spotted a herd of hobbits among the crowd. Not only was head hobbit Martin Freemen there, but he was accompanied by a crowd of 4ft (1.20-meter) stand-ins used to create the correct scale in Sir Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, being filmed in Wellington. A diarist reports that no only were other music-lovers excited by celeb spotting, but they said it was great that, for once, they could see over the heads in front. [The Dominion Post]
In a new interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Saorise Ronan has revealed that she will not be playing the long rumoured role of the Elf Itaril in the upcoming Hobbit films.
An excerpt follows:
It’s probably not going to work out with The Hobbit unfortunately.
Because I would have been working for about a year on it and there were other projects that I was very interested in.
Head over to the Belfast Telegraph to read Ronan’s entire statement in the interview.
Does this mean the role of Itaril has been eliminated from the movie entirely, or does it simply mean that Ronan won’t be the one playing it? Discuss on our message boards.
Peter Jackson has posted a note on his Facebook page inviting fans to send in questions about the upcoming Hobbit films out of which he will soon pick 20 questions to answer.
An excerpt follows (but be sure to read the entire note accessible from the link above):
It seems like a lifetime ago now, but way back at the beginning of The Lord of the Rings, I agreed to answer 20 questions…
I thought you might like to do the same thing again with The Hobbit, using this Facebook page. So let’s get into it … if there’s anything you’d like to know about the movies we’re making, please send me questions (on this page) and we’ll start answering 20 of them. Who knows – if we have fun, why stop at 20?
There’s a neat discussion going on on our dedicated Hobbit – Movie message board, with members thinking through some of the more intelligent questions that can be asked. You’re most welcome to pitch in!
On a related note, here’s the original 20 Questions that PJ did for The Lord of the Rings. Enjoy!
Another one for the rumor mill? On ‘Reel Late with Kate‘ last night, she let it slip that Simon Pegg & Nick Frost visited the Hobbiton set while in New Zealand during filming of Tintin. Could this be for a possible cameo in The Hobbit or just curiosity? Click on the link for the Video. [YouTube] [Reel Late with Kate]
From the Dominion Post: Gig-goers at the 
