Sean Bean, a favorite of LOTR fans worldwide, is anchoring HBO’s fantasy series “A Game of Thrones.” Bean plays Eddard Stark in the adult-themed series, and last week he ran into a bit of difficulty. Fans have consistently given us feedback that they love these clips and HBO has sent along another pair for your viewing enjoyment. We don’t want to get too spoiler-heavy so we will let the clips mostly speak for themselves. It is worth noting that Conan Stevens, a 7-foot-tall stunt actor playing Gregor Clegane or The Mountain That Rides (poor horse!) in “A Game of Thrones,” was just announced as the giant Orc Azog yesterday He appears in neither clip.

Ep. 6 Clip – Ned Wakes Up

In the second clip, another Stark, Eddard’s daughter Arya, speaks with her swordmaster:

Ep. 6 Clip – Arya Talks With Syrio

Eddard Stark

HBO shares another clip from Sean Bean in the adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones,” fantasy series. This Sunday will be the fifth episode of the 10 dedicated to the first of Martin’s “Ice & Fire” series in which Bean stars as Eddard “Ned” Stark. He plays a nobleman who holds tightly to his ideals and honor and serves as “The Hand” of the King. In this scene he speaks with Ser Barristan, one of the Kingsguard, sworn to protect the royal family.

Ep. 5 Clip – Ned Talks to Ser Barristan

It’s been more than a month since Sir Ian McKellen posted an entry on his blog “Notes From Imladris” dedicated to his adventures filming The Hobbit. But the wait seems to have been worth it.

His latest blog entry “THE HOBBIT, 2 Elves, and another Wizard” is replete with a picture of Hugo Weaving, who’ll be returning as Lord Elrond, a screencap from ROTK of Bret McKenzie as the Elf Lindir, and a picture of  Sylvester McCoy who’s been cast in the role of Radagast the Brown.

Threads of interest follow:

  • Martin Freeman has left The Hobbit. No worries: he’ll be back in Middle Earth after our first hiatus… The rest of the cast remains on duty for another few weeks, working on hobbit-less sections of the film.  These involve dwarves of course but also elves, with Hugo Weaving back for a stretch as Lord Elrond.
  • Another slim-line elf returning from LOTR, is a local: New Zealand’s actor/comedian/singer Bret McKenzie. Now he is briefly back in Rivendell as a senior official at Elrond’s Court and he has a name “Lindir”, which means “singer”.
  • And there’s another wizard in town, preparing to make his appearance as Radagast the Brown, the eccentric friend of Gandalf’s, played by Sylvester McCoy. This week he has been trying out his make-up and costume.

The blog post makes for an amazing read, so be sure to click that link above and read the Grey Wizard’s notes in his own hand.

The BBC America Blog has an interesting interview with Orlando Bloom where his words seem to imply he’s going to be a part of The Hobbit (as, of course, the Elf Legolas).

Here’s one of the statements he makes:

I can’t really discuss it too much at this point, but I’m very excited at the prospect of being a part of it again. I think it will be wonderful to get back there.

Read the rest of the interview for Orlando’s thoughts on Peter Jackson as a director, and the themes of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

What do you think? Is Orlando Bloom pretty much going to be in these movies at this point? Follow the “Discuss” link to share your thoughts with fellow fans on our message boards.

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!

May 6th, 2011 – Episode 16

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N1GHT21 writes: Just a point to a Game due out at the end of the month from producer Rockstar Games called ‘L.A. Noire’, the reason I’m pointing you in the direction of this game is because mainly the actor who played Lord Denethor in the return of the king John Noble is staring as Leland Monroe but in a way like you have never seen before. This game uses face capture, it is the first time we have seen it in the industry and you will be shocked at how realistic his ingame face looks this surely will be a great step forward and it is also great to see a reconcilable face within the game. More..