The Office’s Martin Freeman is going to play Bilbo Baggins in two-part Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit. Peter Jackson has announced it so it must be true. And that’s after Freeman saying that he wasn’t going to be able to do the job a while ago.
In a statement, Peter Jackson said there had “only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us”. While Freeman will be pleased to land such a huge role, he’ll probably be a bit gutted that he’s thought of as a hairy toed little troll.
Still, at least Jackson added that Freeman is “intelligent, funny, surprising and brave – exactly like Bilbo.” Brave? He’s thinking of Kylie, surely?
Jackson said he was “incredibly proud” to be able to announce that Freeman would be the hobbit.
“There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin.”
There’s a few other Brit TV faces that’ll be appearing in the film, including Spooks actor Richard Armitage who will play the role of Thorin Oakenshield who is leader of the dwarves or something. Former EastEnders actor Rob Kazinsky (he played Sean Slater) will also play a dwarf despite the fact he’s over 6 feet tall.
This pair will appear alongside Irish actor Aidan Turner (who you may remember from BBC Three’s Being Human) and some bloke called Graham McTavish who has appeared on Red Dwarf.
The film hasn’t been running smoothly though. Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films were all made in New Zealand, but thanks to a dispute with the unions, Jackson is looking to film elsewhere.
And it is ol’ Blighty that’s looking favourite at the moment. Well, we do have a lot of nice trees and things that look like The Shire. Sadly, they’ll have to clear out all the piss-stained mattresses and burned-out cars from the glorious English countryside if they really want to get the look right for the films.
The films are due to be released in December 2012 and December 2013.
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