Not an original thread idea, I grant you, but anyway: It should be a given that Andy Serkis and Ian McKellan would reprise their roles as Gollum and Gandalf. I would love to have seen Ian Holm as Bilbo, but that’s probably not feasible. I vote for Hugo Weaving continuing as Elrond too. So still to cast are Bilbo, Thorin, other dwarves, Bard, Beorn and probably others I’m forgetting. What are your thoughts?
PS – Smaug should be a wonder!
Geoffrey Rush - Thorin
Stephen Frye - Beorn
Derek Jacobi - Bilbo
Hugh Laurie - Smaug’s voice
Ricky Gervais - any one of the other dwarves
Derek Jacobi is too old - what about Bob Hoskins?
I was thinking Tom Hollander might be a good choice as well, assuming a 50 year old Bilbo who would look more 35-ish (hobbits do tend to live longer than us Big Folk). Also, you could pad him out for early scenes and actually show him losing weight and getting a little tougher as the story goies on.
If you cast a short actor like Hollander for Bilbo, you can cast all your Dwarves 5’10" and taller, avoiding a lot of the height issues for a big chunk of the film.
Gimli and the hobbits were all shot at the same scale. Burly Jonathoan Rys-Davies was a head taller than all the svelte hobbits.
You pretty much have to cast a short actor to play a hobbit, even if you’re going to shrink him down through special effects a tall guy wouldn’t look proportioned correctly once shrunk.
Or you could go straight to Peter Dinklage and shoot him full scale.
I’d love to see Toby Jones as Bilbo. He’s tiny, has an impish face, and is a fine actor.
Although the movie King Arthur was pure crap;
As I was watching it I kepp thinking thay Stellan Skarsgård was almost exactly how I had imagined Beorn looking and sounding, albeit Darker hair, and 30% larger.
Christopher Walken as Bilbo: “What. Have I got. ::shrug, grimace:: in my pocket?”
Schwartenegger as Gollum: “Vaht hahs it gahts in its pohketses? Naht fayah!”
Excellent.
Would James Earl Jones in that role be too trite?
Jack Black – Bombur
Brad Pitt – Bard (Heh… Bard Ptit)
Peter MacNicol could make a good Hobbit; he’s only an inch taller than Dominic Monaghan.
Casting this movie is very hard for me except for Gandalf & Gollum. I would vote for a new Elrond, Hugo Weaving was the second worst actor in the Trilogy, only Arwen was worse.