Ringer kiwifan has told us that Aidan Turner’s new mini-series “Poldark” will be heading to the small screen very soon. Aidan’s co-stars include Eleanor Tomlinson (Death Comes to Pemberley), Heida Reed (Silent Witness), Ruby Bentall (The Paradise), Jack Farthing (Blandings), Kyle Solder (Anna Karenina), the late Warren Clarke (Red Riding), Phil Davies (Whitechapel), Beatie Edney (Poirot) and Robin Ellis, who played the title role in the original 1975-77 BBC adaptation of Winston Graham’s acclaimed novels.
Poldark starts on BBC One in the UK on Sunday 8 March at 9 pm and in the US on PBS Masterpiece on 14 June. It will also be on ABC in Australia.
Aidan says of the extensive riding required, “Luckily I did a lot of riding in New Zealand when we were there filming The Hobbit. I trained a lot and thought I’d leave a pretty good rider – thank God I did as there was a lot of riding in Poldark. It’s very much a part of who Ross is, so it’s immediately getting you into character.” [Read More]
As part of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’s premiere festivities, Air New Zealand graciously invited TheOneRing.net to the red carpet reveal of their new Smaug plane! Fili of Happy Hobbit was in attendance and thank goodness she was, for two certain dwarf brother recognized her on sight! Another surprise was the appearance of Peter Jackson, so join the director himself, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, and TORn staffers Quickbeam, Sarumann, and Fili and her mother Dis for a fun time and some interviews with the cast! [Air New Zealand]
The Sydney Morning Herald recently released an interview they
conducted in 2012 – in which they had a chance to sit down with several of our beloved Dwarf actors. But it turns out that they were in for a bit more than they anticipated. The interview (which they titled “Lesson One: Never Interview Dwarves) began with Jed Brophy, followed by Graham McTavish – and before long, dwarves were being switched in and out in an exchange the Herald called “amusing, informative, long (very long) and occasionally anarchic.” Continue reading “The Sydney Morning Herald sits down with the Dwarves (and kind of regrets it…)”
Today’s press conference opened with an apology from Peter Jackson, who said he couldn’t be there as he was “under a form of medical house arrest” since being hospitalised with a perforated ulcer last week.
“And to be honest, perhaps it’s just as well. These guys make me laugh so hard that I’d be in danger of popping a stitch or something,” Jackson continued in his statement.
Confirming the truth of that, the cast of 13 dwarves and one hobbit kept up a constant flow of quips and wisecracks throughout the whole press conference. We knew Martin Freeman was funny with a good script – well, he’s hilarious without one as well.
Martin John C. Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Tim Canterbury in the BBC’s Golden Globe-winning comedy The Office, Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Dr. John Watson in Sherlock.
Freeman has appeared in at least 18 TV shows, 14 theatre productions, and several radio productions. His most famous role remains that of Tim Canterbury in The Office. He also appeared in the sitcom Hardware. Additionally Freeman has appeared in several films, including Sacha Baron Cohen’s Ali G Indahouse (2002) and Richard Curtis’ Love Actually (2003). As well as his various comic roles, Freeman has also appeared in serious dramatic parts. His most prominent dramatic role to date has been as Lord Shaftesbury in the 2003 BBC historical drama Charles II: The Power and The Passion. He can also be seen making a brief appearance in the first episode of the second series of This Life, helping himself to £30 from Milly and Egg’s bedside table before unknowingly swigging a mouthful of Egg’s urine from a lager can. Freeman also starred in the BBC’s television series The Robinsons. Freeman also had a cameo performance in episode 1 of Black Books.
He had a cameo in Hot Fuzz (2007), a film written by Shaun of the Dead writers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, and had a brief non-speaking role in Shaun of the Dead as Yvonne’s boyfriend, Declan. He is in the 2007 film The All Together written & directed by Gavin Claxton. He also appeared along side Roger Lloyd Pack, Jamie Hogarth and Christopher Mellows in the 2007 Bill Kenwright theatre production of The Last Laugh. Continue reading “Meet Your Hobbit Cast”
By Mike Fleming at Deadline.com: BREAKING: While Peter Jackson and Warner Bros are figuring out where they’ll shoot back-to-back installments of The Hobbit, Jackson has begun to set his cast for the ambitious projects that will begin shooting in February for release in December 2012, and 2013. As Deadline told you last week, Martin Freeman is set to play Bilbo Baggins, the adventurous Hobbit whose adventures and discovery of the One Ring leads the story up to The Lord of the Rings. Freeman has appeared in films ranging from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Hot Fuzz to Love Actually.
Jackson has cast several other significant Dwarf characters.
Richard Armitage (MI-5 and Captain America: The First Avenger) will play Thorin Oakenshield, leader of the Company of Dwarves which sets off to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from a thieving dragon. Aidan Turner (Being Human) and Rob Kazinsky (EastEnders) will play Kili and Fili, members of the Company of Dwarves. Graham McTavish (Secretariat) will play Dwalin, John Callen (Power Rangers Jungle Fury) will play Oin; Stephen Hunter (All Saints) will play Bombur, and Mark Hadlow (King Kong) plays Dori, while Peter Hambleton (The Strip) will play Gloin. Continue reading “Deadline: Peter Jackson Sets First Names For ‘The Hobbit’”