I simply couldn’t do justice to the wit and warmth of this press conference with the cast playing Bilbo and the thirteen dwarves. Luckily, TV3 have now posted their video of the entire conference – a much longer clip than the one I posted before. ENJOY!!!
Tag: Bilbo
Here’s word on what once-upon-a-time-Hobbit-director Guillermo del Toro has to say about the casting choices revealed for The Hobbit films thus far:
“I have the perfect actor for every character in the movie, but I don’t feel morally correct to saying who now that I’m not directing. But [about Martin Freeman playing Bilbo Baggins] absolutely, 100%. I’m a huge fan of his. I love him in The Office and Love Actually.”
As far as his decision to leave the director’s chair of the two-part movie, GDT says:
“[It’s] a hard thing when you’ve spent two years on a movie and it’s going nowhere”.
News courtesy of Simon Reynolds over at Digital Spy.
Cathy sends this in: The timing couldn’t be more perfect for the announcement of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. His most recent work in Sherlock will be premiering in the US this coming week on PBS. Check your local listings for Masterpiece Mystery, which typically airs on Sunday evenings, but here in Los Angeles, KCET will be airing it next Thursday evening. The first episode up is Sherlock: A Study in Pink, where we first meet Afghan war vet Dr.John Watson and his soon to be flat mate Sherlock Holmes. It’s a stunning piece of work for both actors. So for those of you who don’t yet know who Martin Freeman is, check this out and take notes.
Shawn sends along this interview with the amazing Simon Pegg, when asked about his Hollywood friends he mentions Martin Freeman and drops this serious bomb, does this mean an announcement is pending?
“Martin’s the anti-me: a soul aficionado and a vinyl junkie – absolutely not a resident of the geek universe. Not the type of person who will relish the attention he’ll get for being Bilbo Baggins. Ha!”
UPDATE: Simon posted this on Twitter this morning. “Woah, woah, woah I did NOT confirm Martin Freeman was in The Hobbit. As far as I know, talks are ongoing. Hope he is. Great choice.”
Discussion board member olipowell has chimed in on the Movie: Hobbit board about casting for Bilbo:
I now know 2 people who have read for Bilbo that I went to Drama school with and I can say categorically they are both entirely unknown outside of the world of theatre & bit TV parts. So…they ARE seeing and have seen unknowns and I would not be surprised if that is the route they take.
Join in on the discussion! [Discuss]
Ringer Karl Falconer, who attended the BFI IMAX LOTR All-night screening managed to snag the following video of Sir Ian McKellen at last night’s event. The video is on Karl’s Facebook page, so I’ll need to login to see it – but its worth it! First off, Sir Ian revels he will be in New Zealand in March to begin filming for approximately a year, with the first of two films being released Christmas 2011. (as expected, but great to hear from Ian!) As our earlier reports have revealed, Sir Ian also states he ‘pretty well knows’ who will play “Frodo” (maybe a small slip up, and he meant Bilbo) and that we will be happy with the casting (2:22 mark of video). A huge thanks to Karl for sending us the link to his video. [Ian McKellen Video] And while you are on facebook, don’t forget to become a fan of TheOneRing.net! [TORn on Facebook]