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Tennant tipped to play Bilbo in The Hobbit

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S

subzero9285

Banned
Doctor Who star David Tennant's next screen role may be in The Hobbit.

The 38-year-old is tipped to play Bilbo Baggins in the big screen adaptation of JRR Tolkien's book.

The Scottish star leads a list of stars, including James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe, vying to play the title role of Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit." The film – which may be split in two – is based on Tolkien's children's book prequel to The Lord Of The Rings hit series.

Tennant is due to make his debut appearance at the world's biggest science-fiction and fantasy convention Comic-Con in the US next week.

And Rings director Peter Jackson is also expected to announce his choice for the role when he attends.

Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times, said yesterday: "David Tennant just happens to be making his very first trip to the San Diego expo to promote "Doctor Who," a television series that he will soon be leaving behind. "Peter Jackson, the producer of the two-film "Hobbit" series that begins its theatre run in 2011, is also slated to appear this year, and, well you can see the dot-connecting possibilities....

"I think Tennant would be exceptional in the role."

In the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Bilbo Baggins was played by the veteran actor Sir Ian Holm. But in The Hobbit he is a sprightly 50 years old – although hobbits live to be well over 150 years old.

Tennant is currently filming St. Trinian's, The Legend of Fritton's Gold, and will be last seen as the tenth Timelord in a Christmas special.

Several members of the original cast are returning, including Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf.

And Christopher Lee – who played Saruman – has announced he would like to come back, too.

The 86-year-old said: "I've read the books time and again. Originally Saruman The White and the rest of the wizards, or the Istari as they call them, were immortal.

"When it all started, Saruman was the noblest, the finest, the bravest, the most dependable and reliable of them all, he was number one. But somewhere, somehow, and it was never actually explained, he turns.

"I'd be interested in seeing how that transition from good to evil occurred and, yes, of course I would return to the role if I was asked."
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Telegraph


The rumoured candidates.

Picture-26.jpg


Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins in the LOTR trilogy.

bilbo-baggins.jpg



So who would be your pick to play Bilbo?
 
A

Althane

Member
I'm forever going to be tainted with the image of Bilbo from the cartoon that they produced all those years ago...

But I could see Tennant pulling off a proper Bilbo. But maybe that's because I love the doctor so much. =P
 
S

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Radcliffe might make a very good Bilbo, but I think it would be a terrible career decision for him.

He is already probably typecast. Doing another fantasy blockbuster series would just further cement that.
 
S

SolsticeZero

Banned
Out of those three, I think Tennant would be the best choice. I mean, I thought Ian Holm did fantastic, but if you plump Tennant up a little bit, I can see him being on par with Holm.
 
B

Bernbaum

Member
Chris Bauer - the dude that played Frank Sobotka on The Wire.

Make him smile heaps, and put a wig on him. He was a fucking awesome actor.

I have been watching the Wire too much
 
C

Cheebs

Member
Tennant isn't right for it, McAvory should be it and he is a actual film actor who could lead the film.
 
E

Evlar

Banned
On the Bilbo speculation: Tennant has the looks (other than the weight, but I doubt they'll emphasize that feature much). I think he could make it work, but the evidence behind the rumor is flaky. The fact that Tennant and PJ will both be at Comic-Con merely means they both work in Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

In other news... God I hope they find a way to allow Christopher Lee to reprise his role as Saruman.
 
H

hamchan

Member
StoOgE said:
Radcliffe might make a very good Bilbo, but I think it would be a terrible career decision for him.

He is already probably typecast. Doing another fantasy blockbuster series would just further cement that.
Click to expand...

Bilbo is a pretty different character compared to Harry though. Does the genre of the movie matter when the character is so different?
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Evlar said:
In other news... God I hope they find a way to allow Christopher Lee to reprise his role as Saruman.
Click to expand...

Yeah. McKellen will be back as Gandalf, right?

And Radcliffe as Bilbo? Um. No. I'd rather have Wood play Bilbo, even if it means even more watery blue eyes.
 
S

subzero9285

Banned
Combichristoffersen said:
Yeah. McKellen will be back as Gandalf, right?

And Radcliffe as Bilbo? Um. No. I'd rather have Wood play Bilbo, even if it means even more watery blue eyes.
Click to expand...

Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis and Christopher Lee have all expressed an interest in reprising their roles, although health problems may prevent Christopher from filming in New Zealand.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
subzero9285 said:
Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis and Christopher Lee have all expressed an interest in reprising their roles, although health problems may prevent Christopher from filming in New Zealand.
Click to expand...

Lee is getting old (considering his age, I'm amazed he was able to finish the LotR trilogy at all), but I guess they could use bluescreen or whatever, and film his scenes in England (or wherever he lives nowadays).
 
N

NotWii

Banned
Scullibundo said:
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
Click to expand...
Alright... I think I'll watch the LOTR EEs this weekend...
 
D

Deleted member 20415

Unconfirmed Member
Why can't Ian Holm just play the entire thing? Darken his hair, use some makeup... voila.

This thing needs continuity. Just having him in bookended scenes isn't going to cut it for me.

Edit: You know that this thing is going to be titled "The Lord of the Rings: The Hobbit" or some such shit.
 
T

Tobor

Member
Tennant is perfect, thank goodness most of you guys aren't in casting.

As for the plumpness, They didn't bother plumping up the hobbits in LOTR, why start now?
 
E

Evlar

Banned
El_TigroX said:
Why can't Ian Holm just play the entire thing? Darken his hair, use some makeup... voila.

This thing needs continuity. Just having him in bookended scenes isn't going to cut it for me.
Click to expand...
Ian Holme rejected the idea of playing the younger Bilbo Baggins from prior to the release of LOTR. Anyone with close knowledge of the books knows that Bilbo is supposed to look essentially the same in the Hobbit as he does at the beginning of Fellowship- the fact he hasn't visibly aged is the evidence that tips Gandalf on the idea that Bilbo's ring is a Ring of Power.

BUT... the film production has always signalled that they didn't believe audiences would buy Ian Holme as a younger Bilbo. Honestly, most audiences will easily accept that a younger actor must play the younger Bilbo- and would be confused about the 60 year gap in the timeline if Ian Holme played the role. Therefore we have different actors.
 
Z

Zeliard

Member
Evlar said:
Ian Holme rejected the idea of playing the younger Bilbo Baggins from prior to the release of LOTR. Anyone with close knowledge of the books knows that Bilbo is supposed to look essentially the same in the Hobbit as he does at the beginning of Fellowship- the fact he hasn't visibly aged is the evidence that tips Gandalf on the idea that Bilbo's ring is a Ring of Power.

BUT... the film production has always signalled that they didn't believe audiences would buy Ian Holme as a younger Bilbo. Honestly, most audiences will easily accept that a younger actor must play the younger Bilbo- and would be confused about the 60 year gap in the timeline if Ian Holme played the role. Therefore we have different actors.
Click to expand...

That's a shame. If they're bringing back Christopher Lee and Ian McKellen, surely it wouldn't have been that jarring to bring back Ian Holm.
 
Hari Seldon

Hari Seldon

Member
Evlar said:
Ian Holme rejected the idea of playing the younger Bilbo Baggins from prior to the release of LOTR. Anyone with close knowledge of the books knows that Bilbo is supposed to look essentially the same in the Hobbit as he does at the beginning of Fellowship- the fact he hasn't visibly aged is the evidence that tips Gandalf on the idea that Bilbo's ring is a Ring of Power.

BUT... the film production has always signalled that they didn't believe audiences would buy Ian Holme as a younger Bilbo. Honestly, most audiences will easily accept that a younger actor must play the younger Bilbo- and would be confused about the 60 year gap in the timeline if Ian Holme played the role. Therefore we have different actors.
Click to expand...

You make a good point about his looks. However he has probably aged in looks since the Fellowship. Also, he is getting pretty old to play the action scenes that Bilbo has in the Hobbit.
 
C

Ceres

Banned
They should get Colin Firth if they don't want it to look like he's aged too much due to the ring but still younger enough. They seem to be going for UK actors so he fits there too.
 
M

mjc

Member
Zeliard said:
That's a shame. If they're bringing back Christopher Lee and Ian McKellen, surely it wouldn't have been that jarring to bring back Ian Holm.
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I think it would have more to do with Holm's physical capabilities than anything else. I would have loved to have him be in The Hobbit, but I just don't think they could pull it off with him.
 
L

Loxley

Member
Zeliard said:
That's a shame. If they're bringing back Christopher Lee and Ian McKellen, surely it wouldn't have been that jarring to bring back Ian Holm.
Click to expand...

The difference being that Bilbo isn't a wizard. That's really all the explanation audiences need in order to explain why McKellen and Lee are back.

My take on the choices:

Tennant: Sorry Dave, you're great, but far too tall (even for all the effects and camera tricks they would normally use to make him appear smaller) and lanky for my taste.

Radcliffe: I have zero problem with him as an actor, and think he could do a decent job, but as someone else said, it would be a horrible career decision. Especially since all Radcliffe has done is say how he wants to do smaller roles once he's finished with Harry Potter.

McAvoy: Yes. He's a perfect contender. In what few roles I've seen him in he's appears to be great with nabbing accents, and hey, he's actually a really good actor. Not to mention your average movie-goer has no idea who the hell he is, aside from "Hey, isn't that the guy from that one movie?" so he'd be very believable, I think.

I think audiences would just have a hard time buying Radcliffe, after 10 years of him doing Harry Potter, and Tennant...well, like I said; he's great and all, but Bilbo just does not seem like a fitting role for him (and please don't bring up the Heath Ledger comparison, I was a Heath Ledger apologist up until the day The Dark Knight released, what a fun job that was).
 
Z

Zoso

It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely lonely time.
Daniel Radcliffe??? I'm not saying he couldn't do it, but I have a hard time picturing him as Bilbo. I honestly don't know who I'd want to do it. Ian Holm was so perfect in LotR.
 
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