Official 'The Hobbit' Thread

[DorkyFresh]

What, I'm confused. Viggo wasn't playing Aragorn originally?

nope...Stuart Townsend originally got the role, but then PJ and co. realized they had cast too young, so they called up Viggo. here's a picture of Stuart Townsend as Aragorn...

Spoiler

...thank god PJ came to his senses.

 

[Doc Ock]

nope...Stuart Townsend originally got the role, but then PJ and co. realized they had cast too young, so they called up Viggo. here's a picture of Stuart Townsend as Aragorn...

Spoiler

...thank god PJ came to his senses.

Oh...wow...good thing Viggo's back then! I've had so much trouble keeping up with film news I completely missed that!

Thank god indeed.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

...thank god PJ came to his senses.

LOL no ****! I haven't seen that picture before. Yeesh.

 

[Octoberist]

It's kinda surreal to see that picture of Stuart. Also, after watching the special features of the Extended Editions, Viggo was a Godsend. Not only was he method of all of the actors involved, but it turned out that he was the heart and soul of the cast.

 

[FVD]

And now for all those who were getting cranky about no Hugo Weaving announcements can now rest easy (a little)...

http://ht.ly/1cmCVi

 

[Octoberist]

Nice! I never doubted he wouldn't returned. I'm thinking they will announce Hugo's return soon along with the new Fili. You have to thankful (though still sadden) that it wasn't Martin Campbell or Richard Artiage who had to drop out..

 

[Boom]

Martin Campbell ?

My being a smartass aside, you're right. In th grand scheme of things, Fili isn't that major of a character.

 

[Octoberist]

opps

 

[Doctor Jones]

Whoa, that's a legit picture of Townsend as Aragorn? Was that released when the films were getting made?

Damn, he does look alot younger than I thought he would. Good thing they went with Mortenson. And besides, Viggo has that "friend who would have my back and then go for a drink later" thing about him. Townsend always came off as too snobby for me.

 

[Doctor Jones]

To my knowledge, he never did. Everything shot up to that point had been just the four hobbits. At least, that's what they said in the FoTR Appendices.

I thought they did. I was watching the Appendices over the weekend and I remember it different... I figured that's why they rushed Viggo because they had so little time. They had to let Townsend go in the early stages of shooting where he had to be quickly replaced, rearanging their schedules in shooting.

Or simply, like you said, they hadn't shot his stuff yet and realized he was too young.

EDIT: Looked it up and Townsend said it was the day before shooting they fired him.

 

[Yodaman]

At least it wasn't an Eric Stoltz in BTTF situation.

Has anyone heard if Stuart Townsend is better about the whole thing? He's had like no career at all. I can't immagine what he feels like when he sees Viggo in anything.

 

[Doctor Jones]

When I looked it up, there were some quotes after the first came out and he was pretty bitter. He's probably embellishing it, as he claimed they told him he didn't work hard enough. Like PJ and co. would do that. They probably had to release him in the most respectable way but they had to be up front. He was too young. He worked for two months and they let him go the day before they started shooting afterwards, so to him they thought he wasn't working hard. He even said it was an ego thing.

He even was set to be one of the Warrior's Three in Thor but he was out due to "Creative differences." And we all know what that means.

 

[Octoberist]

Well he has under League of the Extraordinary Gentlemen and Queen of the Damned under his belt...hahahahaha!

 

[Kane52630]

An old friend came to visit me on set today...

 

[CGHulk]

Yahoo!!!

 

[DocHoliday]

Glad to see it. Was hoping Elrond would feature.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

Weaving doesn't look like he has aged a bit.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Epic chest hair.

 

[Freddy]

Hairy chest

 

[Doctor Jones]

That chest hair better be included.

"One chest hair to rule them all..."

 

[Man in the Suit]

I'm very pleased to be welcoming two new cast members to our team.

Dean O'Gorman will be playing Fili. Dean's a terrific Kiwi actor, who I am thrilled to be working with. He's recently been in an excellent TV series down here called "The Almighty Johnsons", and I should let fans of that show know that our shooting schedule allows Dean to continue with a second series next year. Dean will be joining us next week.

I'm also pleased to announce that Lee Pace will be playing the Elven King Thrandruil. Casting these Tolkien stories is very difficult, especially the Elven characters, and Lee has always been our first choice for Thrandruil. He's going to be great. We loved his performance in a movie called "The Fall" a few years ago, and have been hoping to work with him since. When we were first discussing who would be right for Thrandruil, Lee came into mind almost immediately.

It's been a great week, and I'm looking forward to the next few. It's going to be interesting ...

More soon.

Cheers,

Peter J

https://www.facebook.com/notes/peter-jackson/casting-news/10150239464391558

 

[Boom]

Fili:

Spoiler

Thranduil:

Spoiler

 

[corby]

I like their choice for Thranduil, Lee Pace was great in Pushing Daisies and The Fall.

 

[Boom]

I have to admit. Considering who PJ cast as Elrond and Celeborn, I was expecting an older actor for Thranduil. But given Tolkien's text, it makes sense for Thranduil to look youthful, but with a maturity about him. That is, after all, what the elves are supposed to be. We shouldn't see much age on their faces. Even the older ones.

With that in mind, I'd say this is one of PJ's better decisions when it comes to casting an elf character (along with Cate Blanchett). As much as I love Weaving, I always felt he was too old and severe-looking for Elrond. And don't get me started on Marton Csokas.

Lee Pace is a damn good choice. His work in The Fall was fantastic.

And from what I've seen of O'Gorman, he's a solid pickup. Plus, he's a NZ actor, so that avoids the whole issue of having to bring in an out-of-country actor last minute.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Geez, is Fili the most studly of all the dwarves or something?