With the recent news that Peter Jackson has signed on to produce two films based on “The Hobbit,” we decided to run through our casting choices for roles up for grabs in “The Hobbit” (which you can read here), but we’ve saved the biggest choice for our blog.
Read below who we think should play Bilbo, then sound off on your choices for the Ring Bearer, Smaug, Beorn, and all the characters in the world’s most eagerly anticipated film.
BILBO BAGGINS:
Book Says: Hobbit of the Shire content to live a peaceful and happy life until coerced by Gandalf the Grey into joining a group of dwarves to recover their lost treasure. Brave and wise, Bilbo becomes the bearer of the One Ring and, soon after, the company’s savior on several occasions. Fifty-one years old at the time of “The Hobbit,” Bilbo was played by Ian Holm in Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which begins at Bilbo’s eleventy-first (111th) birthday.
We Say: That Ian Holm gets a raw deal. Although he plays a younger Bilbo in one brief, flashback scene in “Fellowship of the Ring” – and there’s canonical evidence to suggest that Bilbo appeared to age very little while in possession of the ring of power – we fear that the 76-year-old Holm is too old to convincingly play “The Hobbit,” particularly given that he may be nearing 80 by the time the shoot wraps. This is especially true in the universe Jackson created given that he cast a then 19-year-old Elijah Wood to play the 51-year-old Frodo in “LOTR.”
So would should it be? Well, for starters it needs to be someone who could conceivably pass as a younger version of the same character, someone who at least looks and sounds like Holm. Bilbo spends much of “The Hobbit” playing in over his head, confused by the circumstances that brought him to where he is, but cocky and excited enough to, say, talk to a dragon, for instance. The actor who plays Bilbo should be good at exhibiting inner intelligence, but even better at masking that intelligence under a veil of foolishness. Months ago, internet rumors pegged Martin Freeman for the part. Sometimes the internet has it right. We like MARTIN FREEMAN.
Alternates: Anything’s possible in this day and age, with computer technology a veritable fountain of youth for some actors (Look no further than the opening shots of “X-Men: The Last Stand” for proof.) If there’s a will and a way, of course we’d love to see IAN HOLM reprise his role.
December 21st, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Well, if they can make Ian look the same age as he did in Fellowship then there should be no problem… after all when Gandalf shows up for the party he says “You havent aged a day”!
Might need a few stunt doubles tho.. hehe
December 22nd, 2007 at 5:56 am
No, no, no, no. Not Martin Freeman. He’s cool and all, but he’s not Bilbo.
December 22nd, 2007 at 8:35 am
51 is about equivilant to just entering adulthood in middle earth in fact merry and pippin were in their tweens so peter jackson got it right as far as the books go as for ian holm in the role now i’d love to see it but i have my doubts
December 22nd, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Frodo was a young adult, according to the books. Hobbits live longer and age slower than humans, so to say that Elijah Wood was too young to play 51 is silly. And the guy they got to play Pippin (younger than Frodo) was actually in his 40’s! My vote: I don’t know who SHOULD but I think Martin Freeman might be a bit too… cynical? for naive Bilbo.
December 23rd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Where in the book does it ever say Frodo was 51 at the time of LOTR. He had just “come of age”. I heard something like 83 % of people that saw LOTR as a movie had never bothered to read the books either before or after seeing the movies…now that is low brow. Oh for the part of Bilbo i heard Peter Jackson has been talking to Michael K Williams from The TV show “The Wire”.
December 24th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Gregory said: “Where in the book does it ever say Frodo was 51 at the time of LOTR. He had just “come of age”.”
Frodo left the Shire on 23 September 3018, the day after his fiftieth birthday, this is mentioned in FOTR and the Apendicies.
I think Martin Freeman is a good shout, but I’d rather have Ian Holm play Bilbo- even if only for the close ups.
After all, no one would guess that about 75% of Gimli seen in LOTR was NOT John Rhys-Davies but his stunt double. They can do anything these days!
December 24th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
James McAvoy. You know it makes sense.
Think also of the only good change made by Lucas to the original Star Wars trilogy (the insertion of McDiarmid into ESB) and you’ll agree that a re-shoot of the Bilbo flashback scenes from FOTR with McAvoy is a good idea too. The eventual 5 film “War of the Ring” box set will demand it.
December 26th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Ian Holm - no. Emotionally, it sounds good. But for this key part they need a babe, a heartthrob. There were at least 8 of them in LotR, which owes a lot of it’s success to that. And if Bard is going to be a “man’s man”, then Bilbo needs to be of the softer variety.
I know it isn’t a popular opinion, but I believe that the best continuity and the most logical person to play Bilbo is Elijah Wood.
The look is similar enough that a little bit of makeup would be convincing, and after all, Frodo is Bilbo’s close relative. And it would pull all the Frodo fans.
I think the only thing that should stop this choice would be Wood’s refusal to do it. Which may have already happened, of course.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:37 am
I think Martin Freeman is the right man for the task. I’d love to see him as Bilbo Baggins.
December 28th, 2007 at 2:57 am
What about Robin Williams?
December 28th, 2007 at 6:54 am
Robin Williams is too old. Martin Freeman is a good choice IMO.
December 29th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
robin williams??? NOOOOO!!!! Yuck!
December 30th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Sir Ian Holm IS Bilbo !! Why look anywhere else?
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
freeman all the way….. the shape of his face…the ways he moves….. he IS a hobbit.
robbie for beorn would work well…
i’m not just jumping on the bandwagon, as soon as i saw freeman in hitchhikers i was sold.
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Morgan Freeman for Bilbo, Lucy Lawless for Bard, Sponge Bob for Smaug. Nuff said.
January 3rd, 2008 at 6:27 pm
BILL BAILEY
yeah!
January 13th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Ian Holm should, without a doubt, play Bilbo. So often casting a similar (but still new) face is enough to unbalance even the best of a series. Sure, the translation from page to film will be superb with PJ behind the cameras, but the films will be amazingly devoid of the character that IS Holm’s. But there is absolutely an extreme danger when considering Holm’s age. If you lose your lead, then what? If it happens during production millions will be lost and the film production halted if not frozen indefinitely. I can see PJ and the LOTR cast fighting and urging to give Holm the opportunity to reprise his amazingly brilliant adaptation of Baggins, and that would be the right choice for the assured success of the films. But, I can easily see New Line not budging on the grounds that it’s too much of a risk to take. I can also see the whole thing just falling to pieces over such an argument (the relations between New Line and PJ’s crew are just FANTASTIC, ya know?) and New Line attempting to fill PJ’s chair with some special-effects loving lapdog of a hack who, besides never having read the novel or seen the LOTR films in their entirety, will simply do what New Line tells him to do and ruin it for everyone. To sum up, yes, it may be dangerous for Holm to play Bilbo again. But it would be committing a very gross dishonor to the prodigious effort that PJ and his crew made in painstakingly translating the works of a beloved author into a trio of films that took the world by storm and surpassed even the most cynical of the novel’s fans, myself of course included. Sir Ian Holm is the man for the job, because his character is now, thanks to the films, the hobbit we know as Bilbo. No other actor, no matter how similar looking or alike in mannerisms, will be able to take his place. I would rather see “The Hobbit” put on a shelf to gather dust with the thousands of other brilliant theatrical works that New Line has rejected than see them make the mistake of trying to reap profits by destroying what we know to be a brilliant adaptation of a treasured character such as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Bilbo Baggins.
January 14th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Martin Freeman would do a great job as Bilbo but as long as Ian Holm is healthy, there is no other choice!!
January 15th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Lord of the rings clearly states (for those who can read) Bilbo adopted him when he turned “of age” that was 33 years old, Gandalf then dissapeared for 17 years searching for info on the ring. He finally arrived back when Frodo was 50.
Ian Holm should play bilbo. With the ring he did not age.
January 16th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
If they can make Andy Serkis look like gollum they can make Ian Holm look younger. It would be worth it to keep the essence of Bilbo intact.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:58 am
Toby Maguire? Daniel Radcliff?
February 8th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I think sir ian holm should be bilbo after all he was an origannil!
February 15th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
My vote goes out to Toby MacGuire
February 24th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I think that holm was a good bilbo but need someone younger like possibly Tobey Maguire or Shia Labeoff.
March 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
remember how they made pat stewart and ian mekkellen appear 20 years younger in the opening of xmen3?…dont you all think this should be the case for ian holm to play bilbo again? im re-reading the hobbit and imagine bilbo as ian holm while im reading.pleeeease dont go changing the actor.i quote gandalf from the fellowship of the ring,to bilbo…”you havent aged a day!”
April 19th, 2008 at 8:11 am
The most fitting American actor that i think would be ideal to play Bilbo Baggins is WHIT HERTFORD. I recently saw him in a wonderful play in Los Angeles and he is physically (5′2 - bright blue eyes similar to Elijah Wood) and emotionally perfect. Personally, I think it’s much better to cast an unknown fresh face than someone that is too identifiable - it lets the audience immediately slip into fantasy, rather than being reminded of their resume throughout the film. And although I do like Martin Freeman, trust me WHIT is 100% Bilbo Baggins. I actual told Mr. Hertford after the play that I thought he would be perfect to Bilbo and his eyes widened and he looked like a kid in a candy store and he hugged me and said, “Thank you. Thank you, I hope the right person hears you say that. That would be a dream come true”. He was really genuine after the show and took a lot of time talking to people. I just can’t say enough about how much he touched me with his perfomance. He was really great!!!
April 24th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
What about Hayden Christensen(sp?), aka. Anakin Skywalker? Bilbo would be 50-51 years at the beginning of the hobbit (111 - 60), so it will have to be somebody young if he is the same age as Frodo is in LOTR.
April 30th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
James McAvoy
May 8th, 2008 at 1:56 am
I’d love to see Sir Ian Holm again, to keep the continuity. But knowing how hollywood operates, I’m sure they ‘d pick someone else. If I had to pick someone other than Sir Ian Holm, i’d pick Ricky Gervais.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Charlie Cox of Stardust. He’s got this sort of loveable hobbit-esque aspect of him, but he’s still a really cool actor.
May 11th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Charlie Cox of Stardust - 100% sure. He’s got this sort of soft, naive hobbit-like aspect of his acting, but he’s really very handsome.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Here’s one for you. How about Tony Shalhoub from the tv series “Monk”. He looks almost exactly like a younger version of Ian Holm, the only problem is they do not sound alike, but actors learn how to fake an accent. And as for the age factor, Bilbo definitely needs to look younger so I think Ian Holm is not going to work out. I mean, look at Elijah Wood as Frodo, he’s supposed to be around 50 years old for a hobbit. Ian Holm now cannot look that young no matter how much makeup or cg work they put in to him.