Not too long ago, we interviewed Peter Jackson and he broke the news that he was planning to bring back only three key “Lord of the Rings” actors for his upcoming “Hobbit” films: the stars who played Gandalf, Galadriel and Elrond. Over the weekend, we caught up with the veteran actor who portrays one of the beloved Tolkien three, and he told us how he’ll fit into the high-profile films.
“Elrond is in ‘The Hobbit,’ in the book,” explained Hugo Weaving, the “Matrix” breakout actor who portrayed the Lord of Rivendell and ancient, wise elf in Jackson’s three “LotR” films. “And yeah, I would love to work on that, with Guillermo del Toro directing.”
After years of legal wrangling, rumors and delays, Jackson and del Toro are finally ready to bring “The Hobbit” to the big screen as two movies. Jackson promised promised in December that casting was a “month or two away.” Weaving, a huge Tolkien fan, was eager to talk about the key plot developments that will involve his character.
“Of course, I’ve read the book,” explained the star, who can be seen this weekend in “The Wolfman” hunting a hairy Benicio del Toro. “There’s really only one scene in the book of ‘The Hobbit’ [where Elrond appears]. On their journey Bilbo and the [others] stop in Rivendell and have a night or two with Elrond.”
After Gandalf saves the group from trolls and advises them to stop at the Elven outpost, the soon-to-be-cast Bilbo will encounter Weaving's Elrond, who will enlighten their journey. “[Elrond] is able to read their map,” Weaving explained. “It’s a star map, and he could read star maps. So that’s Elrond in the book.”
“Now, in the film, I don’t know where they’ve gone with it,” Weaving explained, expressing some hope that Elrond gets a bit more to do -– especially so he could appear in both films. “Because [screenwriters Jackson, del Toro, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh] expanded it, I think, to a couple of films.”
“[I’ll be] reading the star map,” Weaving said with a grin, promising we’ll see him again soon enough.
What do you think of the Elrond character? Should the “Hobbit” films use him more, or should Jackson and crew stick to Tolkien’s source material?
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