Casting The Hobbit: The Top 5 Choices for Bilbo Baggins
By Kristin Elliott
The Hobbit’s executive producer Peter Jackson has said he’s holding off on casting decisions until the first draft of the script is done. But that hasn’t stopped the rampant buzz about who will take on the role of the hobbit himself, Bilbo Baggins. Here’s our analysis of the rumored top contenders to date, plus a few suggestions.
Fantasy Movies Where You've Seen Him: The entire
Harry Potter series
Working For Him: He’s short, which would make his transition to hobbit-hood easier. We hear he’s even got hairy feet. His obsessive following from the
Harry Potter movies might increase the box-office take ... but also risks annoying Tolkien purists.
Working Against Him: He’s young, or at least the
Harry Potter movies keep telling us so. While Peter Jackson cast Frodo much younger than he was in the book for
The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo is middle aged in
The Hobbit — an important detail for a story that’s ultimately "Mid-Life Crisis in Middle Earth."
Verdict: This one seems like a long shot, furry feet or not. Radcliffe just doesn’t look like a Bilbo. Bilbo’s nerdy cousin Drogo, maybe. And then there’s the small issue of Radcliffe declaring
he wouldn’t take the part.
Fantasy Movie Where You've Seen Him: The Chronicles of Narnia (Mr. Tumnus)
Working For Him: Between movies like
Wanted and
Atonement, McAvoy’s proven he has the range to play both Thoughtful Bilbo (trying to trick people into not killing him) and Action Bilbo (trying to run away from people trying to kill him). And doesn’t he look, kinda, like a Hobbit? Maybe? Try squinting a little.
Working Against Him: Like Radcliffe, he’s younger than Bilbo is in the book — but he does have a good decade on the young Potter.
Verdict: This is his role to lose. Not only is he capable of channeling the pathos of someone undergoing a life-changing journey, he also has the chops to channel the (greater?) pathos of being ridiculed by a band of inconsiderate dwarves. If the role doesn’t go to an unknown, our money’s on McAvoy.
Fantasy Movie Where You've Seen Him: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Barty Crouch)
Working For Him: Easily the most popular Doctor since
Tom Baker on the long running BBC series
Doctor Who, at 38 Tennant is also the oldest man rumored for the part. He’s experienced — 4.5 seasons on the show — and had the title role opposite
Patrick Stewart in the Royal Shakespeare Company's
Hamlet.
Working Against Him: While popular in England, he’s not a well-known commodity in the U.S. He’s also super skinny, whereas hobbits are supposed to be a bit more … uhh … round.
Verdict: Being an unknown doesn’t mean he’s a non-factor, since Jackson is known to pick his parts based on ability, not clout. But while it would be fun to see Tennant as Bilbo, we're not holding our breath.
Fantasy Movie Where You've Seen Him: None (unless you count playing doctor to the pregnant
Arnold Schwarzenegger in
Junior)
Working For Him: Not only is Danny DeVito already the perfect hobbit height, he’s also portly, old, and rather cantankerous. Now that we think about it,
is DeVito
actually a hobbit?
Working Against Him: DeVito is known more for comedy and instability than drama and acting. We’re also not entirely positive he could do the requisite English accent, or stay sober for a long film shoot.
Verdict: Thanks to the magic of CGI, Jackson doesn’t need to pick an actual hobbit for
The Hobbit. DeVito would probably make a pretty sweet dwarf, though...
Fantasy Movie Where You've Seen Him: Pretty much his entire career (
Spider-Man series,
Man with the Screaming Brain, etc.)
Working For Him: He’s Bruce Freakin’ Campbell!
Working Against Him: Nothing. He’s Bruce Freakin’ Campbell
Verdict: Because
Guillermo del Toro is at the helm, not
Sam Raimi, this choice seems unlikely at best. Still, you’ve gotta admit it’s just as cool as it is unlikely. Campbell could take down Smaug single-handedly using the force of his sheer awesomeness — no need for an arrow or a magic ring. While some might claim he would wreck the movie, we ask, "Wreck or make better?"
