More casting news coming out of New Zealand for one of the most anticipated movies of 2012. In recent news, Peter Jackson has announced that Lee Pace who was the star of Tarsems, “The Fall” and the underrated TV series “Pushing Daisies” and “Wonderfalls”, will be cast in the role of Elven King Thranduil. Jackson also announced on his Facebook page, New Zealand actor Dean O’Gorman will take the role of Fili, one of the thirteen dwarves who accompany Billbo on his journey to defeat the dragon Smaug, which was a role vacant after Rob Kazinsky departed the project due to health issues.
From Peter Jackson’s Facebook page;
“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 Thranduil. Casting these Tolkien stories is very difficult, especially the Elven characters, and Lee has always been our first choice for Thranduil. 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 Thranduil, 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”
I love how Peter Jackson uses social media to talk directly to the fans of “The Hobbit”. It appears he is one of the few filmmakers that actually takes advantage of the social network platform. I’m excited to see Lee Pace in this movie. He’s a very good and underrated actor. He is actually one of the reasons why I’m excited for the conclusion of the “Twilight” series, which he will appear, in both parts, as Garrett.
The Hobbit is due in theaters in December 2012 in 3D.
Source: Peter Jackson’s Facebook page
by Rudie Obias
