Martin Freeman crawls out of his 'Hobbit' hole FacebookEmail Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Martin Freeman crawls out of his 'Hobbit' hole Private British actor Martin Freeman enters Middle-earth as Bilbo Baggins, the reluctant traveler at the center of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.' Post to Facebook Martin Freeman crawls out of his 'Hobbit' hole Private British actor Martin Freeman enters Middle-earth as Bilbo Baggins, the reluctant traveler at the center of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.' Check out this story on USATODAY.com: CancelSend A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. 5 To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Martin Freeman crawls out of his 'Hobbit' hole Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY Published 7:30 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2012 | Updated 7:38 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2012 CLOSE Bilbo (Martin Freeman) reviews the contract for the quest and finds some interesting clauses.

The private British actor stars as Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's latest epic. Martin Freeman stars in 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.' (Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY) Story Highlights Martin Freeman stars a Bilbo Baggins in 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,' which opens Friday NEW YORK — As Bilbo Baggins, the reluctant traveler at the center of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Martin Freeman survives encounters with all manner of Middle-earth menace, from rock creatures who burst forth from mountainsides and hurl giant boulders to a hygiene-deprived troll who mistakes our wee hero for a tissue. It is odd, then, that during an interview, the British actor — who stars in the first of three films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's literary precursor to The Lord of the Rings, opening nationwide Friday — is thrown for a loop by a wooden stirrer that is topped by an ornate lump of rock-candy crystals. "Is that sugar?" Freeman, 41, inquires while staring incredulously at the fancy utensil he just plopped into his room-service latte.

"Is that a real thing here?" Assured that the item is not considered a necessity in most American households, he looks relieved. "This is not part of Obamacare, then." Such wit has served Freeman well throughout a career that began in U.K. sitcoms, including the original version of The Office as the prankster cubicle drone played by John Krasinski in the long-running U.S. knockoff. For some reason, his Tim was changed to Jim on this side of the Atlantic. "Are there many Tims in America?" asks Freeman, once again stymied by Yankee customs. "I don't know if I can think of many American Tims." The specialist in awkwardly self-effacing Everymanliness moved on to features such as 2003's Love Actually, finessing a role as a shy movie double in explicit sex scenes who chastely falls for his female counterpart. The yuletide-set ensemble romance has evolved into a holiday perennial on TV. As Freeman observes, "People watch it whether they want to or not.

It's become a new Wizard of Oz for Christmas." The actor has boldly dared to take on such cultish icons as sci-fi nomad Arthur Dent in 2005'sThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as well as placing a contemporary spin on Dr. Watson (he blogs!) opposite Benedict Cumberbatch's antisocial sleuth in Sherlock on PBS, which starts shooting its third season in March. But none carry as much baggage as the Shire's Bilbo, who is recruited by wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen, reprising his Rings role) to assist a gang of rowdy dwarves on a quest to reclaim their treasures from fierce dragon Smaug. It's not just that Tolkien's 1937 fantasy is a childhood rite of passage that has sold more than 100 million copies and has never been out of print. Or that the epic adventures based on the Rings trilogy — also directed by Peter Jackson at his New Zealand-based filmmaking empire — have grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide and won 17 Oscars, lifting expectations for The Hobbit to oxygen-depriving heights.

But just as Bilbo is coerced out of his comfort zone, the very private Freeman, who has been known in interviews to testily refuse to disclose the ages of his son and daughter with his significant other, actress Amanda Abbington, must deal with global fame on a potentially invasive scale. Not easy for someone who once described himself as "a creature of habit, mashed-potato comfort. I like rugs. Our sofa is squishy. Maybe too squishy. It's hard to get up sometimes." But unlike Elijah Wood, who was 19 when he played Frodo, Bilbo's nephew, and saved the world as the ring-bearer in The Lord of the Rings, Freeman believes he is well-equipped to ward off the downside of inhabiting a very popular hobbit. Even having to walk around in those ungainly and hairy prosthetic hobbit feet didn't put him off. (Photo: James Fisher, Warner Bros. Pictures) "I'm not a kid," he says. "I've been around the block. I've lived with that at home for more than 10 years. I've been well-known in Britain for a long time.

Of course, this is a different thing on a different level." It helps that it seems he was somehow destined to play Bilbo. As Jackson has said of his first and only choice as his lead: "Martin is probably one of the nearest people to a hobbit that I've ever met." He was so determined to snag Freeman that he actually arranged a two-month hiatus from shooting the threeHobbit movies in mid-2011 so his star could fulfill his Sherlock duties. "Look, he has a certain English fussiness about him," explains the Kiwi filmmaker. "He is slightly conservative — not in his politics, but in his lifestyle. He's got that wonderful English sense of loving home and being a little bit suspicious of going abroad." All very Bilbo. Even more importantly, Jackson notes, "he's a dramatic actor who can do comedy. You just think about the strong dramatic actors out there, and very few of them are funny. Martin is a rarity." That versatility will prove handy later on when situations grow more dire for Bilbo and his pals. "I call it my mini-Michael Corleone arc," Freeman says.

"I go from wide-eyed to some pretty dark places." Does he consider Jackson's observation about his hobbit-like qualities a compliment? "Well, it's probably not an insult, because he considers himself a hobbit," he reckons. "I guess what he means by that is that I like home and I like being comfortable. But in that case, 99% of the human race is a hobbit." Still, it wasn't an easy decision to fly to a land 30 hours away and uproot his existence for 18 months. But, as he says, "opportunities like this don't come along very often, if ever. And if everyone on this artistic team is saying you are Bilbo, you are the person we want to do it, that is kind of implying that they don't want to make the film without you. If they have that much faith in me, then I should do it." Another convincing factor: He and Ian Holm, who shows up briefly in The Hobbit as the elder Bilbo, share some physical similarities beyond their curly wigs. "We have almost exactly the same facial dimensions," he says. "The measurements of the forehead, the cheek, the chin.

Only at the bridge of the nose is there a slight discrepancy. I am sure that was on their minds. If they thought Denzel Washington would have been a perfect Bilbo, there might have been a problem. But it might have been a way to go, too." It's probably not unusual in his generation, but all that Freeman knows of Tolkien's universe comes from Jackson's interpretations. He readily owns up to never reading the books, without a hint of embarrassment. But he devotedly watched each of the director's cuts of the already-lengthy movies, as well as devoured the DVD extras. In fact, there might be a not-so-sensible fanboy side of Freeman under that square exterior. First clue: He is mates with uber-geek director Edgar Wright and actor Simon Pegg, appearing in their Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and the upcoming The World's End. Another sign is his boundless enthusiasm for a coveted Hobbit souvenir. Namely, Bilbo's stunning quilted patchwork robe. Does he wear it at home? "Hell, yeah. You better believe it," Freeman says. "I was given it at the end.

As soon as I put it on, I was like, 'I'm going to have this after this job.' They made a new one for Peter as well. He and I both had designs on that. It is the most comfortable thing in the world. Huge velvet cuffs and shawl collar." It must be a hobbit thing. CLOSE The Hobbit's Andy Serkis: 'Gollum is based on addiction' - Telegraph Film news The Hobbit's Andy Serkis: 'Gollum is based on addiction' Stars of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey discussed their characters ahead of the film's release, with Andy Serkis revealing Gollum was 'based on addiction' and Sir Ian McKellen calling Gandalf the White the 'most boring wizard ever created'. Gollum is at the centre of a Turkish court case, no, seriously Photo: Warner Bros Follow Andy Serkis has revealed that the Gollum character he plays in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is "based on addiction".

Speaking ahead of the release of the new film , in which he reprises his role from The Lord of the Rings trilogy as the sickly cave-dwelling creature obsessed with the 'ring of power', Serkis said: "Gollum is entirely based on the notion of addiction. The way that the ring pervades him, makes him craving, lustful, depletes him physically, psychologically and mentally. "It was important to find something very real to people watching in this day and age. You feel sorry for him but you hate him. Gollum has a weak personality and isn't able to cope with the power of the ring," the 48 year-old added. The character, first created by British author JRR Tolkien for his fantasy novel The Hobbit (1937), has been adapted for films using computer generated imagery (CGI) built around Serkis's facial features, voice and movements. Serkis added that the voice, which is partly based on the sound of a cat, was a way of showing "how he carries that pain [of addiction]".

Related Articles Bilbo welcomes Gandalf and the dwarves 12 Dec 2012 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is released in the UK on December 13. It is the first instalment in another film trilogy based on Tolkien's novels, with The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again to be released in 2013 and 2014. Former Office actor Martin Freeman plays main protagonist Bilbo Baggins, who embarks on an adventure with a band of dwarves to recover the latter's homeland. British actors Richard Armitage and James Nesbitt also star in the new trilogy. Sir Ian McKellen has also returned after appearing in the Lord of the Rings films. He said it was "wonderful" to play Gandalf the Grey again, a role he played in the first instalment of the original film trilogy, before that character dies and is resurrected as Gandalf the White in second film The Two Towers. He said: "[Gandalf] comes back [in the Two Towers] as the most boring wizard that’s ever been created. He’s driven, the beard’s been cut, he’s died his hair white.

He seems to have stopped having any fun in life. He doesn’t even wear a pointy hat. It was wonderful to return to the other Gandalf." The Lord of the Rings films were a huge critical and financial success, winning 17 out of the 30 Academy Awards they were nominated for, and grossing £1.82 billion at box offices worldwide. New Zealand film-maker Peter Jackson, who directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy and won an Oscar for Best Director for the Return of the King in 2003, has taken on the role again for the forthcoming films. However, early reaction from critics to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has been mixed , with the Telegraph's Robbie Collin describing the film as a "dire, fan-written internet tribute", and awarding it two stars . The Hobbit: The vital role of Martin Freeman - Telegraph Film news The Hobbit: The vital role of Martin Freeman Martin Freeman is still surprised that Peter Jackson, who moved heaven and earth to ensure he played Bilbo, he tells John Hiscock . Comments Whenever Martin Freeman leaves his hotel he cannot avoid seeing billboards and posters with pictures of himself, grasping a gleaming sword, looking back at him.

For the self-effacing British actor, who first became known to television audiences through his role in The Office, it is a strange and somewhat confusing experience that will only intensify when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is released this week. “It’s kind of weird when everywhere you go there are pictures of you,” says Freeman, who has the starring role of Bilbo Baggins in the trilogy of films based on J.R.R Tolkien’s novel. “It’s certainly unusual for any film I’ve ever done.” Then he adds with a grin: “But it’s a good picture of me and at least I’m happy with it, because if it was a picture I hated I wouldn’t go out.” The Hobbit comes nearly a decade after the New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson concluded his massively successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, which grossed more than $2.9 billion worldwide and won a best picture Oscar for 2003’s Return of the King. As he did with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he has filmed three Hobbit films back-to-back over 18 months in New Zealand, with many of the same cast and crew.

The second film, The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug, is due next December, with the final entry, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, scheduled for July 2014. Related Articles The Hobbit film looks 'cheap' 25 Apr 2012 But because Tolkien’s 1937 book The Hobbit is a slim, gentle fantasy conceived for children, Jackson and his team fleshed it out with more action, battles and violence to give it a wider appeal and to stretch the story over three movies. They relied heavily on Tolkien’s 125 pages of footnotes and appendices to The Lord of the Rings, which were published nearly two decades after The Hobbit and are known mostly to a small circle of fantasy-fiction fans. From the start, Martin Freeman was the only actor Jackson wanted to portray Bilbo Baggins, the home-loving Hobbit who is persuaded by Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) to join him and a band of 13 dwarfs on an epic journey to reclaim the lost kingdom of Erindor from Smaug, the fearsome dragon. Jackson contacted Freeman three years ago and the actor agreed to sign on for the trilogy.

But then things started to go wrong. The start date was delayed because MGM, the studio financing the project, ran into financial problems. Guillermo del Toro, who was initially supposed to direct it with Jackson producing, grew impatient and, after two years of pre-production work, left the project. So Jackson took over, decided not to go with most of del Toro’s designs and ideas, and started again from scratch. In the meantime Freeman had landed the role of Dr Watson in the Sherlock television series. Then, by the time the financing was in place and Jackson was ready to start shooting, Freeman was committed to a second series of Sherlock. “At first it was all on, then it was off, then it was on again, but because it was going to clash with shooting Sherlock it was off again and it was hugely disappointing,” says the actor. Jackson recalls: “When he wasn’t available I really panicked.” Freeman was rehearsing a play in London when his agent called to tell him Jackson had talked to Warner Bros, the co-financiers, rearranged the schedule and would give him time off to return to the UK to shoot Sherlock.

So, with Martin temporarily available, Jackson shot for five months and then took the practically unheard-of step of shutting down production for two months to allow his star to return to the UK for Sherlock. “It was a very rare thing to do, but I was very glad we did because without Martin there’d have been no Hobbit,” says Jackson. “Peter moved heaven and earth for me so when I got to New Zealand to begin filming I felt very welcome and loved,” says Freeman. “It was huge compliment to me, but I think there are plenty of other actors who could have given Bilbo a go – I’m not the only one.” We are talking in New York during Jackson and his leading actors’ brief stop on their world tour of promotional appearances. They have just been in Japan and are on their way to London for the UK premiere on Wednesday. There is something Hobbit-like about 41-year-old Martin Freeman: short in stature, mild-mannered and with a slightly worried look. Born in Aldershot, Hampshire, he lives with the actress Amanda Abbington and their two children. He has been working steadily since leaving the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

After guest appearances in television shows such as The Bill he made his feature film debut in 2000’s The Lowdown and then appeared in Ali G Indahouse. The same year he landed the role of the likeable Tim in The Office. “I owe The Office a lot because in Britain that was my main calling card for a long time,” he says. “It was a show I’m very proud of and is to my taste as both a viewer and an actor.” Movie roles followed, notably in Love Actually and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and he starred in the ITV mini-series Boy Meets Girl. Then Peter Jackson saw him in The Office and came calling. He knows his life will change dramatically when The Hobbit is released and he becomes the focus of fans’ attentions, but he tries to be philosophical about it. “Until it actually happens it’s all an intellectual exercise,” he says. “What if everyone hates it? I try not to count my chickens but yes, it’s clearly a bigger film than I’ve ever made.

People are so enthusiastic about this story that if I thought about them hating it or hating my rendition of it I wouldn’t be able to go to work.” The Hobbit is released nationwide on Thursday December 13 Featured Articles about Bilbo Baggins - Page 3 - tribunedigital-chicagotribune UPDATE 3-'Hobbit' film sets December record in US, Canada debut Reuters | December 16, 2012 * First of three films based on classic novel * Mixed response from critics to "Hobbit" * Total 2012 box office take seen hitting record $10.8 billion By Patricia Reaney and Lisa Richwine Dec 16 (Reuters) - "The Hobbit" brought home a big box office treasure over the weekend, setting a December movie record with $84.77 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales as legions of fans turned out for the long-awaited big-screen return to Middle Earth. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" also rung up sales of $138.2 million in international markets.

Advertisement Arrow-wielding elves and fiery Smaug amp up action in 'The Hobbit' Reuters | December 12, 2013 By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A small-town hobbit faces larger-than-life challenges in "The Desolation of Smaug," as director Peter Jackson intensifies the action in the second installment of fantasy film "The Hobbit," expected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year. "Desolation of Smaug," out in U.S. theaters on Friday, picks up the tale of "The Hobbit" as Bilbo Baggins and the band of 13 dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield make their way across treacherous terrain on their quest to the Lonely Mountain, currently guarded by a fire-breathing dragon, Smaug. ENTERTAINMENT Jackson's Hobbit: the journey begins By Gyles Beckford and Reuters | December 6, 2012 WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Film maker Peter Jackson wants to scare children with his latest movie - and perhaps even a few grown ups.

The first of the Hobbit movie trilogy - "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" - is about to hit theatres, and Jackson says he's tried to hold true to its roots as a children's fantasy story, with scary bits. "If they're scared of the trolls great, if they're scared of the goblins great, they know there are no goblins, they know there are no trolls, it's a safe kind of danger," he says. FEATURES 'The Hobbit' is a tale that begs to be read aloud By Mark Guarino | December 21, 2012 Bilbo Baggins, the head hobbit in J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 novel, may be diminutive in stature, but the marketing blitz associated with this month's film treatment of his adventures is as tall as the starting lineup of the Chicago Bulls : a Middle-earthsmartphone from Microsoft, "Hobbit"-related block sets from Legos, video games for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and even a "Hobbit"-inspired menu at your neighborhood Denny's. "Gandalf's Gobble Melt" anyone?

This piece first ran in Printers Row Journal, delivered to Printers Row members with the Sunday Chicago Tribune and by digital edition via email. ENTERTAINMENT Tolkien's Visual Magic By Reviewed by Penelope Mesic, a writer and critic | December 24, 1995 J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator By Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull Houghton Mifflin, 208 pages, $40 Low on the horizon in an indigo sky, both a wintry pale sun and a crescent moon are shining. Even stranger, a light brighter than either pulses from the tip of the steep, slate-blue mountain that stands between them. A band of clouds obscures the shoulders of this eerie peak, and at its base laps a desolate sea, traversed by a ship like the Vikings built, swan-necked and propelled by oar and sail. ENTERTAINMENT Populating 'Hobbit's' Shire By Tribune staff report | October 22, 2010 It's another step toward the return to the land of little beings, furry feet and second breakfasts.

The studios behind "The Hobbit" have confirmed that British actor Martin Freeman will be playing the Shire hero Bilbo Baggins in director Peter Jackson's two-part "Lord of the Rings" prequel, according to E! Online. "Despite the various rumors and speculation surrounding this role, there has only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us," Jackson said in a statement. Other casting announced Thursday includes British actor Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, head of the company of dwarves who are off to recapture his lost inheritance. ENTERTAINMENT TRAILER: 'The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug' Daniel Goldblatt and Variety | October 1, 2013 Warner Bros. has released the second trailer for "The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug." Peter Jackson 's follow-up to "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is set to bow Dec. 13. The film continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

Film stars Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Ian McKellen , Lee Pace, Hugo Weaving, among others. NEWS Ian Holm is going from "The Lord" to the lord. Holm, who... By KRT, ZAP2IT.COM | July 6, 2005 Ian Holm is going from "The Lord" to the lord. Holm, who played Bilbo Baggins in the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, will portray Pope John Paul II in CBS' four-hour mini-series about the late pontiff, the network confirmed. The mini-series, to be shot in Italy and Poland, is targeted to air in November. - "Law & Order" alum Angie Harmon is headed to a fertility clinic. Harmon, who just had her second baby, will join NBC's new fall drama "Inconceivable" as a reproductive specialist who becomes a loose cannon at a fertility clinic. ‘Hobbit’: Ian McKellen,Tolkien guardian, acting wizard | Hero Complex – movies, comics, pop culture – Los Angeles Times ‘Hobbit’: Ian McKellen,Tolkien guardian, acting wizard Dec.

14, 2012 | 1:47 p.m. Ian McKellen at the New York premiere of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images) Ian McKellen speaks in a wise, mellifluous baritone that contains just a hint of impish glee. Over the course of his decades-long career, he’s used that voice to command armies on stage and on screen, holding audiences rapt in an array of roles, though McKellen, 73, might be most closely associated with characters devised by an unlikely quartet of dreamers — Shakespeare, J.R.R. Tolkien and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Of course, it’s Gandalf the Grey — rather than Kings Lear or Richard, or even Magneto, the electrifying foil to the X-Men’s Professor Charles Xavier — who’s occupied McKellen’s thoughts in recent weeks. The actor has undertaken the fairly daunting work of promoting his role in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which arrived in theaters Friday amid mixed reviews, though early criticism was hardly sufficient to quell fan enthusiasm.

The first installment in director Peter Jackson’s planned trilogy based on the 1937 Tolkien novel, “An Unexpected Journey” sees McKellen once again don the robes of the 7,000-year-old wizard. Here, he appears one day, luring unsuspecting Bilbo Baggins from the creature comforts of his hobbit hole to undertake an adventure with a band of dwarfs looking to reclaim their homeland and its accompanying treasure. PHOTOS: 60 images from ‘The Hobbit’ The first time he played Gandalf, in Jackson’s 2001 film “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” McKellen received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor (he was previously nominated for an Academy Award for his starring turn in 1998’s James Whale biopic “Gods and Monsters,” directed by Bill Condon). As “The Lord of the Rings” saga unfolded on screen, Gandalf underwent a spiritual transformation that saw him reborn as the near-divine Gandalf the White, his robes now the same gleaming alabaster as his beard, exemplifying his purity.

The wizard’s regressive return to a more human sort of being was among the chief attractions, McKellen said, in returning to the role when Jackson finally opted to book a return trip to Middle-earth. “The Hobbit” famously takes place roughly six decades prior to the events depicted in “Rings,” which means Gandalf is 60 years sprier and far more likely to relax and enjoy a party than he is to ride into a massive battle like a flaming angel of light. “He likes boogeying around with the hobbits and having a smoke and a drink and a joke and fireworks and all that,” McKellen said during a recent interview, speaking by phone from London. Yet the actor had some trepidation about picking up the staff once more. Ian McKellen and Hugo Weaving in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” (New Line Cinema / MGM / Warner Bros.) “I think I knew I wanted to do it, but … then all the negatives flooded in,” McKellen recalled. “Do I want to go and live in New Zealand for 18 months on and off? The answer to that was yes and no.

It’s a long way away from home, of course, although I enjoy it enormously when I’m there. Do I want to reprise a part that I’ve already played when I could be doing other things over an 18-month period? All those sorts of things came into play, but in the end, a friend said to me, ‘Ian, you know the fans of ‘Lord of the Rings’ are not going to be very interested that you’ve got problems. I think you’d better just do it.’ “As for going back into the character, he just seemed to have been inside me all the time,” he added. “He just popped out again.” Even if Gandalf had been living inside McKellen all along, the practical realities surrounding his re-emergence proved alarming for the actor. The physical size of McKellen, Bilbo actor Martin Freeman and the men cast as the 13 dwarfs in “The Hobbit” had to be manipulated digitally so that the diminutive characters would seem sufficiently small, Gandalf just imposing enough in the final film.

That required not only certain sets to be built to varying scales, but also it made for an interesting first day of shooting — for the scene in which the dwarfs are feasting in Bilbo’s home, McKellen was having his own private dinner party while the actors playing the smaller roles shot their part of the sequence elsewhere (though a large-scale double, a 6-foot-8-inch New Zealand policeman, was hired to stand in for McKellen from time to time). It was something the actor — whose fascination with performance began in childhood after his parents took him to a production of “Peter Pan” at the Manchester Opera House when he was only 3 years old — did not enjoy. “It’s a constant fact of these films that the characters are not all the same size physically,” McKellen said. “Then I come to do these films and there are 13 dwarfs and one hobbit and they’re all smaller than me. On the first day, I rehearsed with them all and then was removed from their set into my own smaller set, which would make me look large, and two cameras recorded the scene.

So while the 13 dwarfs were getting on with their scene, I was getting on with the scene in another part of the studio with their words fed into my ear by an earpiece. PHOTOS: Meet the dwarfs from ‘The Hobbit’ “I was acting on my own and the dwarfs were represented around my little set by faces on top of photographs on top of stands which lit up according to whoever was speaking,” McKellen continued. “It wasn’t the pictures of the dwarfs, it was pictures of the actors playing the dwarfs, and I couldn’t always relate them to the people I’d just been rehearsing with. At the end of the day, I got a bit tearful and said to myself, ‘Oh dear, this isn’t why I became an actor,’ then realized that I was speaking into my microphone that was turned on and the whole studio heard me.” A scene from “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” (New Line Cinema / MGM / Warner Bros.) That evening, McKellen related his distress to Jackson. Moving forward the filmmaker employed other techniques to gain the right perspective and make his star feel more at ease.

“Next day, he decorated my little tent with remnants of the Rivendell set,” McKellen said. “There were carpets and fresh fruit and flowers and screens and rugs and comfortable chairs, and I was made to feel very at home.” McKellen said he enjoyed working with Freeman, well known in England for his turns on stage and for his role on Ricky Gervais’ landmark sitcom “The Office” and his portrayal of Watson opposite Benedict Cumberbatch’s complicated sleuth in the BBC’s “Sherlock.” He might be more familiar to American moviegoers as Arthur Dent in 2005’s “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” He was also pleased to share the screen with Sylvester McCoy, the former “Doctor Who” star who played the fool to McKellen’s Lear in the acclaimed 2008 Royal Shakespeare Company touring production of the stage tragedy: “That was nice to meet up with him again, but a little bit of a challenge to have another eccentric wizard knocking around the place.” McCoy stars in “Unexpected Journey” as Radagast the Brown, the eccentric ally to Gandalf. It was McKellen who introduced the actor to Jackson. “Peter was enchanted to meet the seventh Doctor Who,” he said.

Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, left, and Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” (New Line Cinema / MGM / Warner Bros.) McKellen said that he re-read “The Hobbit” to reacquaint himself with the story, as he had previously done with the “Lord of the Rings” books. And just as he had on the sets of the three earlier films, he kept the novel at hand at all times. “Peter always had a joke that I was the guardian of Tolkien,” the actor said. “For ‘Lord of the Rings,’ I always had a copy, a very heavy copy although a paperback, of the book in my voluminous robe. It’s much easier to have a slim volume of ‘The Hobbit.'” “All good stories deserve embellishment,” Gandalf the Grey says at one point in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” and it appears the adage applies to even those tales told by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The ultimate decision to make three films of the relatively slender tale was in large part because of the writers’ decision to follow Gandalf on the mysterious journey he takes in the middle of “The Hobbit.” They turned to the extensive “Lord of the Rings” appendixes to flesh out the narrative. “In the book, Gandalf just disappears, you know — you don’t know what he does or where he goes,” said Philippa Boyens in an interview with The Times earlier this year. One of the four credited screenwriters on the movie, alongside Jackson, his life and creative partner Fran Walsh and Guillermo del Toro, who was originally set to direct “The Hobbit,” Boyens continued, “But now we know, the audience knows. It’s a wonderful story, and we have such a powerful character in Gandalf it was a no-brainer to tell it. And any day you spend working with Sir Ian is a good day.” The move to expand what had been initially intended as a Tolkien double feature into a trilogy wasn’t announced until after Jackson had unveiled some key scenes from “The Hobbit” to a rapturous reception at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Though rumors had begun to swirl at the pop culture expo that Jackson had hatched, and won approval from New Line, Warner Bros. and MGM, for such a plan, the filmmaker broke the news with a post on Facebook just days later on July 30, citing Tolkien himself when he described the cinematic undertaking as “a tale that grew in the telling.” “I wasn’t asked for my permission or views, I was just told it was going to happen,” McKellen said. “Peter called a few of us in and said he’d gotten so much material he didn’t want to cut it down to two films and it looked as if it would be better as three. My heart sank, ‘Am I going to have to come back for an even longer period?’ Well, I don’t. I’ve another five weeks to do next June, so there are a few extra little bits for me to film. You just learn to trust Peter’s judgment.

If he says it’ll make three films, it’ll make three films.” He echoes much the same sentiment when asked his opinion about Jackson’s choice to shoot the “Hobbit” movies at 48 frames per second, the groundbreaking technology the filmmaker employed to give the vistas and valleys of Middle-earth a striking, hyper-real look. “Peter’s a great advocate of that and so is James Cameron,” McKellen said. “Of all directors alive they know more about these big movies than anybody else. Apparently the eye sees things at a rate of 60 frames per second so what we’ve been looking at all these years is a distortion of what we take to be real. Forty-eight is approaching the reality of actual eyesight in that everything can be in focus and with the clarity of a young person’s eyes. It takes you into the film. You go into Middle-earth. You can see round that tree. You can see behind that hedge. With this 48 frames per second, you’re going to be able to see the detail of that distant mountain. “However,” McKellen said, drawing a breath, “if you don’t like it, you don’t have to watch it in that, you can watch it at the normal projection.

You don’t have to watch it in 3-D. That’s the beauty of these things, you can choose your cinema.” It’s not 48 frames, though, that’s dominated the conversation around McKellen of late; it was the revelation that the actor and gay rights activist had been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer several years ago. McKellen assured fans that his condition is being managed with regular doctors’ care and is under control, and he’s booked new jobs — he’s reportedly set for a return role as Magneto in Bryan Singer’s upcoming “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” Ian McKellen as Magneto. (20th Century Fox) In addition, he’s set for a turn on an upcoming British television comedy, “Vicious,” in which he and Derek Jacobi will play a couple who have lived together in the same Covent Garden flat for nearly 50 years. The part dovetails in some ways with McKellen’s long-time work as an outspoken gay rights activist.

He publicly came out in 1988 and has argued eloquently on behalf of social equality — it’s possible he inherited his conviction from his parents, whom he described in a 2007 interview in the Guardian as “northern nonconformists” who “judged a person on how they related to society as a whole.” It was an aspect of McKellen’s life and work that Tolkien super fan Stephen Colbert even took a moment to comment on during the actor’s recent appearance on “The Colbert Report.” The actor showcased some of his devious British wit, joking that in Middle-earth sequels, he might play “Gandalf the Gay” and teased with a raised eyebrow that audiences might learn the identity of his favorite dwarf. But perhaps the most amusing moment came when the host played a clip from the new film in which Gandalf presents Bilbo with his Elvish blade Sting.

Once the cameras returned to the actor, dappily attired in gray, McKellen, with his impeccable timing, muttered of the wizard’s performance in the scene, “He really is good, isn’t he?” – Gina McIntyre Follow us on Twitter: @LATHeroComplex RECENT AND RELATED Articles about Bilbo Baggins - latimes A twisted family reunion in 'August: Osage County' April 6, 2014 | By Noel Murray August: Osage County Starz/Anchor Bay, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.99 Available on VOD beginning April 8 Tracy Letts has now had three of his plays adapted into films. Director William Friedkin made the bizarre "Bug" and "Killer Joe" into something as gritty and exciting as a stage show, but John Wells unkinks Letts' Pulitzer-winning twisted black comedy.

The Oscar-nominated Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts have a blast chewing the scenery as a cantankerous mother and daughter who spend an impromptu family reunion snapping at each other and their kin; and the rest of the cast (including Ewan McGregor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Chris Cooper and Margo Martindale) Advertisement 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' trailer offers new Bilbo Baggins September 19, 2012 | By Steven Zeitchik It's been nine months since the last "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" trailer appeared. Since that time, we've learned that more "Hobbit" was on the way -- but we didn't get more, well, "Hobbit. " That changed Wednesday morning when a new trailer for the Peter Jackson movie dropped. The new piece (seen above) is about the same length -- 2 1/2 minutes -- as the December trailer. But it cuts to the chase more quickly, leaving out the Frodo voiceover that sets up the "Lord of the Rings" follow-up.

NEWS Carlsbad: Look for Paul Revere, not Bilbo Baggins, in this Green Dragon March 14, 2014 | By Christopher Reynolds The world is full of Green Dragon pubs, inns, taverns, grills and restaurants - in part because of American history, in part because of J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination, in part because the name just sounds cool. And now there's another one. The Green Dragon Tavern & Museum opened Feb. 12 in Carlsbad, about five miles south of Camp Pendleton. It pays homage to this country's revolutionary roots - not a bad angle for a watering hole neighbored by many thousands of Marines. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, keeps about 20 beers on tap and seats about 250 diners and drinkers with dinner entrees priced $15-$50. NEWS Carlsbad: Look for Paul Revere, not Bilbo Baggins, in this Green Dragon March 14, 2014 | By Christopher Reynolds The world is full of Green Dragon pubs, inns, taverns, grills and restaurants - in part because of American history, in part because of J.R.R.

Tolkien's imagination, in part because the name just sounds cool. And now there's another one. The Green Dragon Tavern & Museum opened Feb. 12 in Carlsbad, about five miles south of Camp Pendleton. It pays homage to this country's revolutionary roots - not a bad angle for a watering hole neighbored by many thousands of Marines. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, keeps about 20 beers on tap and seats about 250 diners and drinkers with dinner entrees priced $15-$50. CALIFORNIA | LOCAL A Home Tailor-Made for Bilbo Baggins January 14, 2002 | MARTHA GROVES, TIMES STAFF WRITER On a sliver of a street near Culver City's main commercial strip sits a tiny patch of Middle-earth where Bilbo Baggins would feel right at home. Fountains gurgle languidly into ponds teeming with goldfish. Tree trunks flank hand-carved doors. The shingles of domed roofs cascade down walls chunky with bricks and mortar.

ENTERTAINMENT Martin Freeman: 'The Hobbit' is bigger than you are December 17, 2012 | By John Horn Opinions about “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” are all over the board. Yet even people who aren't that keen on the first entry in Peter Jackson's film trilogy have been struck by one scene in particular - the meeting between Bilbo Baggins ( Martin Freeman ) and Gollum (Andy Serkis) - which was improved dramatically by huge leaps in technology. When Jackson depicted Gollum in his three “Lord of the Rings” movies, Serkis' performance was recorded months after principal photography on his scenes had wrapped, with Serkis acting the scenes all by himself. ENTERTAINMENT 'The Hobbit': Mixed reviews for high-speed format, expanded story December 6, 2012 | By Oliver Gettell In the wake of the stellar success of Peter Jackson's adaptations of J.R.R.

Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which grossed more than $2.9 billion worldwide and won a slew of awards, it's no shock that the New Zealand filmmaker would eventually turn to Tolkien's other beloved fantasy tale set in the familiar realm of Middle-earth, "The Hobbit. " More surprising was the decision to stretch the lean book into three separate films, starting with "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," opening Dec. 14. Early reviews indicate that while this first new installment does recapture much of Jackson's Middle-earth magic, it also feels padded (which it is, drawing heavily on Tolkien's appendices to the "Rings" books) ENTERTAINMENT Third 'Hobbit' movie confirmed for summer 2014 July 30, 2012 | By Ben Fritz Two "Hobbit" movies are officially becoming three as Peter Jackson and his many Hollywood backers have finalized plans to produce a third movie based on the classic fantasy book and release it in the summer of 2014.

Talks had been going on for the last several weeks between Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, various rights holders, and the principal cast after it became clear that director Jackson wanted to produce three films rather than the planned two. The cast will include many actors from Jackson's successful "The Lord of the Rings" films, including Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett and Elijah Wood. NEWS Bilbo's Still Offers Friendly, Familiar Refuge February 7, 1991 | CRAIG STANKE A prodigal son returning to Bilbo Baggins after a few years away finds it pretty much the same in 1991 as it was in 1988. This place doesn't change much, but for most who come here, that's a comfort. Vince Hicks is a nine-year fixture who manages the place and handles the modest bar three nights a week, businesslike but not hard to know. And Pierre still works Wednesday and Saturday nights; he serves drinks well enough, but his instant familiarity with the clientele takes him to another level.

ENTERTAINMENT Box office: 'Hobbit' sequel stands tall December 14, 2013 | By Chris Barton To no one's surprise, Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" laid waste to the competition at the box office on Friday, earning an estimated $31 million. Starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf, the 3-D "Hobbit" sequel is expected to take in around $80 million in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday according to pre-release audience surveys. The second of a three-part prequel to Jackson's wildly successful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the film has earned some positive notice from critics with a 74% score on the film review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. ENTERTAINMENT 'Hobbit' sequel 'Smaug' takes off with $8.8 million Thursday night December 13, 2013 | By Ryan Faughnder It looks like the air was thick with "Smaug" on Thursday night as the second part of director Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" trilogy rolled into theaters.

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," a production of New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. , made $8.8 million in ticket sales from midnight showings, according to studio estimates, indicating a strong start for the big-budget movie that continues the fantasy adventure of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey and the dwarves and elves of Middle Earth. That's the second biggest December midnight haul ever, coming up shy of last year's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. ENTERTAINMENT 'Desolation of Smaug' reinvigorates 'Hobbit' trilogy, critics say December 13, 2013 | By Oliver Gettell Last year, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" had film critics wagging their fingers over Peter Jackson and company's decision to stretch J.R.R. Tolkien's slim children's novel "The Hobbit" into a movie trilogy, one that got off to a plodding start. But for many critics, the second installment, "The Desolation of Smaug," has put the series back on course.

The Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey writes , "In the wake of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,' last year's dreary, dense, disappointing slough through Middle-earth, 'The Desolation of Smaug' comes as a relief. ENTERTAINMENT 'Hobbit' sequel 'Desolation of Smaug' to take box office gold December 12, 2013 | By Ryan Faughnder A J.R.R. Tolkien dragon will torch the competition as "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" slithers into theaters this weekend. The 3-D "Hobbit" sequel, starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf, is expected to take in around $80 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday, according to people who have seen pre-release audience surveys. The movie, a New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and...

ENTERTAINMENT Saturday's TV Highlights and Weekend Talk: 'The Hobbit' October 11, 2013 | By Ed Stockly Customized TV Listings are available here: Click here to download TV listings for the week of Oct. 13 - 19, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies SERIES Cedar Cove It's Christmas, and while Jack (Dylan Neal) is reunited with Olivia (Andie MacDowell), but he's desperate to hear from Eric, who's missing. Bruce Boxleitner and Teryl Rothery also star in this new episode. 8 p.m. Hallmark Saturday Night Live Bruce Willis hosts - for the first time since 1989 - with musical guest Katy Perry. ENTERTAINMENT See the new Hobbit trailer: 'The Desolation of Smaug' [Video] June 12, 2013 | By Jenny Hendrix Warner Bros. debuted the first trailer for "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" on Tuesday afternoon, offering the first look at the second installment of Peter Jackson's massive adaptation of Tolkein's novel.

Judging by the two-minute teaser, there will be plenty of high-def, special effects-enhanced action, full of elves, dwarves, wizards and goblins. Perhaps more to the point, there will be a dragon: specifically the fire-breather Smaug, voiced by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch who, before taking on the part of the great worm, was previously seen inhabiting the roles of Sherlock Holmes, Christopher Tiejens of "Parade's End," and the villain Khan in "Star Trek Into Darkness. ENTERTAINMENT 'The Hobbit' unveiled at a super-sized premiere in New Zealand November 28, 2012 | By Christie D'Zurilla Those who showed Wednesday for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” premiere in Wellington, New Zealand, were not to be disappointed by the scope of the film's premiere. Tens of thousands of fans, some in elf ears and wizard hats, were witness to a red carpet a third of a mile long and a flyover by a “Hobbit”-themed Air New Zealand 777 jet as director Peter Jackson's latest J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired effort was revealed down under.

Martin Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins, bubbled with praise for his director. ENTERTAINMENT 'Hobbit' sequel 'Smaug' takes off with $8.8 million Thursday night December 13, 2013 | By Ryan Faughnder It looks like the air was thick with "Smaug" on Thursday night as the second part of director Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" trilogy rolled into theaters. "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," a production of New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. , made $8.8 million in ticket sales from midnight showings, according to studio estimates, indicating a strong start for the big-budget movie that continues the fantasy adventure of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey and the dwarves and elves of Middle Earth. That's the second biggest December midnight haul ever, coming up shy of last year's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. 'The Hobbit:' Where does the Peter Jackson franchise go from here?

December 17, 2012 | By Steven Zeitchik By one standard, the $84.8 million in receipts over the weekend for Peter Jackson's first crack at "The Hobbit" was a success. The 3-D film about Bilbo Baggins' unexpected journey was, as box-office pundits reminded us, the biggest-ever opening for a December release. And the film's "A" CinemaScore suggested the fans got what they came for. But there was also plenty lacking. Pre-release estimates had the New Line/Warner Bros/MGM movie (budgeted at a whopping $250 million) ENTERTAINMENT Martin Freeman: 'The Hobbit' is bigger than you are December 17, 2012 | By John Horn Opinions about “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” are all over the board. Yet even people who aren't that keen on the first entry in Peter Jackson's film trilogy have been struck by one scene in particular - the meeting between Bilbo Baggins ( Martin Freeman ) and Gollum (Andy Serkis) - which was improved dramatically by huge leaps in technology.

When Jackson depicted Gollum in his three “Lord of the Rings” movies, Serkis' performance was recorded months after principal photography on his scenes had wrapped, with Serkis acting the scenes all by himself. The Hobbit: stormclouds gather over premiere amid animal care row | Film | The Guardian The Observer The Hobbit: stormclouds gather over premiere amid animal care row With the Lord of the Rings prequel heading for cinema screens, Peter Jackson, the director, and his cast have been forced on the defensive by rows over animal welfare Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The film’s cast and crew have denied allegations of cruelty to animals. Photograph: Warner Bros/Planet Photos Vanessa Thorpe , arts and media correspondent Saturday 24 November 2012 19.01 EST Close This article is 4 years old British actor Martin Freeman is close to becoming an official mascot for New Zealand , thanks to his role in the new Hobbit film and this weekend's unveiling of a giant image of his face on the side of a Boeing jet at Auckland airport. And suddenly it looks as if the Tolkien entertainment industry might be in need of such a congenial ambassador.

Just three days before the film premieres in New Zealand's capital, Wellington, the long-awaited Peter Jackson adaptation of JRR Tolkien's first foray into Middle-earth is under attack from several quarters. Its Hollywood producers stand variously accused of cruelty to animals, suppression of the press and exploitative merchandising. The film-makers and stars of the Lord of the Rings prequel, including Freeman, who plays Bilbo Baggins, and Elijah Wood, who makes a cameo appearance as Frodo Baggins, are working to restore goodwill. And there is a lot riding on the franchise. Air New Zealand bosses have spent a large portion of the company's £51m marketing budget for the next two years on Hobbit-themed promotions. But the painted Boeing is only the wing-tip of the effort. A special f light-safety video, featuring characters from the film , has already gained almost 10m web views since its release three weeks ago.

Hobbit coins, bearing the faces of Bilbo and Gandalf, are circulating as legal tender in New Zealand, and Wellington's Waitangi Park is to be transformed into a Hobbit Artisan Market this weekend, ready for the premiere, while the three films in Jackson's earlier Lord of the Rings trilogy are shown on a big screen. The latest film is set to be a huge international moneymaker, even before merchandising and benefits to tourism are taken into account. The three Rings films, which won 17 Oscars between them, earned an estimated $6bn from ticket sales, DVDs and merchandise. The final film in the trilogy, The Return of the King, won an Oscar in every category in which it was nominated, notching up 11 statuettes and putting it on a par with Ben-Hur and Titanic. But as the stars of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Orlando Bloom and Sir Ian McKellen – prepare for its UK release on 14 December, Jackson has been forced to defend against claims that 27 animals died due to mistreatment during production.

"Extraordinary measures were taken to make sure that animals were not used during action sequences or any other sequence that might create undue stress for the animals involved," Jackson has said, going on to point out that more than half of the shots of animals in the film were computer-generated. Animal wranglers who worked on the film admit that none were harmed during filming, but they claim the production company is responsible for the deaths of horses, goats, chicken and sheep kept at a nearby farm. The wranglers are backed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), which is threatening to demonstrate at the premieres in New Zealand, Britain and the US, calling for full CGI in all scenes involving animals. Peta said last week that "five whistleblowers" had reported more than two dozen animal deaths which they claim were ignored. In response, the producers – Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema – have released a statement suggesting the allegations "can be traced to freelance animal wranglers who were dismissed by the production over a year ago". Wood has described the claims as "really heartbreaking". "All of the technicians and everyone who works on the films take the utmost care of the animals," the actor told a Hollywood entertainment news website .

Earlier this month it was also revealed that the Tolkien estate plans to sue the producers of the new trilogy for what it regards as "exploitative merchandising". Their lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles and seen by the Hollywood Reporter , argued that "morally questionable" digital marketing includes an online slot machine. "Not only does the production of gambling games patently exceed the scope of defendants' rights, but this infringing conduct has outraged Tolkien's devoted fan base, causing irreparable harm to Tolkien's legacy and reputation and the valuable goodwill generated by his works," the family's suit claims. The estate contends that the agreement it had with the producers only covered the production of tangible items, such as figurines and clothing, and so it is seeking $80m from the production companies and the rights holder. In 2009 the estate settled a lawsuit over the Lord of the Rings movies for an undisclosed amount, allowing production to proceed on The Hobbit. The suit had claimed that Tolkien's trust received only an upfront payment of $62,500 for the trilogy, but was later due 7.5% of the gross receipts. A smaller, local row in Wellington has also tainted the celebrations surrounding the release of the film.

A Radio New Zealand reporter, Cushla Norman, was temporarily banned from covering the premiere because she had written too many negative stories about it. Jackson was said to be "mortified" to hear that a journalist had been blacklisted and her pass was reinstated. The film is the first of three to be made by Jackson based on the characters in The Hobbit. A new set of rows is likely to herald the release of the second part – The Desolation of Smaug – in December next year.

Question: In the forthcoming trilogy of films based on Tolkien's The Hobbit , which British actor plays Bilbo Baggins ?
Answer: MARTIN FREEMAN