Hobbit casting thread

[semillama]

Thought I'd start a thread about the casting for the new Hobbit/pre-LOTR movies in production by Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

It's pretty much a solid bet we'll be be seeing Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis and Hugo Weaving will reprise their roles. John Rhys-Davies has already said he is not interested in playing one of the dwarves, as he had a pretty awful allergic reaction to the latex makeup that he wore as Gimli.

Peter Jackson had this to say about casting recently:

“We’re auditioning for every role,” Jackson said in an interview, adding he is a big believer in casting a wide net to better match actors with the roles.

“What we’ve done over the years is discover a lot of interesting actors, like Orlando Bloom (in 'Rings'), Kate Winslet (in 'Heavenly Creatures'), Saoirse Ronan (in 'The Lovely Bones'). So if you start looking and auditioning seriously, it’s amazing what incredible talent you’ll find out there.”

http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2009/12/peter-jackson-says-hobbit-casting-begins-this-week.html

A lot of folks feel that Bilbo has been cast but they're keeping mum until contracts are signed (Still hoping for Martin Freeman, here!). The latest casting rumor is Brian Cox as Thorin Oakenshield, which would be a pretty good choice for the role.

There's a lot of dwarf shoes to fill, of course, and there's some good juicy roles for big people too (Beorn, Bard). And voicing Smaug will be a great role for someone.

Any one have any favorite actors they'd like to see in some roles?

[Orrex]

1. I have this terrible fear that John Rhys Davies will be the voice of Smaug

Because:

1. He takes any role that he can get his Right-leaning hands on.
2. He's already done voice and acting work for Jackson, of course.