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James Nesbitt joins “The Hobbit”

The production of The Hobbit is gaining more momentum with another actor joining the cast. Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt will play Bofur, one of the 12 dwarfs that accompany Biblo Baggins to receive Thorin Oakenshield’s treasure and the Lonely Mountain from Smaug the dragon.

Nesbitt is a popular television actor in the UK, having started in Murphy’s Law and The Passion, the television movies Bloody Sunday (directed by Paul Greengrass) as well as Five Minutes of Heaven. American audiences will know him best for his supporting roles in Welcome to Sarajevo, Millions and Match Point. He is known as both a serious actor with comic abilities, so a good fit for Bofur who is a mix of both characteristics.


Newcomer Adam Brown is also joining the cast of dwarfs, playing Ori, the brother of Dori and Nori. Peter Jackson said in the Warner Bros. press release: “Adam is a wonderfully expressive actor and has a unique screen presence. I look forward to seeing him bring Ori to life”.

Nesbitt and Brown joins a mostly British cast with Martin Freeman (The UK version of The Office) playing Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage (Captain America: First Avenger) as Thorin (though Gerald Butler would have been perfect in my opinion) and television actors like Rob Kazinsky, Stephen Hunter, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Mark Hadlow and Peter Hambleton. Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis are expected to return as Gandalf and Gollum.


To say that The Hobbit has been through development hell is an understatement. The studio, MGM, ended up placing the project on hold because of their debts, the original director Guillermo del Toro left the project because of the delays and then industrial action nearly forced the production out of Middle-Earth, sorry, I mean New Zealand. It even led to a mini political crisis in that country.

Peter Jackson is directing his return to Middle-Earth and both parts are to be released in December in 2012 and 2013. The original trilogy won a large number of Academy Awards, with Return of the King winning Best Picture and Best Director.

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