Peter Jackson’s two-part film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit keeps sounding better and better by the minute. It was a smart decision to split up the literary classic into two features, but the casting for the film hasn’t been too shabby either.
Jackson confirms that Barry Humphries (Finding Nemo) and Evangeline Lilly (Lost) will be playing the Goblin King and the Woodland Elf respectively, through a note on his Facebook account. The BAFTA-nominated Humphries will step into the role of the Goblin King via motion capture, the same way that Andy Serkis portrays Gollum. Meanwhile, Lilly’s Woodland Elf is a new character who Jackson describes as the “first true Sylvan Elf.”
He also confirms that major casting for the two films is complete and that he “cannot wait to get stuck into these new scenes.” Humphries and especially Lilly are intriguing additions to the cast, and hopefully The Hobbit can live up to what Jackson was able to pull off with the Lord of the Rings trilogy.