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Bound
Rohan
Jun 1 2011, 8:03am
Post #1 of 97
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Ian McKellen confirms Benedict Cumberbatch as smaug?
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http://www.mckellen.com/cinema/hobbit-movie/110531.htm
The cat is out of the bag. The actor is named. The latest recruit to the Jackson troops is the superb Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock Holmes to Bilbo's Watson. Martin Freeman let it slip when he picked up his BAFTA.
Martin told me he was "chuffed" about the prize. So was the entire crew back here in Wellington; and about Benedict. Now, what can he be playing in The Hobbit?
Philippa Boyens showed me a snippet of his screen-test, played in close-up into the camera. It was electrifying, vocally and facially. Yes, what can he be playing?
I worked with Timothy Cumberbatch in a Shaw double-bill in 1966. Perhaps he thought his surname might be a hindrance, because his stage-name was/is Timothy Carlton — a dextrous light comedian with charm and long legs. (Not as long as those of Sian Phillips who was en travestie in the same play, Man of Destiny.)
More recently, in Asylum, I worked with Mrs Cumberbatch, Wanda Ventham, one of UK television's most popular stars. Now I get to work with the son — or do I? Depends, of course, what he's playing.
The sleuths are the third acting partnership in The Hobbit.
The current Sydney Theatre Company production of Uncle Vanya, couples Galadriel and Elrond as Yelena and Astrov. I wish I could see them at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC in August. But then they will both miss The Syndicate.
The Royal Shakespeare Company's King Lear came to Wellington in 2007, when I introduced Sylvester McCoy to one of his Dr. Who fans, Peter Jackson. Now Lear and his Fool are a couple of wizards.
— Ian McKellen, Wellington, 31 May 2011
The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed
(This post was edited by Silverlode on Jun 1 2011, 8:50am)
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maut
Rivendell
Jun 1 2011, 8:13am
Post #3 of 97
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Benedict, his son, as I understood.And, there is no word about Smaug.. Even one thing against - screen test in close-up. Why they need his face?
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.
__________________________________
...and the sound of the kettle on his hearth was ever after more musical than it had been even in the quiet days before the Unexpected Party
________________________________
Welcome back to Middle-Earth!!!
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Bound
Rohan
Jun 1 2011, 8:14am
Post #4 of 97
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Yeah after looking at pictures of the guy I can totally see how they might want to incorporate his facial features into the motion capture stage.
McKellen's comments pretty much says it... Guess Ataahua wass right after all :)
The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed
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Bound
Rohan
Jun 1 2011, 8:16am
Post #5 of 97
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The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed
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Maiarmike
Grey Havens
Jun 1 2011, 8:16am
Post #6 of 97
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I believe you mean Benedict, but no worries :)
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I too am very interested. What would they need a screen-test with facial acting for if he's doing Smaug though? It doesn't seem like Smaug's face would allow for any human expressions. Intriguing, certainly. Still anxious about who's playing Bard though, hopefully that is put to bed soon, so all the silly Legolas rumors can go away. 
"I warn you, if you bore me, I shall take my revenge"
--J.R.R. Tolkien
(This post was edited by Maiarmike on Jun 1 2011, 8:17am)
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Carne
Tol Eressea
Jun 1 2011, 8:24am
Post #7 of 97
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They used Andy Serkis' facial movements for Kong, and while a dragon has completely different facial features, I'm pretty sure WETA will find a way to do it.
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Bound
Rohan
Jun 1 2011, 8:26am
Post #8 of 97
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I can see them using that Chin in the over all design of Smaug's face ..:)
The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed
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Steerpike
Bree
Jun 1 2011, 8:51am
Post #9 of 97
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My guess is he'll be playing the Necromancer.
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I'm sure they'll want to go with something a bit more visually interesting than a black knight with a pointy helmet. Perhaps someone who is "electrifying, vocally and facially" will fit the bill.
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RoseCotton
Lorien
Jun 1 2011, 9:07am
Post #10 of 97
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Whenever I say Bandersnatch and Bombadil in the same sentence...
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The forum ignores me (which is probably what my flippant suggestion deserves! ), but perhaps you might be onto something here with your Necromancer idea...
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Bound
Rohan
Jun 1 2011, 9:18am
Post #11 of 97
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I'm not knocking the Idea of him as Necromancer but I got a feeling that he's going to be Smaug. McKellen's subtle hint about his audtion tape and the close up on his face. That suggests to me that he will not have a role where we'll see his body ! :)
I totally see how the could incorporate his facial features into Smaug's design...
The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed
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SirDennisC
Half-elven
Jun 1 2011, 9:34am
Post #12 of 97
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Well could you imagine the uproar
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if Tom was included in TH after being hacked out of LOTR? Besides Bombadil is to Beorn what Aragorn is to Bard. Just saying...
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Earl
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jun 1 2011, 10:05am
Post #13 of 97
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... *holds forefinger and thumb a centimeter apart* this close to being true.
I can actually see motion capture being used as a tool to capture the range of "expressions" on Smaug's face. This is WETA. If we thought they'd simply animate Smaug's face like some simple CG creature we should've known better. This is a creature who doesn't only need to be awesome and sound awesome... it needs to look awesome too. And all that will come from facial expressions.
Even if a reptile has a completely different facial structure than a human, I'm sure WETA will have found a way to make motion capture work! 
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RoseCotton
Lorien
Jun 1 2011, 10:12am
Post #14 of 97
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It would be delicious! 
My suggestions isn't especially serious. I don't envisage there being anywhere for Bombadil to fit in the movies to come.
I do wonder, though, if Jackson and Co. had filmed and released The Hobbit movies first (to the same great critical acclaim as the LOTR trilogy was), whether the box-office (and DVD) success would have caused them to entertain including Bombadil in FOTR when its time came around.
In other words, once you've established that the public is basically with you, would Bombadil have been much less of a risk in his rightful place?
(I appreciate this is deviating from the thread's topic -- and almost too hypothetical to be bothered with -- but this crossed my mind when reading your reply, so where else would this thought go?)
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DrDeath153
Lorien
Jun 1 2011, 10:39am
Post #15 of 97
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I kind of hope it is the Necromancer
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Whenever i hear about Benedict Cumberbatch in regards The Hobbit i do keep remembering that painting of Annatar's face when Peter Jackson described their plans for Sauron at the Black Gate. Given that the Necromancer is likely to be CGI to a large extent, that would explain why the screen test was mainly in close-up. I certainly hope that they're not intending to motion capture Smaug's face. With human or humanoid creatures motion capture and the kind of face-shaping that was used with Gollum is fine, but trying to pull that off with a creature who's whole facial structure is horizontal rather than vertical is just not right for Smaug- maybe other dragons, they tried something similar with the dragon in the Beowulf film lately, but that's exactly the kind of snub-nosed simian phyisogamy that Guillermo Del Toro decided against for Smaug.
I'm still rooting for Bill Nighy as Smaug anyway (or Tim Curry)
Dr Death
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dormouse
Half-elven
Jun 1 2011, 10:40am
Post #16 of 97
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... Ian McKellen doesn't confirm that the part is Smaug or anything else, he's being delibarately enigmatic - just confirms that BC is in The Hobbit in some part or other and gave an exciting screen test. But it's a lovely blog entry anyway, so thanks for drawing attention to it!
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smokerings
Rivendell
Jun 1 2011, 10:57am
Post #17 of 97
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in that article that hints that he is playing smaug.
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RoseCotton
Lorien
Jun 1 2011, 11:14am
Post #18 of 97
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There's anything in the blog that points against BC playing Bard?
Does the nature of McKellen's comments regarding the screentest suggest that voice and facial expressiveness are particularly key?
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Pipe Dream
Gondor
Jun 1 2011, 12:17pm
Post #19 of 97
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Voice and facial expressiveness are key.
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If you recall, PJ realized this when he was watching Andy Serkis portray Gollum for the first time. They are related. As for Bard, why couldn't he play both characters? They will most likely enhance his voice for Smaug so they would sound different, although I always envisioned Bard as more of a manly man with a larger build, say the size of Christian Bale.
"There is a long road yet," said Gandalf. "But it is the last road," said Bilbo.
(This post was edited by Pipe Dream on Jun 1 2011, 12:17pm)
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Mr. Arkenstone (isaac)
Tol Eressea
Jun 1 2011, 12:21pm
Post #20 of 97
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Well, they have the chance to show Sauron, not only as a necromancer but, as his previous form annatar, this has been told by pj, that they wanted to use that.
Well the eye ball fire is not very dramatical but, now if Benedict would play Sauron, well, i feel they Should make the effort to put middle earth´s biggest foe at the level of Voldemort, some kind of very interesting character, remember Sauron wasnt bad at the beggining, maybe they can put a lot of conflict there, Benedict could play the part well, think about Sauron, the Nero of middle earth, desperate character, mad even, and powerfull, some very dramatic, very memorable, not only a shadow or an eye, like the emperor of Gladiator, a very disturbed personality
like if Sauron would came out of one of Shakespeare dramas
what do you feel about this?
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dave_lf
Gondor
Jun 1 2011, 12:25pm
Post #21 of 97
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Gee, which character has a giant head and needs good voicework? It amuses me how fans will read way too much into every little detail and freak out over purely hypothetical scenarios, then when they're smacked over the head with something like this the response is "but that could mean anything!" ;)
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Kangi Ska
Half-elven
Jun 1 2011, 12:42pm
Post #22 of 97
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and I would say, intentionally mislead. Sir Ian loves his little jests. Benedict Cumberbatch is in the Hobbit but as to what part...
Kangi Ska Resident Trickster & Wicked White Crebain
Life is an adventure, not a contest.
At night you can not tell if crows are black or white.
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Elladan
Rivendell
Jun 1 2011, 12:42pm
Post #23 of 97
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What counts as the size of Christian Bale?
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After all he just won an Oscar for a role where he weighed practically nothing. Which isnt the first time he has slimmed down for a role, on the other hand he bulked up for Batman so what chunkiness are you going for here? And would we like to see Bards actor bulk up to longbow man dimensions? i.e. strong chest, shoulders and back but not neccesarily strapping any where else.
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Kangi Ska
Half-elven
Jun 1 2011, 1:08pm
Post #24 of 97
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just as they realized it would have been if such an image were used in Return of the King. To what point would Sauron/The Necromancer appear angelic? He is known by the White Council for who he is. An appearance of beauty would not sway them in their mission.
I think Sauron should remain horrible to look upon and a whole lot scarier than Tom Riddle's alter ego. And I would add that Tolkien held no special reverence for Shakespeare's work.
Kangi Ska Resident Trickster & Wicked White Crebain
Life is an adventure, not a contest.
At night you can not tell if crows are black or white.
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Pipe Dream
Gondor
Jun 1 2011, 1:17pm
Post #25 of 97
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What counts as the size of Christian Bale?
I was not aware of that. I didn't see "The Fighter". Wow that's pretty freaky looking. Batman sized Bale, not holocaust victim sized Bale.
"There is a long road yet," said Gandalf. "But it is the last road," said Bilbo.
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