Casting questions

Salmacis81

Salmacis81

Tol Eressea
So what exactly is the deal with Thrain being portrayed by Sir Antony Sher? Has this actually been confirmed anywhere? I heard it was mentioned a few months ago in some magazine feature, and haven't heard anything since. So I wonder if it was just some BS poor journalism...

Also, Conan Stevens...have we heard anything about him? I know of the interview that TORn posted a few weeks ago, but anything other than that? Some of the rumors are suggesting there is evidence that Mr. Steven's Bolg has been turned into a CGI mo-cap role and given to another actor, which I think would be a real shame. Mr. Stevens sacrificed his Game of Thrones role to go and work for Peter Jackson, so I really hope he hasn't been dropped after all this time.
 
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They're a very famous magazine, and I really can't see how they'd make a mistake like that given that they were on set. The report was corroborated by a person on twitter, who said that Sher was on a surprise visit to Wellington to work on a secret project at Miramar - can it be anything else?
 
Honestly if I was him I don't think I would have jumped ship on Game of Thrones seeing as his character has an important part to play (and now he kind of ruined the consistency on the show). The orc he was set to play in The Hobbit is rather unimportant and is a CG-enhanced part anyway. Though maybe the draw of working with PJ and the rest in New Zealand was too strong (can't blame him on that) and the money perhaps but now looking back it seems like a waste for everyone involved.
 
I just find it strange that there's been no mention of Sher's casting beyond that Empire article. A google search shows nothing.
 
But there's these tweets from the time, from a New Zealand acting company I believe:

The Bacchanals @thebacchanals 23 Jun: Lovely day at David Carnegie's 70th & then Globe On Screen TWELFTH NIGHT. But HOW did no one know Antony Sher was secretly in Wellington?!?
Click to expand...

The Bacchanals ‏@thebacchanals 23 Jun
@fastercamels @_sonal_ @SaigonSyl No, he's been & gone - was here for mere days, working on some film at Miramar no one can talk about!
Click to expand...


It certainly tallies with what Empire were saying.
 
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...because he really was perfect for the role of Gregor Clegane. The continuity thing is a shame, but the GoT producers seem to think nothing of recasting large roles - aside from The Mountain, the roles of Beric Dondarrion, Daario Naharis, and Tommen Baratheon have all been recast at one point or another. I guess to a certain extent it's unavoidable, but damn, that show seems to have a lot of recasts.

As for Bolg, he does play a somewhat important role in the story, albeit a brief one. And since everything else in the story is being blown up to epic proportions, why not Bolg's role? Hell, at least Bolg was actually part of the story, unlike some other characters...

I could live with a design change, and could even grudgingly accept Bolg becoming an all-CGI mo-cap character (although I don't at all hope for that). But I think replacing Stevens with another actor would be a massive shame, considering what Stevens gave up for the role.
 
...they are going out of their way to keep it under wraps.

Just seems kind of strange keeping Thrain, of all characters, under wraps like they are.
 
You can see Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz) doing motion capture for a big orc in the new vlog (most likely Bolg).
 
I still think the whole who played Thrain potentially isn't as simple as that. It's never been cleared up or clarified. There is definitely a weird bit in the credits.

If you check the credits

Mike Mizrahi is credited as 'Thrain'
Thomas Robbins is credited as 'Young Thrain'

In the movie we only really see Thrain in the shots of the Erebor throne room. During Azanulbizar I'm not sure you ever really see him, if he is there it is even more briefly than the fleeting shots of (old?) Bolg.

Secondly, we know of the scenes with an 'Older' frenzied Thrain in Dol Guldur (Obviously these scenes, or potentially re-filmed versions have been shifted to DoS).

However either way surely logic dictates that the Thrain we see in Erebor is the youngest Thrain we see? Otherwise who the chuff is 'Young Thrain'.

Therefore could it be possible that it's Thomas Robbins playing Erebor Thrain? With Mike Mizrahi playing either the seemingly non-existent Azanulbizar Thrain (this ones not likely considering Thror, Thorin, Balin & Dwalin were all played by the same actors during this period) or Mike Mizrahi plays the Old Crazed Thrain, and has still been credited despite not actually appearing.

Conan Stevens was credited for Bolg, despite being in for 0.5 seconds.
John Rawls was credited for Yazneg, despite it being revealed that Yazneg was played by Terry Notary (Although perhaps John Rawls could have still voice him?)

Perhaps contracts dictated a credit?
 
You see Notary in full Yazneg gear and they discuss that this new character had been created and Terry got to play him. And he seen learning Black speech for his close ups.

Perhaps Notary did double for Rawls when Rawls filmed his ditched scenes Azog, but with all of Yaznegs scenes being filmed in the 2 week pickups at the end of main filming it seems to clearly indicate it is Notary that appears.
 
It could be that at some point Thrain has a meatier part (in a flashback maybe) involving his giving Gandalf the map and key, but his other more action-intensive scenes are portrayed by a more physical actor. So because of the relative screen time devoted to both they both get equal billing, rather than one as the main Thrain and the other as merely stunts. Does that make sense?
 
That's a tragedy in itself!

PJ cutting him off sort of resembles the exclusion of Sir C.Lee from RotK. O_o seems like PJ's trying to draw parallels even in the filming-procedure! [tongue]
 
In the TE, Galadriel and Gandalf's telepathic channel drowns out nearly every line he has. But in the EE, he actually gets some proper dialog and seems like he knows what he's talking about, rather than just coming off like a jerk.
 
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