James McAvoy To Play Bilbo Baggins
Published on: 29th May, 2008
James McAvoy To Play Bilbo Baggins | Related News
Rumors are flying around the web of the impending announcement that Bilbo Baggins is to be played by James McAvoy.
Bang Media is saying an insider leaked the news to them. They quote the leak as saying:
“A number of names have privately been doing the rounds, including Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black but James is the one the film’s bosses really want. They’re expected to have talks with him soon so hopefully it could be confirmed in the not too distant future.”
Del Toro seems to confirm at least part of the rumor with this comment in the latest Empire Magazine due out tomorrow:
“We are writing based on Ian Holm’s performance but other than that, we have ideas of who could play him. I can tell you that it’s down to a few names that we all agree upon. And that our first choice …completely, magically, we said the same name. All of us!”
Would McAvoy be the one they all had in mind? Did they all watch The Chronicles Of Narnia and think “It’s our Bilbo!”
Personally I’m still hoping for Colin Firth who was suggested in the comments here by Steelsheen and since it was suggested, I haven’t been able to picture anyone else in the role!
Don’t quite right off Sir Ian Holm yet either as I expect him to be announced at the very least as the narrator.
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“A number of names have privately been doing the rounds, including Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black but James is the one the film’s bosses really want.”
daniel radcliffe?
ahahahahahaha.
i swear, if harry potter plays ANY role in these movies, much less bilbo baggins, i will protest.
i think, just based on that quote, i can’t believe the story.
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I like McAvoy as a choice. A good choice. Of course I would prefer to see Holms in the role but McAvoy is a good second choice as a younger Bilbo.
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Isn’t Bilbo decently along in his life in “The Hobbit” Holms age now in real life fits the book.
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NO, not really. Bilbo is definitely younger in the Hobbit. I’m not opposed to Holms in the role because he was excellent but it would make more sense for a younger actor to be in the role. Perhaps older than McAvoy but younger than Holms.
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I think McAvoy would be perfect! Of course, anyone would be better than Radcliffe. He might be a good actor, but he’s too well known as another character (HP), to play a role in something as monumental as the Hobbit.
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wow, I cannot see McAvoy as Bilbo, i mean what the hell are they thinking?!? I agree that Colin Firth would be the perfect Bilbo, he even kind of looks like a younger Ian Holm!
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I know he’s younger in the Hobbit, but in the Fellowship they show Holms as Bilbo when he finds the ring. They’ll have to play the look off very well. I;m sure with today’s technology they’ll do a great job. I trust their decision(whoever they may pick) as Tolkien enthusiasts and visionaries…
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well, both GDT and jack black have said that it’s not true.
and GDT also said that anything we hear in the next year or so is nothing to get worked up about.
they won’t be doing any casting until they’ve got some scripts.
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Call me crazy, but my choice for Bilbo is the actor Steve Zahn. Always thought he looked like the perfect hobbit.
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James McAvoy seems too young and slim to me. Stephen Rea is my first choice.
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I respect and trust their choices. Whom ever they choose, I am sure will do well. I always thought Matthew Broderick would be good for that role, but I am no scout.
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McAvoy is “Wanted” from Bekmambethov, but not Bilbo from GDT! )))
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Colin Firth would be great! It would be the only movie of his that I’d be willing to see, and the only LoTR fantasy movie my wife would be willing to see!
Woo Hoo! Movie date night without a fight at the ticket office!
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Martin Freeman FTW! seriously, I haven’t heard anybody mentioned that looks more “Hobbit-y” than him. McAvoy is too thin in body and face. We need someone with a rounder face ala Sean Astin. He made an excellent Hobbit and so would Freeman. Elijah Wood looked more like an elf to me and so does McAvoy.
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well, there is said to be something “elfish” about Frodo? “It is said that one of the Tooks took a fairy wife…” Frodo’s got Took in him…
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ahh.. that is a good point.. but there was nothing Elvish about Bilbo and there is definitely something Elvish about McAvoy
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Woot-this is the guy i pictured playing bilbo when i read the book.Cant wait for the movie guys!!
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I can’t believe other people were thinking the same thing I was. I had not looked on the internet for any information on this. I watched the trailer for James McAvoy’s new movie, and immedietely thought…. he’d make a great Bilbo Baggins!!! Then I started reading about the Hobbit Movie online, and see all these others who feel the same way. Mr. Del Torro, would you at least consider him? A lot of fans think he’d be fantastic as Bilbo.
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Ian Holm is the only choice for Bilbo Baggins for continuity and credibility. After all in The Fellowship of the Ring Gandalf himself says,
” You haven’t aged a day “.
He did not say,
” You’re totally different, have you regenerated Doctor ? ”
Also as a previous post pointed out, the finding of the ring scene featured Ian Holm.
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Sir Ian Holm is too old now to reprise the role of Bilbo in the Hobbit.
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Why not ask Zach Roloff to play Bilbo?
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jack black HELL NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i will totaly not ever in my life watch the hobbit if they put jack black i will even kill myself JACK BLACK ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh jesus how stupidof them to even consider him AND don;t even get me started on the GAY looking Harry pothead OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KILL ME NOWWWWWWWW.
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Well, it will be difficult for me to get used to any other actor except Ian Holm as Bilbo. We’ve seen him in prologue to “The Lord Of The Rings” as mentioned before, but there Bilbo wasn’t the most important character. In “Hobbit” he is. It could be a great effort for Ian Holm now. Nevertheless, I really expect his return.
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for me james mc avoy would be very ok and also tobey maguire would be a nice hobbit!
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If they put Jack black in this movie I will not watch it I hate that freeking dude!!!
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wow im surpised they would even go near those names( daneil , and jack black) when chooseing the actor for bilbo baggins , last summer i sat down and read the hobbit and fell in love with the book hobbit hobbit hobbit is all i thought about . then this year when i heard that they where going to make a hobbit movie it made me giddiy as a school boy its really a crime that they would let daniel radcliff or jack black play such a role and if they do they can count me and millions of other fans out from watching it
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They really need to bring Ian Holm back to play the role.
What are they thinking????
With todays makeup,computer, and other technology.
They could very easy make Ian look young.
The Producers, Casting staff need to give their head a good knock and wake up.
Anyone else playing this part would be a total disaster.
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Well, Ian Holm to play Bilbo again? I mean, its been a long time and he is getting older. Sure we have the makeup and the stuff to make him young but will be play like a young Bilbo Baggins? Still, he did play a wonderful Bilbo. Maybe he can do it once again…………..DON’T THEY DARE USE DANIEL RADCLIFFE! if they do, that will be the biggest mistake they have ever made in film history (sorry, I simly HATE him, he’s so awful) And, don’t use jack black. please, I beg of you to not use him.
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A lot of people have been making some good suggestions, but I don’t think that James McAvoy is the best one. Personally I think that Sir Ian Holm is still the best candidate because he was featured as Bilbo, but also in the movie when they played a “flashback”, he was featured on his journey to deal with Smaug. How is Del Torro going to make that transition with someone else? The only other possible candidate I can see right now could be Colin Firth(Google his pics to see what I mean). He would make a younger, but not TOO young Bilbo Baggins, which would “place” him properly in the Middle Earth timeline. ALL the others mentioned in the previous posts are too young, or too comic, or too wild to play the prestigious role of Bilbo.
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The Hobbit is said to be, ” The Greatest Fantasy Epic of our time”. It is my hope that the long, expected movie will, somehow, meet this extremely high standard. Now concerning the role of the famous Bilbo Baggins; the face, which the world sees on the big screen, a few years from now, should convince fans and non-fans alike, that this is THE HOBBIT whom Tolkien wrote about in the trenches. With that being said, it seems only fair that who ever is picked to play the role should meet the authors expectations, not our own. He left us with a pretty vivid description of what a hobbit looks like, and I, for one, trust that whoever the bosses choose will make me believe that there really is a Mr. Bilbo Baggins, living in a hole in the ground… Of course the man who says, ” I will not pay to see the movie, if so -and-so is playing the role” is a fool. After all, how can they possibly please everyone… Well… if ever this read by those working on the film, I would like them to know that they have my full support, and my measly eight bucks to see the movie. Good luck guys, can’t wait to see it!
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Eeeew, not Jack Black!! His movies are horrible! Daniel Radcliffe doesn’t look like Bilbo; he can’t be Harry Potter AND Bilbo Baggins!
James McAvoy would be okay. I guess he could pass as a hobbit, but he doesn’t seem to have the right demeanor.. I liked him as the faun in Narnia, but I did NOT like “Atonement”.
I don’t know who any of the other actors mentioned here are, but if Colin Firth looks like a younger Ian Holm, as nathan says, then I think that would be great!
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Whilst I too think that Holm would be the best choice, he has aged 10 years pretty much since they started on the LOTR.
I think he would be simply too old now to handle some of the physical activities that Bilbo went through.
And as for his appearance in the flash back, they could do a star wars thing there and change holm into who ever ends up playing him. I know what many will think of this idea but it seems like the best way to keep the contenuity correct.
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Colin Firth would be perfect, but do we have the power to make that happen.
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Was not Bilbo Baggins about 50 years old when he found the ring?
Dan
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Holm was fantastic but hes too old, yes Bilbo is fifty in the hobbit but hobbit years and human years arent the same, its like people and dogs. They have to sell the film to a young audience so they will go with a younger guy, like it or not.
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I’m at a loss. Unfortunately Ian Holm I think wouldn’t be about to carry the movie as well as someone younger. But to comment about make-up… it can do wonders ! So I think there are many possibilities as to who could play Bilbo. Colin Firth hmmm…I don’t know. He seems to stiff for the role. Bilbo is more bubbly. These celebrities could also gain weight for the part if they are so inclined. I wouldn’t rule someone out just because of their slim body at the moment. McAvoy I feel could be a good choice. He’s naturally a bit short and if you haven’t noticed in his movies he walks a bit like a hobbit. I think he could be a good choice but…who knows.
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Has anyone considered Paul Giamatti? Bilbo always struck me as kind of a fussy little curmudgeon, like Harvey Pekar and he rocked the breeches and waistcoat look in “John Adams”.
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I think Martin Sheen from Frost/Nixon would make a great Bilbo Baggins.
You heard it here first.
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Jack Black? That source can’t be for real. No one could even begin to take this movie seriously with him in the lead role (or any role for that matter).
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Paul Giamatti is a fine idea - you’re right about his stonking performance in John Adams. Has anyone considered Toby Jones? American readers may not be familiar with him - he pops up in various things, most notably as the Assistant Store Manager in The Mist.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429363/
He’s a stunningly good actor, and looks the part. Jackson/Del Toro I hope you’re listening!
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James mc Avoy would be excellent .I thought of him way back when I read the book about 5 years ago and he is not too well known yet that people would recognise him and so hence he would make a beliveable Bilbo. Picking famous people to play famous characters doesn’t seem to work e.g. The golden compass or the de Vinci Code.
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i think McAvoy would be good or Dylan Moran from black books.
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I think whoever said Paul Giamatti made a good choice, myself I was thinking Tom Hollander, Cutler Beckett from Pirates of the Carribean. Just to throw a different name in the hat.
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people ..i understand you all read the book…and u must know all the stunts and the chase and the battle that bilbo has to do…so how can ian holm do that HE IS AN OLD MAN…if things will go natural they have to bring someone younger,i think James McAvoy would do a perfect job maybe not legendar but still a good job
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Nooo! His face isn’t childish enough, and he looks too much like Elijah Wood. Jim Sturgess for Bilbo!!!
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im pretty sure that it doesnt have to be a famous actor theres surely plenty of undiscovered actors who could fill in the roll,
other than that how about Tom Hollander? hes already pretty short and hobbity looking lol
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http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa47/Fichtenbrenner/new%20album/hobbit-new.jpg dont know who made this but its great!!!
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Will not watch movie unless Ian Holm plays lead part.
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David Tennant has a good chance too, I think he will do a great job considering the work he has done on Doctor Who.
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Ian Holm is already getting on in age. How could he play a much much younger Bilbo when he already played Bilbo during the last 30 years of his life (except for the “flashback” scenes of when he found the ring)? Bilbo Baggins was 50 at the time of The Hobbit. It would logically be some one of that equivalent as in man’s life span relative to hobbit life span which was perhaps 25-30% longer, which would mean ideally someone who is roughly in the 30-40 age bracket to which both James (30) and David (38) suit.
Of course, that’s just an observation. There isn’t exactly an ideal. Just think Elijah Wood playing a Frodo Baggins who was almost exactly the same age during the LOTR as Bilbo was during TH.
Also, Macavoy seems to have put on some weight recently (hint hint) while Tennant is still leanish. As for the other names … Black (yikes, no way) and Zahn (I’m sorry I don’t know who he is Im afraid…)
I can’t wait to hear the official news so we’ll know for sure… sigh …
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