Fact: Other Actors Were Considered for Bilbo Baggins
The director of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Peter Jackson, noted that Martin Freeman was always his first choice for the role of Bilbo Baggins. However, some of the other actors that were considered for the role included Tobey Maguire, James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe. Originally, Freeman couldn’t accept the role because of scheduling conflicts, but the shooting schedule was reworked by Jackson to accommodate Freeman. The other considered actors would have interpreted the role of Bilbo Baggins as the resulting film could have turned out very differently. The forum is a great place to head for theories and discussions on the LOTR film franchise, the books and the lore.
Chapter Titles From the Book are Mentioned
Peter Jackson cleverly managed to add some of the unique chapter titles from the book to the film. Some of the chapter titles that are mentioned in the film include ‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire,’ ‘Roast mutton’ and ‘A merry gathering.’
Christopher Lee Reprised His Role as Saruman
In the Lord of the Rings movies, Christopher Lee played Saruman and he returned to play the same role in The Hobbit. Since he was nearly 90 when the movie was filmed, he wasn’t up to taking the trip to New Zealand where much of the movie was filmed. He was allowed to shoot the Rivendell scenes on set in London. The other actors in the scene were filmed in New Zealand. In post-production, both shoots were merged to create the final scene.
