Peter Jackson has announced that actor Stephen Fry has joined the cast of The Hobbit. The thespian will play The Master of Laketown.
Who is The Master of Laketown? Take the jump for a breakdown, and more casting news from Peter Jackson.
The Master of Lake-Town (TA 2890 ? – TA 2941) was the original leader of Laketown when Bilbo Baggins and his companions arrived. He is described as being greedy, but not undeserving of his position in terms of intelligence and charisma. Contrary to popular opinion, he was not a rival or enemy of Bard the Bowman, but rather a close companion of Bard’s, and he even allowed Bard to remain in Esgaroth while the Lakemen recovered from their ordeal with Smaug.
In regards to that other casting news, Peter Jackson posted the following on his Facebook page.
Some more HOBBIT casting news today. As we near the end of our first shooting block (we have a break in less than three weeks to get some editing and visual effects work done, plus prepare for very big scenes coming up), we are looking at characters featuring in sequences that take place a little later in the story.
We are thrilled to confirm that Stephen Fry will be playing The Master of Laketown. I’ve known Stephen for several years, and we’re developing a DAMBUSTERS movie together. In addition to his writing skills, he’s a terrific actor and will create a very memorable Master for us.
The Master’s conniving civil servant, Alfrid will be played by Ryan Gage. Ryan is a great young actor who we originally cast in a small role, but we liked him so much, we promoted him to the much larger Alfrid part.
Last, and certainly not least, is Conan Stevens, who will be playing an Orc called Azog (Orcs are never called Roger or Dennis for some strange reason). And yes that’s his name—Conan! Isn’t that cool? Azog is played by Conan! Here’s a photo of Conan and I together… I’m pretty tall, probably at least 6’5″ or 6’6″ I would guess, so that gives you some clue how tall Conan is! You can learn all about him at www.conanstevens.com.
Got a busy day’s shooting ahead, so I’m about to jump in the car—but look out for the beginning of the 20 questions answers very soon. Thanks for the questions, many are very insightful. I’ve been through all of them and have a list ready to go.
Cheers,
Peter J
Sounds like everything is moving along nicely, even though the production has been plagued with problems for the last couple of years.
1 Comment
I was wondering who they would cast as jay Leno.