Hobbit cast!

Post by **WampusCat** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:49 am

Evangeline will make a wonderful elf! I loved her work on "Lost."

Post by **WampusCat** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:51 am

One interesting side note is that she used to be (for all I know still is) romantically linked to Dominic Monaghan (Merry).

Post by **Lalaith** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 3:32 am

Oh really? That is interesting! I think she is beautiful and will make a lovely elf.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:02 am

They were together from 2004 to 2009, says Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Monaghan

Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:16 am

Lalaith wrote:I've updated the thread. No news on a replacement for Drogo Baggins yet?

Nope. Nor any news of a potential Prim (other than the rumor years ago).

Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:01 am

The interesting thing about the casting of Evangeline Lilly if in fact Tauriel is the same character as Itaril, and Saoirse Ronan really was considered for the part, is that Ms. Lilly is almost twice as old as Ms. Ronan! Ms. Ronan was born on Apri 12, 1994, making her 17. And Ms. Lilly was born on August 3, 1979, making her almost 32. That's quite a gap to bridge!

Post by **Rowanberry** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:57 am

Well, I think that to play an ageless character, an actor in their thirties is a better choice than a teen.

Post by **Dave_LF** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:11 pm

Voronwë the Steadfast wrote:And also that he says that she is the "first true Sylvan Elf" they have brought to life. That argues against the idea that she is Thranduil's daughter (which her name suggested to me).

That is an interesting comment. Does it mean the films will indeed portray Thranduil and Legolas as being different from the elves they rule?

Post by **eborr** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 1:49 pm

PJ has really pulled one out of the bag, Barry Humphries as the Goblin King, that could be a brilliant stroke of casting. Alternatively it could be a Kiwi dig at the Aussies, insinuating that there cultural attache is a goblin

Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:19 pm

Dave_LF wrote:
Voronwë the Steadfast wrote:And also that he says that she is the "first true Sylvan Elf" they have brought to life. That argues against the idea that she is Thranduil's daughter (which her name suggested to me).
That is an interesting comment. Does it mean the films will indeed portray Thranduil and Legolas as being different from the elves they rule?

It certainly implies it, doesn't it?

Post by **Dave_LF** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:24 pm

Right, and it also implies the difference won't be subtle, otherwise why would it even occur to him to mention it?

Post by **Lalaith** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:39 pm

Okay, refresh my memory. How are Thranduil (and, therefore, Legolas) different? It's been a long time since I've researched this.

Post by **Alatar** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:59 pm

Here's the original casting call for Itaril.

ITARIL – female, A woodland Elf, this character is one the Silvan Elves. The Silvan Elves are seen as more earthy and practical. Shorter than other elves, she is still quick and lithe and physically adept, being able to fight with both sword and bow. Showing promise as a fighter at a young age, ITARIL was chosen to train to become part of the Woodland King’s Guard. This is the only life she has ever expected to live, until she meets and secretly falls in love with a young ELF LORD. This role will require a wig and contact lenses to be worn. Some prosthetic make-up may also be required. LEAD. AGE: 17-27.

I'm assuming the same holds true for Tauriel, and that its the same character, just renamed.

Mon Jun 20, 2011 3:34 pm

Lalaith wrote:Okay, refresh my memory. How are Thranduil (and, therefore, Legolas) different? It's been a long time since I've researched this.

Lali, Thranduil was a Sindarin Elf, of the Telerin people of Doriath (whether he was actually born in Doriath is an open question). In one account, his father Oropher became the king of a realm of Silvan Elves in Greenwood the Great, which later became Mirkwood. Thranduil became king when his father was killed in the Last Alliance. The Silvan Elves were also Telerin Elves, but they early on abandoned the Great Journey, whereas the Sindarin Elves were the ones that ended up staying in Beleriand when Thingol went missing.

In the "History of Galadriel and Celeborn" section of Unfinished Tales there is an appendix called "The Sindarin Princes of the Silvan Elves" that talks about how it came to be that the mostly Silvan realms of Mirkwood and Lórien came to be ruled by Sindarin people.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:32 pm

Well, good for PJ et al. that they seem to be getting it right.

Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:37 pm

We'll see.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:58 pm

Well, I'm not proposing that they'll be right at the level of detail you understand. . . .

Just that it doesn't look wrong at this point to someone like me.

Mon Jun 20, 2011 6:10 pm

I understand.

It'll be interesting to see what they do. I really question whether they will be able to go into much detail about these subtlies. It seems like it would be too confusing to non-book-readers, and that it would take too much time to explain. But with two films, they do have a lot of time, so we'll see. Still given the fact that they didn't even try to explain that Elrond and Arwen were half-Elven ... .

Post by **Dave_LF** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:07 pm

I wonder about that too, but since The Hobbit's time-to-material ratio is practically going to be the inverse of LotR's, maybe a lot more of that sort of thing will find its way in. If they retain the bit about her falling in love with a Rivendell elf, the racial difference could become a plot point.

Post by **SirDennis** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 4:18 pm

Dave_LF wrote:The Hobbit's time-to-material ratio is practically going to be the inverse of LotR's,

A succinct and fascinating observation Dave.

Unfinished Tales keeps being mentioned in relation to this latest casting announcement. I wonder if PJ managed to get permission to use it after all? That would certainly help lower the ratio. And I'd wager be more pleasing to fans than utterly made-up material would be.