As we learned last year, New Zealand director Peter Jackson has been pegged to direct a film adaption of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien. To say that such a project is a daunting venture is a fairly major understatement, perhaps even more so given that Jackson has only quirky horror films in his backlog, and certainly nothing on the scale of Tolkien's fantasy epic, and casting is just one of those concerns. Furthermore, Middle-Earth is a world inhabited by peoples of all stature: Hobbits, the main protagonists of the story, stand at only half the height of a human or an elf, yet they appear normal in proportion; Dwarfs lie somewhere between the height of a Human and a Hobbit, further complicating the matter. More likely than not, blue screen will be heavily employed to create the illusion of their varying height. Throw in goblins, trolls, talking trees, ghosts and more and you have one heck of a production on your hands. With concerns like that, Peter Jackson had better hope he has Skywalker ranch on his side! The animated adaption of the series from the 80s leaves much to be desired, but the lack of real human actors did away with many of the complications posed by a live-action movie. Whether Jackson's Lord Of The Rings will be a surprising hit, or (more likely) a legendary flop to rival Waterworld remains to be seen, but in the mean time, we can speculate about what actors may be cast as the fantasy characters to populate the world of this high budget epic.
Frodo Baggins: Colin Firth
Many years the senior of the four Hobbits, Frodo acts as the main protagonist of the story, and in the books, he is described as "taller than some and fairer than most, with a cleft in his chin: perky chap with a bright eye." I'd say BBC actor Colin Firth fits the bill perfectly. Best known for his role in the BBC adaption of "Pride And Prejudice", Firth would be able to carry the noble and rustic character of Frodo with decorum. The role requires some minor stunt work and sword play, but most important is the transformation that the character goes through; Frodo is the role that requires perhaps the most acting ability. Next up, Frodo's fellow Hobbits...