Two More Confirmed For THE HOBBIT: James Nesbitt and Adam Brown Will Play Dwarves

The ensemble keeps getting bigger. A press release from New Line has today confirmed two more cast additions to Peter Jackson's forthcoming and eagerly anticipated The Hobbit in the shape of veteran British TV actor James Nesbitt and newcomer Adam Brown.

Nesbitt will play the dwarf Bofur, brother of Bombur (the exceptionally fat dwarf played by Stephen Hunter), a partly comic character- not surprisingly considering Nesbitt's rap-sheet. I'd expect Jackson to try and recreate a Pippin/Merry style dynamic in his relationship with Bombur. The director seems to suggest that approach to the character in his praise of Nesbitt:

James€™s charm, warmth and wit are legendary as is his range as an actor in both comedic and dramatic roles. We feel very lucky to be able to welcome him as one of our cast.

He of course was already on the radar, but Brown is another unknown quantity having only appeared in a small role in Monster; a fact that clearly didn't phase Jackson and the casting team who saw something they liked in his auditions:

Adam is a wonderfully expressive actor and has a unique screen presence. I look forward to seeing him bring Ori to life.

Brown is set to play the dwarf Ori, another member of Thorin's dwarf company and a famed writer who appeared fleetingly in Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring as a corpse in the mines of Moria: it is his final words that Gandalf reads when the fellowship discover the slain dwarves within the mine- "Drums, drums in the deep... We cannot get out. A Shadow moves in the dark... We cannot get out! They are coming!"

The new pair join an already swollen cast consisting of Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow and Peter Hambleton, with more likely to be announced soon (hopefully including Bill Nighy as the voice of Smaug). Shooting is slated to begin next year with the release dates of the two-parter set provisionally as December of 2012 and 2013.

So, what do you think? More underwhelming additions? Personally, I like Nesbitt, and think he is a very capable actor (especially in the excellent Five Minutes of Heaven opposite Liam Neesson), though I can make no judgement at all on Adam Brown just yet.

Contributor
Contributor

WhatCulture's former COO, veteran writer and editor.