15 Most Ridiculously Absurd Casting Calls Of The 21st Century

9. Aidan Turner - The Hobbit (2012-14)

Hollywood has a thing about making people more attractive, whether that's in making biopics (like casting Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor in Bohemian Rhapsody) or adapting from books (like Hermione Granger's casting in the Harry Potter films). They just can't resist going with the prettiest option.

That can be the only reason anyone thought it was acceptable to cast Aidan Turner as a dwarf for the Hobbit series. Dwarves were supposed to look like Gimli in The Lord Of The Rings and there was even an established aesthetic from them from Tolkien's own descriptions. But because Peter Jackson needed a romantic lead in The Hobbit, for some reason, he brought in Turner to play his impossibly beautiful version of Kili.

Did It Work?

Well, it was more convincing that Tauriel would fall in love with him looking like that, but it was far from a pure adaptation. And in the end, it was Jackson's liberal adapting that attracted the most criticism for the Hobbit series. So it's probably a no.