The question of Martin Freeman almost wasn't even an issue; or at least it wouldn't have been had Guillermo Del Toro's idea to simply have Ian Holm reprise his role been accepted. The director had been enchanted by Holm's somewhat brief performance as the elder Baggins in The Lord Of The Rings and said any decision on what to do for Bilbo in The Hobbit would have to respect his definitive performance:
"I believe he created a beautiful, memorable character. He owns it, and we have to honour that. If there is any recasting for the younger part and so forth, it will permeate that decision and affect it. At the end of the day, the answer is we will keep him as involved as humanly and physically possible."
Quite how keeping him as Bilbo would have worked logistically remains unconfirmed: presumably there would have been some CGI involved as there was in Billy Connolly's performance as Dain (a mistake), and to be honest it looks like a dodged bullet that it never happened. Del Toro wanted Holm to return in any way - whether it was as narrator or for a reduced role - but there were some concerns that he wouldn't have been up to the filming schedule. Thankfully those suspicions proved insubstantial and Holm was able to appear to book-end the story. Are you excited to see the final instalment of The Hobbit franchise? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.
