There's definitely some kind of irony in
Benedict Cumberbatch's late casting into the fray of
Peter Jackson's two-part Lord of the Rings film prequel,
The Hobbit. If you cast your mind back a year or so ago Brit comedian
Martin Freeman initially (and rather unexpectedly) turned down the offer of leading the Middle-Earth adventurer as Bilbo Baggins because of a shooting conflict with the second season of BBC drama
Sherlock Holmes but Peter Jackson pulled some strings and a deal managed to be ironed out so Freeman could return to England to film his part in the series. And now comes word that the actual title character of that t.v. show has also managed to squeeze himself in The Hobbit! Martin Freeman
let slip the casting of his friend
Benedict Cumberbatch during the backstage interviews from the BAFTA T.V. awards last night where the duo picked up the Best Drama award for Sherlock and already many are predicting he will play the human archer Bard the Bowman, though he definitely has the look to join
Hugo Weaving as one of the Elfs. Though can someone named Cumberbatch play anything other than a hobbit? It sounds like the casting was meant to be something of a surprise but oh well... cat's out of the bag now. The Hobbit Part I is due out December 2012.