4. Martin Freeman
When word spread that a Hobbit film was to be produced, many names were thrown about for who could play the younger version of Ian Holm's Bilbo Baggins, and one of the very first was Martin Freeman, who at the time was best known for his work as Tim Canterbury on Ricky Gervais' classic British comedy The Office. Freeman's profile sky-rocketed instantly to a worldwide level long before anyone had actually seen the film, but thankfully, he lives up to the immense hype and weight placed on his shoulders, delivering a fine turn as one of the Rings' series most important characters. To begin with, the young Bilbo we meet is a bit of a wet blanket, and Freeman knows how to play the part with the necessary calculated nerviness. Slowly over the course of An Unexpected Journey, Bilbo settles into the notion that he actually might be able to fight alongside the dwarves and Gandalf, such that by the end of the first film, he's a pretty likable, even charming character. Though Freeman's Bilbo is hardly a pillar of energy or charisma, that's the way it has to be; Bilbo is one of many characters in this film, and rarely does he assume a loud forefront, even often blending into the background during the film's chaotic action sequences. It's a performance that fleets between delicate, comedic, and doggedly determined.