The Hobbit: 6 Mis-Castings That Ruined It (And 4 That Were Perfect)

4. Aidan Turner - Kili

Physically, Kili stands out as remarkably different to the rest of the party of dwarves - he is handsome and far more human-looking than the rest of the group, including his brother, and in truth, he resembles an elf a lot more than a traditional dwarf. It seems strange that Jackson's team would choose such a sparse physical design for the character considering the mythology of how dwarves look, as established in the Lord Of The Rings.

In many ways, Aidan Turner's performance is held-back by the fact that he is so good-looking, and Jackson's attempts to build on that as an old-fashioned visual flag for heroism. And of course it helps the later story-line developments regarding Kili's resolution that he is held in higher distinction than his fellows (as Tolkien himself seems to have recognised thanks to his more sympathetic presentation of Kili and Fili), but there was no need to make Kili so unrecognisable as a dwarf for that reason.

Turner's casting feels too much like it was done in the name of adding in a pretty face to appreciate, and that quite unforgivable detracts from the character. And where was his beard?