Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Jan 22, 2010 21:55:55 GMT -6
Casting info from TORN: www.theonering.net/torwp/2008/01/07/28227-speculation-on-hobbit-casting/
This took some thinking but after some pondering, the answer finally came. Thorin requires a quality actor who, like John-Rhys Davies as Gimli, will need to act through makeup, be of a certain stature and be both gruff and loveable. The answer? Ron Perlman is The Man and should be The Dwarf as well.
MTV.com called for Jeremy Irons to voice the role. I would like to see a decree passed that nobody who has voiced a lion, dragon or Jedi Knight is allowed to even be considered for the role. That eliminates Irons because of his brilliant Scar in The Lion King. It also eliminates other voices sure to be among the first brought up such as Sean Connery, Liam Neeson and James Earl Jones. Sorry, Smaug shouldnft sound like Darth Vader.
A list of interesting suggestions in alphabetical order: James Caan, George Clooney (forget the cool of Oceans 11 and listen to the beer ads and his work in the documentary Sand and Sorrow, this guy has a world-class voice), Ossie Davis, Robert De Niro, Vin Diesel (remember Saving Private Ryan and listen to him narrate in Pitch Black), Edward James Elmos, Morgan Freeman (perhaps too vocally famous), Sir Anthony Hopkins (I can still hear him saying, Hello Clarice and so can you, a transcendent actor), Dijmon Hounsou, Ben Kingsley, Paul Newman and Patrick Stewart. If I could, I would audition Diesel, Freeman, Hopkins and Kingsley and would be comfortable with any of them. Any voice would have effects done but before the sound guys go to work. I want the best performance possible to make Smaug so much more than just a monster. I hope the studio and the actor chosen aren't interested in people seeing the film and saying, when they hear the dragon, Oh, isn't that Actor X? The audience should be thinking only of the scaly, magnificent lizard. I think my list of auditions would all be able to transcend voice recognition and turn in a performance worthy of the character that spawned 1,000 imitations.
But if I had to pick a guy right now, at this moment, it would be none other than Rodrigo Santoro. In case that doesnft ring a bell, and for most it will not, he is the Brazilian actor who played Xerxes in 300. His voice in the film was obviously enhanced for his role as a demi-God but he sounded amazing. His hint of an accent would even work for Smaug. Give Xerxes a listen with your eyes closed.
A list of interesting suggestions in alphabetical order: James Caan, George Clooney (forget the cool of Oceans 11 and listen to the beer ads and his work in the documentary Sand and Sorrow, this guy has a world-class voice), Ossie Davis, Robert De Niro, Vin Diesel (remember Saving Private Ryan and listen to him narrate in Pitch Black), Edward James Elmos, Morgan Freeman (perhaps too vocally famous), Sir Anthony Hopkins (I can still hear him saying, Hello Clarice and so can you, a transcendent actor), Dijmon Hounsou, Ben Kingsley, Paul Newman and Patrick Stewart. If I could, I would audition Diesel, Freeman, Hopkins and Kingsley and would be comfortable with any of them. Any voice would have effects done but before the sound guys go to work. I want the best performance possible to make Smaug so much more than just a monster. I hope the studio and the actor chosen aren't interested in people seeing the film and saying, when they hear the dragon, Oh, isn't that Actor X? The audience should be thinking only of the scaly, magnificent lizard. I think my list of auditions would all be able to transcend voice recognition and turn in a performance worthy of the character that spawned 1,000 imitations.
But if I had to pick a guy right now, at this moment, it would be none other than Rodrigo Santoro. In case that doesnft ring a bell, and for most it will not, he is the Brazilian actor who played Xerxes in 300. His voice in the film was obviously enhanced for his role as a demi-God but he sounded amazing. His hint of an accent would even work for Smaug. Give Xerxes a listen with your eyes closed.
I can hear Patrick Stewart as the voice of Smaug - I wonder if he could pull off the nuances of a dragon who is not only cunning, sly and sinister but also highly conceited and a bit paranoid?...
Or is that a description of any dragon, not just Smaug in particular?