Benedict Cumberbatch On Playing 'Smaug The Dragon' In THE HOBBIT Trilogy
The Sherlock star talks briefly about bringing 'Smaug' to life on the big screen in Peter Jackson's return to Middle-Earth, commenting specifically on what it was like to work with Weta's motion capture equipment and exactly how much of him we'll see in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
"It’s very freeing, once you put the suit on and the sensors," Benedict Cumberbatch told Total Film in a recent interview when asked about how it feels to bring 'Smaug The Dragon' to life on the big screen with the use of motion capture technology. "I’ve never felt less encumbered, actually. And you have to be. You have to be free."
He adds, "You just have to lose your shit on a carpeted floor, in a place that looks a little bit like a mundane government building. It was just me as well, with four static cameras and all the sensors. Then the boys at Weta work their magic."
With The Hobbit now set to be a trilogy, the fact that the second instalment was renamed The Desolation of Smaug makes it fairly obvious that that is when we'll see the iconic character make his big screen debut. However, the actor went on to reveal that fans should keep an "eye" out for him in An Unexpected Journey too. "I think my eye will open at the end of the first film, and then you’ll get the rest of me in the second."
The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.
Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever…Gollum.
Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
STARRING:
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey
Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield
Andy Serkis as Gollum
Hugo Weaving as Elrond
Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug
Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman
Christopher Lee as Saruman the White
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
Orlando Bloom as Legolas
RELEASE DATE: December 14th, 2012.
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