Sir Ian as Gandalf

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

Ian Holm was utterly fantastic as Bilbo in each and every scene in LOTR save one. The one exception being the finding of the One Ring where he simply could not disguise his age. Ten years has past since that filming and those ten years are the most difficult for an actor. Plus Holm has had health problems. He would have to play a more physically demanding role and appear younger than he did in LOTR.

Face it - its just not in the cards.

I agree, Ian Holm is a wonderful actor, but I fear he may have even looked a tad old for Bilbo in FotR, and that was ten years ago! Perhaps, like Gollum, they can make a completely CG animated likeness of a younger Bilbo using Ian's voice. Don't laugh! They made Ray Winstone's beer belly into a six pack for Beowulf!

P.S. Speaking of the Beowulf movie, did anyone else find the visuals disturbing? I couldn't even watch the waxen-faced caricatures after a while.

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

P.S. Speaking of the Beowulf movie, did anyone else find the visuals disturbing? I couldn't even watch the waxen-faced caricatures after a while.

Oh man - that show was WILD. It only gets weirder the closer you get to the screen and I was sitting in the front row. Sometimes it even seemed like the action was happening behind me or beside me. I had a terrible headache afterwards.

The CG people were pretty eerie...

[The Sixth Wizard]

Err... What about Bilbo? And Gollum?

I think I subconsciously left them out because Bilbo looks so old in LOTR and Gollum's a CGI creation.

Anyway Bilbo should appear way younger. Sure, the ring kept him young, but he's only on the brink of adulthood in the Hobbit and twenty years younger than Frodo is in LOTR...

[Gwathagor]

Are you sure? I thought they were the same age (50) when they each set out on their respective adventures. Perhaps I invented that.