James McAvoy as Bilbo Baggins?

[Brinniel]

Originally Posted by Knight of Gondor

Other actors mentioned were Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe and (oh gag) Jack Black.

Oh no...while I do like Jack Black in some movies, the idea of him playing Bilbo makes me sick. It's just not right...and it'd ruin the whole film. As for Daniel Radcliffe, that's an awful idea as well. Not only is he way too young, but he's simply not a spectacular actor. Besides, while he does need a chance to get away from Harry Potter stuff, the dumbest thing to do is to move from playing one popular literary character straight to another. If he were to play Bilbo, I could just see audience pointing at the screen saying, "Look, Harry Potter is Bilbo!" Good God, no.

But when it comes to James McAvoy, I think he could be an excellent choice. He does seem a little young, but he certainly does have a hobbitish look about him and plus he's a great actor. When it comes to the whole age debate here, let me remind you it is typical Hollywood for when it comes to children for the actor to be older than the character, and when it comes to adults for actor to be younger than the character. That's just how it is whether you like it or not...so I really doubt we can expect an actor who is 50 to play Bilbo. Anyways, I agree with some others here that I've always imagined hobbits to look about 10 years younger than their age due to their longer life expectancy.

I posted this on another thread before, but if you're looking for a Bilbo who looks like Ian Holm, I would recommend Liev Schreiber. I love him as both a director and actor, and I actually think he'd be a wonderful Bilbo. He'd be my first choice, but as it doesn't look like he's being considered, I will still be perfectly happy if James McAvoy is chosen..