Voice of Smaug?

[Aiwendil]

I think Christopher Lee would have been perfect if his voice hadn't already been associated with Saruman. Similarly, John Rhys-Davies's voice strikes me as quite appropriate for Smaug.

Patrick Stewart would probably be good in principle, but I'm afraid I just couldn't take Smaug seriously if he had the voice of Captain Picard.

There are some odd suggestions on that list, though. Mark Hamill? Terry Gilliam? Surely it should at least be someone with an authentic English accent (I can't imagine Smaug talking like an American).

[Gwathagor]

Jeremy Irons. No contest.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

Jeremy Irons. No contest.

If they did pick him, I'd have a hard time not thinking of a huge mane of hair for Smaug.

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

If they did pick him, I'd have a hard time not thinking of a huge mane of hair for Smaug.

Seconded!

I don't like dragons so obviously I wouldn't want a dragon to have Scar's voice.

Tim Curry or Bruno Ganz might be good.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

Seconded!

I don't like dragons so obviously I wouldn't want a dragon to have Scar's voice.

But Smaug is pretty much the coolest bad guy in Tolkien's corpus, if not beyond. And his chief competitor is another dragon, Glaurung!

Maybe if Jeremy Irons were Smaug's voice, this fact would cause you to like dragons.

Personally, Jeremy Irons as Smaug would be considered an awesome thing.

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

But Smaug is pretty much the coolest bad guy in Tolkien's corpus, if not beyond.

I prefer Saruman. <3

Maybe if Jeremy Irons were Smaug's voice, this fact would cause you to like dragons.

No, it might lead to me not wanting to see the Hobbit film at all in fear of losing my ability to watch the Lion King without thinking of dragons.

But yeah Jeremy Irons' voice anywhere is an awesome thing.

[Morthoron]

Tuor, you skipped my suggestion on TORn:

Pee-wee Herman.

That would throw everyone off.

[Erendis]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

Jeremy Irons. No contest.

Exactly!A "quiet" voice,with a really cunning note...
Shhh,makes my hair go up!

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Hmmmm... how about Christopher Plummer?

(Full disclosure: Plummer was my fantasy casting for Denethor- Peter Cushing and Basil Rathbone being permanently unavailable).

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Terry Gilliam?

Okay, that made me chuckle!

Smaug needs to have a raspy voice! Raspy, and NOT American!

[Gwathagor]

I wonder if an American accent could work, though...Smaug is essentially an Yankee businessman: individualistic, pragmatic, and ruthless. With the right actor, it could work.

[Morsul the Dark]

I Take Exception with that description of Americans, really that's EVERY business man so really using that logic ANY accent would work.

Sorry, just found that comment offensive.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

An American accent could indeed work. What about Dustin Hoffman?

(Smaug describing his aeronautical abilities)

I'm a very good flyer.

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

I Take Exception with that description of Americans, really that's EVERY business man so really using that logic ANY accent would work.

Sorry, just found that comment offensive.

As an American myself, I can say things like that about my countryfolk if I want to.

[Hakon]

Originally Posted by Gwathagor

I wonder if an American accent could work, though...Smaug is essentially an Yankee businessman: individualistic, pragmatic, and ruthless. With the right actor, it could work.

Watch it there. I the New Yorker of the forum.

Anyway here is a suggestion. John Noble. He played Denethor in Return of the King. The actor is from New Zealand but he usually uses an American accent for his roles.

[Erendis]

Well,recycling is really effective when it comes to nature,but imagine what is going to happen if his voice is iddentified

"oh,here comes the psyco-dude again!"

[Bêthberry]

Yeah, Irons was magnificent as Scar--as suave as George Sanders' Shere Khan in the Jungle Book. But someone will have to make Smaug be, well, authentically Smaug.

John Hurt's already done a dragon, but I haven't heard how he did in Merlin. He's also, um, played a rabbit and a wizard.

Originally Posted by Aiwendil

Surely it should at least be someone with an authentic English accent (I can't imagine Smaug talking like an American).

Ah, this raises an interesting question, above and beyond the actor's identity. Just which kind of English accent would be appropriate for Smaug? EDIT: This would effectively exclude Pee-Wee Herman.

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Ah, this raises an interesting question, above and beyond the actor's identity. Just which kind of English accent would be appropriate for Smaug?

Reading a bit about Hugh Laurie (he plays Dr. House on the TV show of the same name), I learned the following:

Originally Posted by wikipedia

Although Laurie has been a household name in many parts of the world since the 1980s, he only came to the attention of a broader American public in 2004, when he first starred as the acerbic attending physician Dr. Gregory House in the popular FOX medical drama House. For his portrayal, Laurie assumes an American accent. Laurie was in Namibia filming Flight of the Phoenix and recorded the audition tape for the show in the bathroom of the hotel, the only place he could get enough light. His US accent was so convincing that executive producer Bryan Singer, who was unaware at the time that Laurie is English, pointed to him as an example of just the kind of compelling American actor he had been looking for.

..meaning that to have a British accent, we need not look just to British actors.

And that said, must we exclude female voices a priori? Is Smaug male? What does 'male' mean in dragon form? Could not a woman's voice work as well?

[Durelin]

Leonard Nimoy.

Originally Posted by alatar

And that said, must we exclude female voices a priori? Is Smaug male? What does 'male' mean in dragon form? Could not a woman's voice work as well?

There are women who have done very 'masculine' voice-acting, too. Like the woman who voices Bart Simpson...obviously not a very deep voice but plenty masculine. And I remember in an anime this Japanese woman, who spoke in a very high-pitched voice normally, voicing a bad guy with the typical menacing deep voice.

That aside -- no, there's nothing saying Smaug need sound typically 'masculine'...though I must admit I want him to. Well, not *typically* masculine but...yeah.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by alatar

Reading a bit about Hugh Laurie (he plays Dr. House on the TV show of the same name), I learned the following:

..meaning that to have a British accent, we need not look just to British actors.

And that said, must we exclude female voices a priori? Is Smaug male? What does 'male' mean in dragon form? Could not a woman's voice work as well?

Well, what kind of voice does Margaret Thatcher have?

In our house, we quite often, after watching an episode of House, watch an episode of Blackadder, just to marvel at Laurie's marvellous range and talents.

Yet voices and accents have traditionally been a strong point amongst English thespians. I'm not so sure that an American equivalent of Laurie could be named. Can anyone identify an American actor who has done a credible English accent--there have been several lamentable ones.

[Mithalwen]

Gwyneth Paltrow and Renee Zellweger made a decent fist of it in Sliding Doors and Bridget Jones but I am struggling to think of any American men who have been as convincing and some have been spectacularly (deliberately?) bad - though of course I am sure many Brits fail woefully at doing American, I just wouldn't necessarily notice.

Bethberry - I occasionally catch old episodes of Jeeves and Wooster and that really is a shock now I have got used to Laurie as House... and that WAS a shock.. since on the surface you couldn't find a more English Englishman... Eton, and not only Cambridge Footlights but Cambridge Boat Race......

Anyway I think George Irving would make a fabulous Smaug...

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

In our house, we quite often, after watching an episode of House, watch an episode of Blackadder, just to marvel at Laurie's marvellous range and talents.

He is marvelously talented, so you would understand *my* surprise to learn that he wasn't an American...

And as Mith said, can't believe that 'House' is the same guy that was in "The Young Ones."

Can anyone identify an American actor who has done a credible English accent--there have been several lamentable ones.

Kevin Costner, as heard in "Robin Hood." (Always remember, to sheep, other sheep surely appear different, and who even knows what marsupials are? ... or something)

Or what of Kevin Kline in "A Fish Called Wanda?"

Anyway, I'm not sure we need to have a (1) British accent or (2) male voice. And that said, do we even know that Smaug will actually speak?

[Thinlómien]

I would prefer Smaug to have an evil, sneering and amused voice, and not any macho masculine stuff. A woman could do Smaug as well as a man - but surely not anyone with a girly voice or an overtly feminine one. Also, his voice should not be a distinctively old voice, for even though he is old, there is something very youthfully playful in him. British accent would be nice but not necessary - as long as Smaug doesn't have a very strong American accent!

I don't have any particular actors or actresses in mind because I'm terrible at remembering their voices. Of the suggestions this far, Geoffrey Rush, Jason Isaacs, Derek Jacobi and Kathleen Turner sound quite good, but none of them is exactly what I'd like to hear.

[skip spence]

There's been a lot of talk about Hugh Laurie without anyone nominating him for the part. Perhaps not a bad choice at all, he's got the posh accent down and can surely sound sneering and menacing too.

And how about John Malkovich? Wouldn't it be a hoot if he Frenched him up too, like in Johnny English? Seems fitting too, given JRRTs legendary Frenchyfobia. But seriously, Malkovich might do a good Smaug methinks...

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by alatar

Kevin Costner, as heard in "Robin Hood." (Always remember, to sheep, other sheep surely appear different, and who even knows what marsupials are? ... or something)

Or what of Kevin Kline in "A Fish Called Wanda?"

but Kline was playing an american putting on a silly-brit accent?

Robin Hood...well it was years before I could watch that beyond the ludicrous opening sequence when KC announces , at Dover, "tonight we dine at my father's house in Nardingham", the realities of 12th century transportation being overlooked along with basic geography since they went via Hadrian's wall - about as scenic route as you could get while remaining on the same island. Even Shadowfax couldn' t have done that...

George Irving is best known here for playing the consultant heart surgeon, Anton Meyer, in the series Holby City. His voice is deep, authoratative with a seductive quality that means some of us could listen to him read the telephone directory...

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

but Kline was playing an american putting on a silly-brit accent?

My point entirely...

Robin Hood...well it was years before I could watch that beyond the ludicrous opening sequence when KC announces , at Dover, "tonight we dine at my father's house in Nardingham", the realities of 12th century transportation being overlooked along with basic geography since they went via Hadrian's wall - about as scenic route as you could get while remaining on the same island. Even Shadowfax couldn' t have done that...

Sure, Kevin Costner got panned for his less than believable British accent, but for if you have a tin ear in regards to accents (like most 'Mericans), it mattered not. I still like the movie and find it 100% accurate, factual and believable, given my knowledge of things therein and minuscule attention span.

Surely Andy Serkis could pull something out of his throat for Smaug.

[PrinceOfTheHalflings]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Can anyone identify an American actor who has done a credible English accent--there have been several lamentable ones.

Yes, Sean Astin in ... The Lord of the Rings movies!

Here's my suggestion for Smaug and it's waaaaaay out of left field: Paul Darrow. He played "Avon" in Blake's Seven. He is still alive - anyone who remembers Blake's Seven should recall his sneering, supercilious, "born to rule" voice.

[Pitchwife]

Hmmm... personally, I'd love to hear Tim Curry as Smaug. To quote Bêthberry's description from the Dragons thread:

Someone arrogant, pompus, narcissistic, greedy, self-indulgent, self-satisfied, smug, vengeful, wrathful.

Doesn't that sound familiar?

Come down to my lair
and see what's heaped up there
I see you shiver with anticip-p-pation...

[William Cloud Hicklin]

- Peter Cushing and Basil Rathbone being permanently unavailable).

Pointless coincidences time! Setting aside Cushing's long association with Christopher Lee, his best friend, at Hammer Pictures, check this out:

Tolkien was born in 1892 to English parents in the independent (Boer) Orange Free State. Rathbone was born in 1892 to English parents in the independent (Boer) Transvaal Republic. Tolkien and Rathbone both removed to England at the age of three, in 1895. Tolkien and Rathbone both enlisted in 1916, both in Lancashire regiments (the Lancashire Fusiliers and the King's Liverpool Regiment, respectively).

Otherwise, though- Rathbone never attended University. He enlisted as a private but rose to captain, serving at the front until war's end (and winning the MC). In 1934 Rathbone moved permanently to the USA, which Tolkien never visited.