The essentials for an unexpected journey

The Hobbit was first published in 1937; a revised edition (tying it closer to The Lord Of The Rings) was released in 1951, but a third re-edit – begun in 1960 – was left unfinished. An Unexpected Journey is set 60 years before the original LOTR trilogy.

In Tolkien’s world, elves are immortals, so expect returnee Legolas (Orlando Bloom) to look much the same. “Sixty years is nothing in the life of an elf,” says Legolas.

The filmmakers have attempted to counter the book’s gender imbalance by including some ladies – including LOTR’s Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and brand-new character Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), a Mirkwood elf.

Alongside Blanchett and Bloom, The Hobbit will also see the return of Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Andy Serkis (Gollum), Elijah Wood (Frodo), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Hugo Weaving (Elrond) and Ian Holm as the older version of Bilbo. “I haven’t met Ian,” says Martin Freeman. “But I think he’s fucking brilliant.”

Richard Armitage, who plays dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield, is 6ft 2in tall. And he’s not even the biggest in the Company. “Graham [McTavish, as Dwalin] is slightly taller. They’ve given me lifts in my shoes because they wanted me to be bigger than him!”

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Opens on 14 December 2012.

This feature originally appeared in Total Film magazine – Issue 189.

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