The second part of the Hobbit movie trilogy, released in December 2013, turned out, in fact, like all the projects of the ingenious Peter Jackson, to be large-scale, bewitching and epic. Not the last role in the success of the world rental of the film was played by talented actors. "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" is a fantastically huge in scale and painstaking work done by all members of the crew. Make-up artists and costume designers worked tirelessly to recreate the magnificent images of favorite characters from the world of Tolkien on the screen. And the stunning cast was laid out at 100% to satisfy the most demanding fans of the book.
Unique shooting
If in the case of the adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson had to work hard to fit the whole story into three films, then with The Hobbit it turned out exactly the opposite. Jackson managed to stretch a rather short story into three epic films, while increasing the number of characters at the expense of other heroes of Middle-earth, embodying incredible battle scenes on the screen and adding a little new details to the plot. All this did not spoil the story at all, but made it more energetic, interesting and spectacular. An interesting fact is that the film "Desolation of Smaug" was the first film to be shot at a speed of 48 frames per second on 3D Red Epic cameras . Thanks to almost fifty such cameras, the shooting was carried out from completely impossible angles, making it possible to make the picture as realistic as possible for the perception of the audience.
Small but most important
A stunning selection of character artists is another hallmark of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The actors and the roles that they embodied on the screen were carefully selected and thought out. Some were already familiar to the audience in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, they met with a large part in the first film, An Unexpected Journey, but there are completely new heroes in the second part of The Hobbit who were just about to reveal themselves. But first things first.
The main character, whose journey, in fact, is narrated in Tolkien’s story, is Bilbo Baggins, who was played by the British actor Martin Freeman, who became famous worldwide for his role in the television adaptation of Conan Doyle’s novels called Sherlock. Fans of the work of Tolkien and his adaptations by Peter Jackson have already been familiar with this character since the time of The Lord of the Rings. There, an elderly Bilbo was played by Ian Hill, who appeared in the first part of The Hobbit. But since the story of the incredible adventures of the young Baggins is a prequel to “The Lord of the Rings”, then the actor for this role was chosen younger, and Jackson approved Martin for the role with virtually no casting.
Familiar faces
In addition to the Baggins-Freeman in the film, there are other important characters, and hence the actors. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug reunited the Lord of the Rings stars on the set. Ian McKelan again got used to the image of the powerful wizard Gandalf, who conquered millions of women's hearts. Orlando Bloom again embodied the image of the apt elf Legolas. And the incomparable Cate Blanchett returned to the role of the powerful elven mistress Galadriel.
Dwarf Erebor
The main cast of the trilogy also included new actors. “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” continues the story that began in the first part, in which Baggins went on a journey with the gnomes who want to restore the former greatness of their race, returning their ancient stronghold - the ancient center of their power. At the head of this campaign was the heir to Erebor, Thorin Oakenshield, whose role was played by the British Richard Armitage, who before the Hobbit was not very well known to a wide circle of spectators, but uniquely perfectly embodied his hero, for which he received the prestigious Saturn award in 2015. The remaining gnomes from the detachment in Tolkien’s novel were not spelled out in such detail as Thorin, so the crew had to think up and register the characters themselves. The actors in the movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug who played the Dwarves are Ken Scott (Balin), Peter Hambleton (Gloin), James Nesbitt (Bofour), Aidan Turner (Keely), Mike Hadlow (Dory), Dean O'Gorman (Fili ), Graham McTavish (Dwalin), Stephen Hunter (Bombour), Jed Brophy (Nori), John Cullin (Oin), William Kircher (Bifur) and Adam Brown (Ori).
New Heroes of Middle-earth
In the second part of the trilogy, completely new characters appear, but at the same time very familiar actors. "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" finally introduced the audience to the king of the elves Licholesya Thranduil, concurrently the father of Legolas, performed by the American actor Lee Pace. Surprisingly, his on-screen son Orlando Bloom is two years older than his on-screen father Pace. However, that’s why they are elves in order to mislead their age.
Another beautiful representative of the forest people, who appeared in the frame of the second film about the hobbit, is Tauriel, who, however, is not in the text of the original story, but this did not prevent her from organically integrating into the story. This role was chosen by the delightful Evangeline Lilly, who is a big fan of Tolkien from a young age, and for her role she took lessons in fencing, archery and even learned the Elven language.
Mostly actors play one role in films. “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” - the picture is largely unique. The ingenious Benedict Cumberbatch gave his voice, movements and facial expressions to Necromancer Dol Guldur, and he did the same with the dragon Smaug himself. To get the most out of the image of the formidable lizard, the talented Briton spent a lot of time at the zoo, studying various reptiles. His efforts were not in vain, and the audience appreciated the ancient pangolin. The role of Bard-Archer, who later became King Bard I, went to the rising star Luke Evans.