The Hobbit star "genuinely thought he was going to be fired" before filming started so he didn't even unpack
Apr. 24, 2024Richard Armitage says he was in utter disbelief when he booked the role
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey star Richard Armitage says he was convinced the studio must have made mistake when casting him as Thorin Oakenshield.
“I remember getting to New Zealand to shoot The Hobbit and not unpacking,” he toldRadio Times. “I genuinely thought I was going to be fired and sent home because they had made the wrong choice.”
Despite receiving mixed reviews, the Lord of the Rings prequel trilogy brought in $2.938 billion total at the global box office. Martin Freeman starred as Bilbo Baggins, with Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, Cate Blanchett as Lady Galadriel, Hugo Weaving as Lord Elrond, Lee Pace as Thrandull, Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, Andy Serkis as Gollum, and Benedict Cumberbatch as both Smaug and Sauron The Necromancer.
Continued Armitage: “Not in a million years would my nine-year-old self, reading the books, ever have imagined that he’d be starring in the films!”
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Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent’s Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.
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