Eddie Redmayne Reenacts Failed 'Bilbo Baggins' Audition For THE HOBBIT
The Theory of Everything star Eddie Redmayne was a guest on the British talk show Graham Norton Show, and during the discussion he revealed that he auditioned for the role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit films. Come see!
Currently, Eddie Redmayne is garnering serious Oscar buzz for portraying the famous physicist Stephen Hawking, but if his 'Bilbo Baggins' audition for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey had went better he might not have had the time to be in The Theory of Everything. The role eventually went to Martin Freeman ("Fargo"), who Jackson always claimed was his number one choice from the get go. Even so, Redmayne was asked to tryout for the part and during an interview on the Graham Norton Show, Redmayne gave them a taste of his audition.
"I went to this audition, and I'd been really rigorous about it, and didn't want to just do my usual boring thing," Redmayne said. "So I went on YouTube and I found Ian Holm, who'd played it in The Lord of the Rings, and I tried to copy his character. I arrived there, and the casting director put on the camcorder, and I started reading the scene. I thought I was being brave, and before the word Baggins had come out of my mouth she said 'No, no, no, no. Own voice. Own voice.' I never got a call back."
Reading about it doesn't do it justice. Watch the video above to see Redmayne jerk his limbs wildly like a marionette controlled by a drunken puppeteer.
An Unexpected Journey - The adventure follows Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim Erebor with the help of Gandalf the Grey and 13 Dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the wild, through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins, Orcs and deadly Wargs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the Goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever...Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities...A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
About The Author:
I am Jay Jayson, one of the greatest writers and researchers to ever grace the comicbookmovie.com community. If there is a story or a picture hiding on the internet I will find it.