Cate Blanchett and others officially cast in The Hobbit

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Warner Bros. and MGM are rapidly expanding their cast for The Hobbit, which already includes a perfectly suited Martin–not Morgan!–Freeman in the lead role of Bilbo Baggins. According to Hit Fix, Peter Jackson has secured the return of Cate Blanchett in the role of Galadriel for the two-part Lord of the Rings prequel — wonderful news, I would think, for fans of the series — and hired several new actors to boot. Ken Stott (Charlie Wilson’s War), Sylvester McCoy (The Academy), and Mikael Persbrandt (of many Swedish films) have been hired for the roles of Dwarf Lord Balin, the wizard Radagast, and shape shifter Beorn, respectively.

These new additions fill out a cast that already includes Richard Armitage (coming up in Captain America), Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky, Graham McTavish (Rambo), John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, James Nesbitt (Cherrybomb), and Adam Brown.

Jackson commented on the return of Blanchett, saying, “Cate is one of my favorite actors to work with and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her reprise the role she so beautifully brought to life in the earlier films.” Likewise, Jackson praised Swedish actor Persbrandt,…

Warner Bros. and MGM are rapidly expanding their cast for The Hobbit, which already includes a perfectly suited Martin–not Morgan!–Freeman in the lead role of Bilbo Baggins. According to Hit Fix, Peter Jackson has secured the return of Cate Blanchett in the role of Galadriel for the two-part Lord of the Rings prequel — wonderful news, I would think, for fans of the series — and hired several new actors to boot. Ken Stott (Charlie Wilson's War), Sylvester McCoy (The Academy), and Mikael Persbrandt (of many Swedish films) have been hired for the roles of Dwarf Lord Balin, the wizard Radagast, and shape shifter Beorn, respectively.

These new additions fill out a cast that already includes Richard Armitage (coming up in Captain America), Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky, Graham McTavish (Rambo), John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, James Nesbitt (Cherrybomb), and Adam Brown.

Jackson commented on the return of Blanchett, saying, "Cate is one of my favorite actors to work with and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her reprise the role she so beautifully brought to life in the earlier films." Likewise, Jackson praised Swedish actor Persbrandt, saying, "The role of Beorn is an iconic one and Mikael was our first choice for the part. Since seeing him read for the role we can’t imagine anyone else playing this character." Well, Swedes do everything better in my opinion.

[via Hit Fix]