Yep, there’s more movement in the Shire. Just a few days after Luke Evans and Benedict Cumberbatch came aboard Peter Jackson’s massive two-part “The Hobbit,” the director himself announced a couple more names joining the production today on Facebook.
“Lost” star Evangeline Lilly and comedian and character actor Barry Humphries will play Tauriel and Gorkin The Goblin King respectively in the upcoming films. As Peter Jackson explains, Tauriel is a Woodland Elf, the “daughter of Mirkwood” that is a completely new character and while he’s keeping any further details under wraps for now, he adds that “there is no romantic connection to Legolas.” As for the Goblin King, Jackson notes that Humphries will play the role “much the way Andy Serkis created Gollum” which we presume will be a purely motion-capture character. Interestingly, this character is also somewhat new, only appearing in the video game “The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II” — based on Jackson’s film trilogy — as a successor to Great Goblin featured in J.R.R. Tolkien‘s “The Hobbit.”
While the rest of the cast of “Lost” have been busy filling up their schedules with new films and television work, Lilly has had a much quieter calender following the hit TV show — notably appearing in “The Hurt Locker” — and this is easily her most most profile job in quite some time (she also has a role in the upcoming “Real Steel“). As for Humphries, most of the world knows him best as the outrageous Dame Edna, but this too should fine him connecting with a whole new legion of fans.
“The Hobbit” continues to roll in New Zealand with “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” hitting theaters on December 14, 2012.
