Music, Style & Culture

Billy Connolly Cast In The Hobbit

Actor and comedian to play dwarf warrior Dain Ironfoot for Peter Jackson.

Billy Connolly has joined the cast of The Hobbit.

With filming of the two-part film well underway, we thought the cast was pretty much locked down, but Peter Jackson made the surprise final announcement to The Hollywood Reporter.

The actor and comedian is to play dwarf warrior Dain Ironfoot, cousin of Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). Director and co-writer Jackson said in a statement:

"We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connelly [sic], the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can't wait to see him on the Battlefield!"

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will hit cinemas from 14th December, with the second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, following on 13th December, 2013.

Connolly joins actors such as Aidan Turner, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt in the great dwarf army of J.R.R. Tolkien's creation. Martin Freeman stars as Bilbo Baggins, the inquisitive hobbit who joins them on a quest to slay Smaug the dragon. Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis reprise their famous roles as Gandalf and Gollum.

After a successful move from comedy to dramatic acting in Mrs Brown, Connolly has been seen in The Debt Collector, White Oleander, The Last Samurai, Lemony Snicket and Gulliver's Travels. He'll be heard as the voice of the king in Pixar's Brave, and is part of Quartet, starring Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon.