Sincere thanks to www.richardarmitageonline.com for the above Korean interview and photo(also video below with cast). Good luck with translation;D
Q: Why did you choose Martin and Richard for their roles, and what do you think of their performances?
Jackson: (laughs) Oh, I've got to answer that one carefully. My feeling is that when we're casting films I want a sense of truth and honesty with the performances. And I can say certainly with both Martin and Richard, and for that matter everyone else in the cast as well, there has to be an absolute truth in what they're doing. It's not pretend or pretense. And I think that's even more important in a fantastical film because you're playing a hobbit, or you're playing a dwarf. Essentially, there's a little bit of an alien creature there; they're very similar to us but nonetheless they're not human beings. And so I think the fact that we have to empathise with them becomes absolutely critical for the film. And Martin is a fantastic, dramatic actor, but at the same time, it was important in the character of Bilbo that there was a lot of heart and humour that comes from the fact that he's essentially a very unlikely hero, someone who's on a journey, of experiencing danger that he would rather not experience, being in the company of dwarves he would rather not be in the company of. And there's a lot of social comedy if you like, social humour that comes from the situation that he's in. And not a lot of dramatic actors understand the way to play humour, it's actually a very, very rare skill. And Martin is absolutely superb at that. And the other thing with Martin, too, which I as a director is a huge gift to me is that we could shoot maybe six or seven takes and every take would be different, it would be fresh, and Martin would be continually experimenting with ways to play the scene, yet every single take would be great. I found myself in the cutting room with enormous choice, spoilt for choice. And to see Martin exploring different ways to play the scene, yet there was truth in every single take. Should I stop there and then talk about Richard?Jackson: And in many respects, I look on the characters of Bilbo and Thorin as the heart and soul of the story, really. Bilbo is the heart and Thorin is the soul. We auditioned the role of Thorin and saw many, many actors and Richard really managed to capture for us the very important sense of nobility because he is essentially playing a king, but also the conflict as to whether or not he has the ability to lead these dwarves on this very difficult quest, a small number to fight a dragon, to reclaim a homeland, it's a very noble thing he's trying to do but he doesn't really have the resources. Also, with the character, there's a sense of honour, the quiet honour that Richard carries which I think is absolutely superb. As an actor, Richard is one of those very rare actors in which he uses stillness and he uses quiet to draw your eye. There can be a lot of things happening on the screen, there can be many characters on the screen, and yet Thorin in his stillness draws your attention. It's a very, very rare skill and he's somebody when he's on screen your eyes go to, you want to watch.
Throughout An Unexpected Journey, Thorin prove himself an immaculate badass.
An intense mix of Aragorn and Boromir, he has the former’s dark brooding stare and royal lineage, and the latter’s arrogance and tough, distinctly northern, severity.
He even managed to best Aidan Turner in the hunky Dwarf stakes, winning over a new bunch of ‘Team Thorin’ swooners.
His coolest moment echoes across the films, in the dual moments in which he uses a tree branch as a shield.
He even managed to best Aidan Turner in the hunky Dwarf stakes, winning over a new bunch of ‘Team Thorin’ swooners.
His coolest moment echoes across the films, in the dual moments in which he uses a tree branch as a shield.
In the flashback battle against the Orcs, he’s going toe-to-toe with Azog, and coming off the worse.
In a moment of pure macho badassery, he grabs the stump and uses it as a shield holding back Azog until he’s able to slice his arm clean off.
And as if that moment wasn’t cool enough, Thorin reveals that he’s had the life-saving twig appropriated into an actual shield when he faces off with Azog at the movie’s climax.
In a moment of pure macho badassery, he grabs the stump and uses it as a shield holding back Azog until he’s able to slice his arm clean off.
And as if that moment wasn’t cool enough, Thorin reveals that he’s had the life-saving twig appropriated into an actual shield when he faces off with Azog at the movie’s climax.
It’s handy to have a constant reminder of your fortitude and resourcefulness to carry around with you, in case you get into any scrapes.
We’re guessing it’s the inspiration behind the name Oakenshield.
We’re guessing it’s the inspiration behind the name Oakenshield.
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Though it's behind their opening pace, “Jack Reacher” could wind up playing more like Cruise's “Knight and Day,” which opened to $20 million and went on to make $76 million for Fox in 2010, or “Valkyrie,” which did $83 million in 2008 after opening to $21 million.
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