Who voiced smaug
PJ may well offer the voice of Smaug to an actor already cast in The Hobbit.
Benedict Cumberbatch joins The Hobbit as Smaug
Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as the voice of the dragon, Smaug, in The Hobbit, Peter Jackson’s forthcoming two-part prequel to his Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Cumberbatch’s casting was accidentally leaked by his co-star in the BBC’s Sherlock Holmes TV show, Martin Freeman, at the Bafta TV awards last month. Freeman plays the main role of Bilbo Baggins, a homebody hobbit recruited by wizard Gandalf to help a company of dwarves wrest their ancient homeland from a great dragon in JRR Tolkien’s 1937 children’s tale. The exact role to be taken by Cumberbatch, who plays Holmes to Freeman’s Watson, was unknown until yesterday, however. Jackson himself confirmed the casting via his Facebook page following US reports last week. He also unveiled a number of other castings, including Australian comic Barry Humphries as the goblin king and Evangeline Lilly from TV series Lost as an Elf named Tauriel.
“Evangeline and Barry, along with Welsh actor Luke Evans as Bard and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug, just about rounds out the major casting,” wrote Jackson. “I cannot wait to get stuck into these new scenes!”
As well as playing Smaug, Cumberbatch is voicing the Necromancer, the evil Mirkwood sorcerer who is revealed in the Lord of the Rings to be the evil spirit Sauron.
Other castings for The Hobbit include Stephen Fry (as the Master of Laketown), Sir Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis (returning as Gandalf and Gollum), Spooks’s Richard Armitage (dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield) and Sylvester McCoy (wizard Radagast the Brown). The project’s two parts are being shot back-to-back in New Zealand, with the films released in December 2012 and 2013.
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Who voiced smaug
Grondmaster
has made 25465 posts and is a Dwarf from Glittering Caves and has sailed into the West.
Posted Tuesday 23rd June 2009 (12:09am)
Something to think about were you the casting director: As Smaug will undoubtedly be computer generated graphics, who should do his voice, a well known actor or singer, or a relatively unknown? Should Smaug have an English accent or an eastern European one?
Grondmaster
has made 25465 posts and is a Dwarf from Glittering Caves and has sailed into the West.
Posted Tuesday 23rd June 2009 (12:09am)
Arath
has made 664 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Tuesday 23rd June 2009 (09:35am)
Sian
has made 1300 posts and is a Hobbit from Buckland and is not online.
Posted Tuesday 23rd June 2009 (05:02pm)
(Laughing) I guess I hadn’t thought of Smaug as female Sean Connery did the voice of the dragon in Dragonheart well so he was my first thought but maybe somebody with a more gritty, evil voice would be better. Just my thought. Maybe Springsteen?
Arath
has made 664 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Wednesday 24th June 2009 (01:13am)
actually I think that the voice actor could be just about anybody
Ah the marvels of modern voice alteration
Thorin Oakenshield
has made 4614 posts and is a Dwarf from Moria and is not online.
Posted Wednesday 24th June 2009 (05:02pm)
Virumor? Sounds just like the guy for it!
Grondmaster
has made 25465 posts and is a Dwarf from Glittering Caves and has sailed into the West.
Posted Wednesday 24th June 2009 (10:38pm)
Should be someone with a deep voice, like Sam Elliott (Lee Scoresby in The Golden Compass and many cowboy movies).
Grondmaster
has made 25465 posts and is a Dwarf from Glittering Caves and has sailed into the West.
Posted Tuesday 11th August 2009 (06:23am)
How about Kenneth (Ken) Campbell who played Mr. Crump in the 2008 made for TV version of Miss Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye? He has a good scary low voice.
Virumor
has made 3567 posts and is a Rohirrim from Edoras and is not online.
Posted Tuesday 11th August 2009 (08:31am)
Sean Connery already did a dragon voice in Dragonheart.
Or maybe the voice of the dragon Wushu from Mulan.
Leelee
has made 2300 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Tuesday 11th August 2009 (08:29pm)
Rho
has made 457 posts and is a Hobbit from Hobbiton and is not online.
Posted Wednesday 12th August 2009 (05:59am)
I know he’s not very original but I thought Liam Neeson was good as Aslan, he’d prolly do a bang up job as Smaug
Virumor
has made 3567 posts and is a Rohirrim from Edoras and is not online.
Posted Wednesday 12th August 2009 (08:18am)
Grondmaster
has made 25465 posts and is a Dwarf from Glittering Caves and has sailed into the West.
Posted Wednesday 12th August 2009 (10:44pm)
Curunír
has made 8 posts and is a Dunedain from Osgiliath and is not online.
Posted Wednesday 23rd September 2009 (08:17am)
Elanorraine
has made 317 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Thursday 24th September 2009 (06:35am)
The Cheesey
has made 1074 posts and is a Hobbit from Hobbiton and is not online.
Posted Saturday 26th September 2009 (10:11pm)
Rick Astley. and it should be a musical. biig build up, mega over hype, the best film trilogy (next to star wars is back), first 10 minutes spent getting to the mountain, then a dragon flys out, and spends 2 hours rickrolling us.
Inky
has made 1 posts and is a Dwarf from Glittering Caves and is not online.
Posted Monday 2nd May 2011 (08:50pm)
Hands down, slap the table, done deal. It should be Bill Nighy. He did an awesome job as Davey Jones in Pirates. I watch those movies with my eyes closed and just imagine the voice coming from Smaug’s mouth.
Leelee
has made 2300 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Wednesday 4th May 2011 (07:09pm)
I have been thinking on this and I think I would rather the voice of the mean worm be a computerized one. Smaug is an unknown entity as it were since he did not go about talking to mortals and so something very amazing that is totally new and unknown before to me would be more mysterious and thrilling. I think I might feel disappointed knowing it was some person that we have all seen a hundred times
Sadisticparadise
has made 5 posts and is an Elf from Lothlorien and is not online.
Posted Thursday 5th May 2011 (02:27am)
Not really sure about specific actors but I guess I would prefer if it’s in a deep voice. At least that’s how I imagined it while reading The Hobbit.
Also, for some reason, now I’m imagining it with the voice of an annoying leprechaun. The wonders of the human mind.
Bloick the bold
has made 4 posts and is a Dwarf from Moria and is not online.
Posted Thursday 5th May 2011 (07:19pm)
Been racking my brains on this one and think I have to go the electronically enhanced one as well. As far as accents go, having just come back from Texas ( I had trouble getting my dwarvish chain mail through security let me tell you and the axe is another matter..) being told that you have an accent when you are English is a shock. Unfortunately we think we don’t have one. I think whoever did the voice of Sauron was pretty good and in a way Smaug is an extension of him.
It appears both Sauron and Melkor tend to warp existing creatures as they get a kick out of it and as Stephen Donaldson so eloquently writes in Thomas Covenant the best torture for a man who has lost everything is to give him back something broken. Maybe even Ian McKellan or Hugo Weaving’s warped voices may work.?
Heres a weird idea Eddie Izzard or Lance Henriksson, or Morgan Freeman!
Brego
has made 1277 posts and is an Elf from Lothlorien and is not online.
Posted Thursday 19th May 2011 (01:38am)
What about David Beckham?
Only kidding, who ever is used I think there will be technical wizardry done on the voice, as with Treebeard. A dragons voice, if real, would be incredible deep and powerful, as per there size and cunning. A natural human voice would be very disappointing. Have you seen Eregon everyone?
Withydillow
has made 49 posts and is an Elf from Lothlorien and is not online.
Posted Thursday 12th May 2011 (09:45am)
The actor who played Gimli did a double role in the Lord Of The Rings, his other role was doing the voice of Treebeard.
PJ may well offer the voice of Smaug to an actor already cast in The Hobbit.
I did see the film Eragon and thought the enemy dragon was quite spectacular but not as vain as Smaug.
Amarië
has made 2785 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Thursday 12th May 2011 (10:22pm)
I think BBC’s Merlin have a pretty decent dragon. Smaug is pure evil though, he needs a voice to match.
I think Smaug will be awesome, because PJ would’t dare to mess it up!
Withydillow
has made 49 posts and is an Elf from Lothlorien and is not online.
Posted Wednesday 22nd June 2011 (10:40am)
Well, who would have guessed that Benedict Cumberpatch would be given the privilege of voice acting Smaug the dragon.
He has a commanding presence in the latest series of the Sherlock Holmes series and makes Martin
Freeman look rather small. A good buildup to their confrontation in the Misty Mountains.
Brego
has made 1277 posts and is an Elf from Lothlorien and is not online.
Posted Thursday 23rd June 2011 (03:08am)
I was being sarcastic re Eregon Im afraid.
With Benedict Cumberbatch cast Smaug it should be very interesting. He has a very unusual and creepy manner in the roles he has played and also has a deep resonant voice. Good choice I think.
Stanespine
has made 2 posts and is an Elf from Lothlorien and is not online.
Posted Thursday 23rd June 2011 (02:14pm)
I Definitely think that the voice should be very deep if not
a bit hoarse. Thats how I think of dragons. Deep and powerful.
Lugdush
has made 6 posts and is an Uruk-Hai from Isengard and is not online.
Posted Thursday 23rd June 2011 (02:54pm)
Philip Anselmo from the American band, Pantera as Smaug.
And I believe that as far as accents go, they could be contrived better. If someone really wanted to make realistic accents for Middle Earth races, they would not rely wholly on existing accents. The languages of Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs would seem to have very different accents to me.
Someone of a Germanic decent speaking English sounds significantly different from, say, an American speaking English. An Orc or Dwarf in their sharp and rough sounding language would not have an English accent to me, but somewhat of an North Eastern European. I have always envisioned an Elf having more of a Brazillian, Portugese/Spanish accent style, based upon the vowel placement in the language. What would a rich blooded Numenorian sound like? How about one of the Rohirrim who also has their own language? I can’t believe that all characters in Middle Earth would automatically get slapped with the queen’s. How about Roac, son of Carc? That would have to be extremely Raven like and harsh! Those names themselves suggest the very sounds you would hear escape a Ravens beak. Go ahead, say Roac or Carc in your best parrot or ravens voice. I could certainly hear Breelanders or Shirefolk having an English or Scotch accent though.
As far as Smaug goes, I would like to hear something that would become one of who’s vocal chords would be of enormous size. It would seem to me that the worm would have good control though. He did not scare poor Bilbo out of his wits when they had a conversation and even enticed him to speak up and say quite a bit more than he should have. Maybe a light Russian?
Fornad
has made 844 posts and is a Dunedain from Osgiliath and is not online.
Posted Thursday 23rd June 2011 (03:14pm)
As Withy’s already said, Smaug has been chosen. Benedict Cumberbatch will be voicing him.
Orwell
has made 31 posts and is a Hobbit from Hobbiton and is not online.
Posted Wednesday 29th June 2011 (01:32am)
I’ve liked the idea of Ian McKellen doing the voice for some time. Smaug’s voice is very important. I hope PJ’s choice conveys his wily and sinuous nature properly.
Odette
has made 717 posts and is a Dunedain from Osgiliath and is not online.
Posted Monday 6th August 2012 (03:15pm)
I am so excited to see(hear) how Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice will work for Smaug. The Bilbo-Smaug scene will be funny. Sherlock and Watson all over again
Leelee
has made 2300 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Monday 6th August 2012 (10:04pm)
I think he is a fine actor, but so much exposure is making him rather tedious to my mind.
Brego
has made 1277 posts and is an Elf from Lothlorien and is not online.
Posted Tuesday 7th August 2012 (04:53am)
I suppose there is some humour in the Smaug Bilbo scenes. I hadn’t thought of it before. Always enjoyed the ridling games between them in the book. And if handles properly could be a very tense and terrifying competition of wits. Thanks Odette.
Leelee
has made 2300 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Tuesday 7th August 2012 (05:03pm)
Oh Vir, you are the best. You always imagined Smaug as sounding like Grover! I have to tell my Hasia, she loves him and since she read the entire book of the Hobbit with the rest of the family she will never ever ever be afraid of him again. Better still, since Smaug flies he can be just like Super Grover, with the same intellect. Miss you, hope you are happy and well.
Brego
has made 1277 posts and is an Elf from Lothlorien and is not online.
Posted Thursday 9th August 2012 (06:39am)
Or the Cookie Monster lol. As the trolls will talk in the film ( news from Comicon ) I wonder if anyone interesting will be voicing them. With Barry Humphries ( Goblin King ) Steven Fry ( Mayor of Laketown ) and Billy Conolly ( Dain Iron Foot ) all on board. How fabulous if they also voiced the Trolls. They are all known for fantastic character voice work. Would be a nice touch.
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