Stephen Fry is one of the coolest cats in Britain. Aside from being a wonderful writer, comedian and person, he’s taken roles in some excellent films, including A Fish Called Wanda, A Civil Action, Gosford Park, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, V For Vendetta and the upcoming Sherlock Holmes sequel. Now he’s found himself in business with Peter Jackson, both on the Oscar winning director’s The Hobbit and his developing Dam Busters remake.
Jackson himself announced the addition to his Hobbit cast via Facebook yesterday, and released a full production update which also made public the hiring of Ryan Gage, who will play Alfrid, and Conan Stevens, who is set to play an Orc called Azog. Fry can only bring good things to a production as large and prestigious as this, and though I’m not personally familiar with Stevens and Gage, I am sure that if Jackson hired them, they must be right for their roles.
Read on below for the full release:
Some more HOBBIT casting news today. As we near the end of our first shooting block (we have a break in less than three weeks to get some editing and visual effects work done, plus prepare for very big scenes coming up), we are looking at characters featuring in sequences that take place a little later in the story.
We are thrilled to confirm that Stephen Fry will be playing The Master of Laketown. I’ve known Stephen for several years, and we’re developing a DAMBUSTERS movie together. In addition to his writing skills, he’s a terrific actor and will create a very memorable Master for us.
The Master’s conniving civil servant, Alfrid will be played by Ryan Gage. Ryan is a great young actor who we originally cast in a small role, but we liked him so much, we promoted him to the much larger Alfrid part.
Last, and certainly not least, is Conan Stevens, who will be playing an Orc called Azog (Orcs are never called Roger or Dennis for some strange reason). And yes that’s his name—Conan! Isn’t that cool? Azog is played by Conan! Here’s a photo of Conan and I together… I’m pretty tall, probably at least 6’5″ or 6’6″ I would guess, so that gives you some clue how tall Conan is!
