Guillermo Del Toro Casts Self in THE HOBBIT, Describes Smaug

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Guillermo Del Toro Casts Self in THE HOBBIT, Describes Smaug

Posted on 11 November 2009 by Brent Hartinger, Editor

Following a Tolkien movie adaptation tradition, director Guillermo Del Toro is giving himself a cameo role in his upcoming film version of The Hobbit, he revealed in a posting Monday at TheOneRing.net.

He wrote on the site’s message board that he’ll play a monster:

“I had a hand on the design of the creature and I will personally sculpt the appliances that will be applied on my face and hands. I used to sculpt the creatures for NECROPIA (my FX company) and I miss it a bit. I will have a line or two and die quickly.”

Director Peter Jackson played several different cameo roles in The Lord of the Rings movies: a drunk in the village of Bree, and a Rohan warrior.

In a separate interview last week, Del Toro discussed the creation of another Hobbit monster, the dragon Smaug:

“Obviously, he took the longest. It’s actually still active: we’re finishing his color palette and a little bit of the texture. But the bulk of the design took about a year, solid. It’s because of the unique features of the dragon. Early in production, I came up with a very strong idea that would separate Smaug from every other dragon ever made. The problem was implementing that idea. But I think we’ve nailed it.”

The Hobbit, which will be split into two movies, is currently in pre-production in New Zealand. No other casting news has been announced.

The news about his cameo isn’t the first time Del Toro has posted sometimes cryptic messages about himself on TheOneRing.net, a site about Tolkien’s work. For example, prior to a deal he recently announced with Disney to develop “scary” genre-related films, books, and merchandise, Del Toro hinted at the partnership in a message on the site.