‘The Hobbit’ casts Benedict Cumberbatch to voice Smaug

Doing the voice for a dragon is always a difficult thing to pull off (if you need persuading, just think of Sean Connery in “Dragonheart”). So selecting an actor for Smaug, the insatiably hungry, treasure hording dragon in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit,” is tricky business.

Deadline has just announced that Benedict Cumberbatch will portray the beast’s guttural bellow.  Cumberbatch is already on set, doing the voice of the character Necromancer.  

He's also busy playing supporting characters in Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” and “Tinker Tailor Spy,” in which he co-stars along Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy. It appears Cumberbatch might be a name we get used to hearing.

Comments

[Jonathan Hutchings]

I was thinking Rachel Weisz is "Eragon."