Peter Jackson Adds ‘Boondock Saints’ Star Billy Connolly To ‘The Hobbit’
Posted by The Movie God | February 9th, 2012 at 10:00 am
Though production began long ago and we already have a wonderful first trailer to watch (a couple hundred times…per day), director Peter Jackson still had some casting to get done for his two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s beloved classic, The Hobbit.
It’s being reported that Jackson has brought in Billy Connolly as the final addition to the cast. He’ll play the great dwarf warrior and cousin to Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), Dain Ironfoot.
Of the casting, Jackson said:
We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can’t wait to see him on the Battlefield!
Connolly is perhaps best known for his work on the TV series Head of the Class or as the Saints’ father Il Duce in The Boondock Saints and Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. He’s also appeared in The Last Samurai, Muppet Treasure Island, Disney’s Pocahontas, Open Season 1 & 2, Fido, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The X Files: I Want to Believe, and the upcoming Pixar title, Brave.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press
