Who Should Play Beorn in The Hobbit?

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Selmo

I'll vote for Brian Blessed acting in the over-the-top style he used in Flash Gordon.

If he took the role, he couldn't do it any other way.

"Gordon's alive!"

Still, while he does rather look the part, I am not sure that "over the top" is what is called for in Beorn's role. I see him as a rather more understared character. So, for me, Brian Blessed would top my list of picks for Tom Bombadil, rather than Beorn.

Robbie Coltrane would seem the obvious choice, given his association with the Hagrid role in the Harry Potter films, and I am sure that he would be considered for the role.

Stephen Fry is an interesting suggestion. He certainly has the stature, but I am not sure that it is his sort of role. Then again, Beorn in the style of Jeeves or, better still, Oscar Wilde might be interesting ...

What about Stellan Skarsgård? He certainly made an imposing Viking leader in King Arthur.

Or even, as was suggested earlier, Ray Winstone - for a bit of a dodgy-but-salt-of-the-earth-geezer-type Beorn.