Fans of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit series who, like my mother, are champing at the bit for the next one to come out can let out the tiniest pip of a squee now that Entertainment Weekly has the first glimpse of Lost star Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel, a character made up for the movies, who will appear in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
According to LilLy in the EW article,“Tauriel is the head of the Elven Guard. She’s a Sylvan Elf, which means she’s of a much lower order than the elves we all became acquainted with in The Lord of the Rings. She doesn’t hold the same kind of status that Arwen or Galadriel or Elrond or Legolas do — she’s much more lowly. She sort of goes against the social order of the elves a little bit.â€
And of the Tolkien purists out there who might be wary of a wholly new character being added, Lilly said, “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are going to be people who will totally hate Tauriel, think that she shouldn’t be in the movie, that it’s a betrayal of Tolkien, and no matter what I do it won’t be right. There will be everything between that and people who adore her and think it’s such a fun thing to have added to the film. I kind of got prepped for that being on Lost, because we had avid fans who were really extreme in their feelings about the show and its characters. But I think if anyone knows how to respect Tolkien, it’s Peter, Fran and Phil. And Tauriel fits perfectly in that world.â€
What do we think of Tauriel? And what do we think of her having been included in a LEGO set for months now? The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will hit theaters December 13th. There, that’s the date. Calm down, Mom.
The arrow is on the wrong side of the bow
I know this will look great on the big screen, but this picture gives me a LARP vibe.
They had to get a female character in there some how. Galadriel was in the last one, but without this addition it would be an all-male movie this time around.
I don’t mind the addition. It gives a name to the face of a character that would have been elaborated on for the movie anyway.
What’s there to be upset about? All they’re doing is giving a name to the head of the wood elves who capture the dwarves midway through the story.
Anyone who thinks this is some kind of original addition is a straight-up idiot without any sense of creative balance. If the movie followed the book perfectly, it would suck… characters make inexplicable actions, like Thorin hating the elves sometimes and dining with them other times. Love the original Hobbit book all you want, but don’t be so naive as to believe that it’s perfect. It’s better to love it, flaws and all, then be open to adjustments which make the film better.
It looks like Zelda wearing Link’s outfit.
Well now I know who I’m cosplaying as to the midnight premier.
As a huge Tolkien nerd I can see how people would be upset. But I think that the movies should be spared harsh criticism just because it’s not following the book line by line, page by page. Looking at the success directors have had with book-to-film adaptations like GoT, movie reboots like Star Trek, and the previous success of Jackson with LotR I look forward to seeing how different it will be!
That being said, if there ever was a red-headed elf in Middle Earth it should’ve been played by Karen Gillan and her otherworldly locks.