Читать книгу An A-Z of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit - Sarah Oliver - Страница 13

For a while Guillermo del Toro had thought that Ron would be the perfect Smaug.

In the end, the actor chose to play Beorn was Mikael Persbrandt. When he was cast, Peter Jackson issued a press release, in which he stated: ‘The role of Beorn is an iconic one and Mikael was our first choice for the part. Since seeing him read for the role we can’t imagine anyone else playing this character.’

Mikael was born in Jakobsberg, Stockholms län, Sweden. A sporty child, he enjoyed football and boxing. He also liked building things and thought he would like to be an astronaut when he grew up. As he entered his teens, his career ambitions changed: he thought he wanted to become a dancer and joined the Academy of Ballet. After finishing his studies there, he caught the acting bug. His first role was as an extra in a production of King Lear at the Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern (Royal Dramatic Theatre) in Stockholm. He continued acting in plays before joining the cast of Swedish soap opera Rederiet in 1992. In 1999, Mikael was nominated for the Guldbagge Award for Best Leading Actor – a huge achievement. Following this, he quickly became one of Sweden’s finest actors. Mikael gained international fame when he played Anton in the Susanne Bier movie In a Better World, which won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2011 Oscars. Usually, he plays tough characters.