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It’s starting to feel like The Hunger Games all over again isn’t it? Everywhere I look I see another piece of casting news for The Hobbit. While most of it has been insignificant, today we get news that actress Evangeline Lilly and actor Barry Humphries have joined the upcoming film from Peter Jackson. Lilly will play a Woodland Elf named Tauriel and Humphries is set to play the Goblin King. The director took to Facebook to post the news, check out what he had to say below.

“Evangeline Lilly will be playing a new character—the Woodland Elf, Tauriel. Her name means ‘daughter of Mirkwood’ and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.) What is not a secret is how talented and compelling an actress Evangeline is; we are thrilled and excited she will be the one to bring our first true Sylvan Elf to life.”

“I’m also highly excited that Barry Humphries will be portraying the Goblin King, in much the way Andy Serkis created Gollum. Barry is perhaps best known for his business and social connections as the long-time manager of Dame Edna Everage. He has also been an ardent supporter of the rather misunderstood and unfairly maligned Australian politician, Sir Les Patterson. However, in his spare time, Barry is also a fine actor, and we’re looking forward to seeing him invest the Goblin King with the delicate sensitivity and emotional depth this character deserves.”

“Evangeline and Barry, along with Welsh actor Luke Evans as Bard and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug, just about rounds out the major casting. I cannot wait to get stuck into these new scenes!”

As you can see, PJ confirms that this pretty much rounds out the major casting, which makes sense. All the major roles seem to be filled by this point and now they can focus on getting the damn thing done. Having really enjoyed the Lord of the Rings films, I’ve been looking forward to The Hobbit for a while and am eagerly anticipating its arrival.

The cast is shaping up quite well and with Peter Jackson at the helm, it would be foolish to expect anything less than Lord of the Rings quality from this one.

Admittedly, I’m not too familiar with Humphries’ work but I am quite well acquainted with the Canadian beauty Evangeline Lilly. I spent six years of my life following her adventures on that damn island. Of course, I’m talking about LOST, the show that really launched Lilly into stardom. It’s interesting how PJ mentions that her character is new though. I’m intrigued to see what this Woodland Elf named Tauriel is all about and how she factors into the story.

What do you think?