We all know Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, the face of the Harry Potter spin-offs in the world of Fantastic Beasts. But once, he nearly had a shot at being part of The Lord of the Rings universe until he totally messed up his audition for The Hobbit.
Redmayne has played the Harry Potter character of Newt across three fantasy movies in the Fantastic Beasts series, and there’s a chance he could be back for more if the Fantastic Beasts 4 release date ever gets announced. He’s also an Oscar-winning actor, so he must be pretty good at his job.
However, in an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Redmayne revealed how he hilariously botched an audition to be a part of The Hobbit movies.
When asked why he wasn’t in the prequels to the Lord of the Rings movies, Redmayne said: “They were auditioning for The Hobbit, and I was sent for an audition for Bilbo Baggins. They were really casting the net wide [laughs].”
“I went to this audition, and I had been really rigorous about it. I didn’t just want to do my usual boring thing. So I went on YouTube and found Ian Holm, who played [Bilbo in] Lord of the Rings, and I tried to copy his character,” Redmayne explained. “I arrived there… started reading the scene…”
What comes next is a bizarre combination of flailing arms and legs and a most peculiar voice. Suffice to say Redmayne was stopped immediately during the audition. “I thought it was really brave and bold… I never got a callback,” the actor admitted.
Well, it all worked out for him in the end anyway, as he got to be involved in one of the biggest and best movie series around. For more tales from Middle-earth, check out our guides on new movies coming up, like the War of Rohirrim release date guide. Or, learn all about the Lord of the Rings cast for those who did auditions the right way.