Stephen Colbert has made it well known that he is loves all things Tolkien and is quite an expert on the subject. Not only is he very knowledgeable about the books, he speaks Elvish and even has a cameo in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy (although it’s unknown which of the three films he’s in so far). In fact, while in New Zealand filming his cameo, he even won a Tolkien trivia contest beating out resident expert, screenwriter Philipa Boyens! So it’s no surprise that the week before the film is due to be released in theaters that he has declared this week “Hobbit Week” on his show ‘The Colbert Report.’
Colbert set up a part of his set similar to the inside of Bilbo’s home where he interviews such luminary guests as Sir Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis and director Peter Jackson. The host’s enthusiastic nerdom truly comes out in each of the interviews but not as much as when he is interviewing Jackson as he explains to him why the Appendices for ‘The Hobbit’ were written and what Tolkien had planned to do with them before being discouraged from continuing with his plan.
If you missed any of the interviews, we have them here for you! The guests are truly very comfortable with Colbert and it’s really humorous to hear McKellen describe Gandalf as a “stick” and “boring” and how upset he is that he doesn’t get to smoke and drink like the other characters in the movie. Best part of these interviews is they each have a clip featuring their respective characters (the clip where Gollum and Bilbo meet is amazing! Kudos to Serkis!).
Colbert has seen the film in 48fps and calls it “dazzling” and likens to watching the film as though you are watching the events happening in front of you through a clear window. See what other things he has to say as he interviews Peter Jackson, Sir Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis below:
‘The Colbert Report: Peter Jackson’
‘The Colbert Report: Sir Ian McKellen’
‘The Colbert Report: Martin Freeman’
‘The Colbert Report: Andy Serkis’
‘The Colbert Report’ airs Monday – Thursdays on the Comedy Channel at 11:30pm.
‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ premieres in theaters on December 14th.
