Jedward is auditioning for the Hobbit movies, apparently! For those of you who don't know who they are, please click here... =)

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/11/ ... 68x694.jpg

They were in the Xfactor, a British show in which members of the public compete to become, ultimately, pop stars. They are twins called John and Edward, and their singing is kind of out of tune. Kind of really out of tune. I won't go further, because anything more would sound mean.

So now, the story is that they're going to audition for The Hobbit movies for the roles of Fili and Kili!!! Please click here!

http://movies.uk.msn.com/news/articles. ... =151264905

PJ, what are you thinking? In my view this is grave news indeed. They can't be dwarves! Moreover, they shouldn't be dwarves in the Hobbit films! These two have been tipped to become children's TV presenters or something. How is it possible they could be allowed to approach Tolkien?

I'll end here, but I'd be interested to hear your opinion on this - you know that rumour of how the fans put a stop to Liv Tyler as Arwen being in Helm's Deep? Well, similar action might be needed. O_o

~goldyxxx

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~~Siggy by Lembas~~

And why shouldn't they be allowed to approach Tolkien like other people can? Just because they're bad singers (according to you; I've never heard of these guys)? It's not like they're going to be asked to sing in this movie, so why should their inability to sing affect their chances of being cast (even if that were the case, they could do a voiceover...)? Inability to sing =/= inability to act. About the children's TV presenter thing, who cares what they do outside the film? It's their ability to portray the roles they're auditioning for that PJ is looking for, hence his being "keen to see if Jedward have any acting ability". Besides, The Hobbit is geared towards a "younger" audience than LotR anyway. If you've read the book, it's got a far less darker setting and it's much more childish than LotR... and far less complex. Besides, that's typecasting; just because they're acting in a children's TV show, you can't say they should be locked out from a more mature opportunity. That's just completely unfair.


They really do... in my opinion. With a wig, they can pull it off rather nicely.

I'm not interested in putting a stop to this at all even if I could, I think they have every right to an equal chance as anyone else to audition for this role if they're interested.

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I think I understand where Goldy's opinion is coming from. I don't know if the show the X-factor is broadcasted at your place but basicly alot of people are just participating because they want to have their "one-minute of fame". Those people can not sing at all and they know it, but they want so badly to be on tv, that it doesn't matter at all what they have to do, or how bad their performance has to be, to get this media attention.
Now, I didn't really know this Jedward, but according to the article their vocal abbilities are 'dubious' and I watched a few songs of them on youtube and it's horrifying. They are cheap and are just wanting to entertain the mass without any quality in their performance.

In such a way I can understand that Goldy is protesting against them playing in the Hobbit and I quite agree with her. Because (also from what I've seen) they lack quality. And Tolkien is all about quality. Such a duo cannot star next to the great Ian McKellen or Hugo Weaving.

But I still believe this to be a rumour, I cannot find any info on official sites that they're asked to do an audition. So lets just wait and see what happens

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O children, lift up your voice, lift up your voice,
Children, rejoice, rejoice..



It doesn't matter you don't believe in God, He believes in you.

Largely I agree with you on this Haldir, but you fail to understand the level of hate in which those twins are held by the masses over here in England. Xfactor is one of the biggest TV shows on this side of the pond, and I've had to put up with weeks worth of facebook statuses bemoaning that fact that they were still in the competition. Therefore, most people won't want them in potentially the best film of the coming years.

Personally I haven't seen anything with 'Jedward' in, because I avoid that kind of trash tv like the plague. However, I dislike any of the participants on principle, since they are all just fame mongers. I personally would find it hard to stomach anyone who became known through a show like that to be in a Tolkien film. Nonetheless, I trust the guys behind the Hobbit to pick the best people for the job.

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Haldir, over here, Jedward are pretty much a national joke. That’s not me being mean, that’s basically the truth. I totally get what you’re saying about everyone having equal chances to get into films like The Hobbit. =) What I’m saying is that Jedward is a brand; they rose to fame by singing off-key, wearing wacky outfits and people hating them. They’re like a brand product, and that’s what I found so surprising about them auditioning. If they did indeed get the roles, then I’d be worried about people only thinking of The Hobbit films as “those movies with Jedward”. Having them featuring in the film (however good they may or not be at acting the roles) might be a distraction from the main theme.
I have read The Hobbit, and I really wouldn’t want these twins messing it up with inevitably comical tendencies. I agree, the book is far less threatening and complex than LOTR, but I don’t think that should mean it being played down just for kids, even though they’re the main market. =)

And Will, I agree with you about the quality. I just can’t picture John and Edward starring beside Ian McKellen – a renowned Shakespearian actor! I would far rather that New Line found some twin actors who were more or less unknown, with talent. This is what PJ seemed to understand so well when making the LOTR trilogy; names like Miranda Otto and David Wenham weren’t household names, but I think they’re simply outstanding with a huge amount of talent.
Jedward rose to fame by basically chasing after it. I hate the idea of them getting the publicity they want through The Hobbit and using it to their advantage. I know that’s what actors do, but these aren’t actors. They’re figures of public disdain. O_o



Darrel, you took the words right out of my mouth.
I get that Jedward should be allowed a chance. I just wouldn’t find them either believable, or sincere. But then that is just my opinion.

Thanks for all the feedback, guys – to me this is a matter of supreme importance, however sad that sounds.

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~~Siggy by Lembas~~

An audition is an audition. Anyone can audition. It does however mean nothing unless you actually land the role.

Has anything been said that they DID get the part?

Would you care to be criticized just for auditioning for a role?

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I heard about this. I've never actually heard of them before, but I don't take it too seriously. Look at the article: "a source" and "Peter Jackson is said..." Personally I don't trust anything that doesn't come from PJ or del Toro directly. And what they actually did say is they don't feel pressured to cast stars in order to sell the movie; they're primarily concerned with talent, unknown or not. This is consistent with who was cast in LotR, like you said. Besides, if these two are like you say, (and we have enough bad competition/reality shows in America that I think I know the type), then they'll be totally forgotten about by 2011. If they want to audition, they can audition, but if they're untalented, they won't get the part.

On a slightly different note, I don't think PJ and del Toro have to look for twins to play Fili and Kili. I don't think they're actually twins, and with all the make-up and prosthetics whoever plays them will look incredibly similar anyway. I know plenty of people who thought Merry and Pippin were twins.

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Hmmm. Well like I said, I had no idea who this pair was until now. But my opinion still stands and I agree with MB on this...



That is all.

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Okay, with all the makeup tricks able to be pulled off in these days, I'm not sure why they direly "need twins."
Anyway, I'm questioning the validity of the article. If you google it, all the articles on all the sites only point to one, identical source. Also, I know the comments don't often mean much, but one of the commentators on the article says that it's a fake... I'm sure there are people out there that feel like threatening the sanity of Ringers once in a while, especially with such a big thing as the Hobbit, and maybe their like threw this out into cyberspace. So, perhaps we should wait for a while and see if anything else on the issue comes out. There's my feeble effort to try and keep everyone's blood pressure under control.

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Just because someone does audition, does not mean they'll get the role. There's probably hundreds upon hundreds of people going to try to audition for any role in the movie. I think you're getting worked up over nothing.
Sorry.

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Being from the States, I don't know anything about the two. However trying to get into theatre/acting myself, I would have to agree with MB. An audition is an audition and nothing more. You can hear rumours that you will land the gig but they are not always true. It could just be their thoughts on the auditions thus far. More people will come along to audition and some will likely be better than the one you stated was "perfect for the role."
If the twins officially get the role, that is the time to worry.

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But what if they are 'perfect for the role'?
I don't care either way about them tbh as I don't pay any attention to those X Factor type shows. But if there the right people for the role, then that's all there is to it.

How many times have you said to yourself upon a casting announcement 'Ohhh I don't think there right'?
Only to be proven wrong when they actually are.

One example comes to mind is Heath Ledger being cast as the Joker. I and many, many others were not impressed with Chris Nolan's choice and look how wrong we all were? Stranger things have happened.

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^That's exactly what I'm talking about. I don't think it seems fair for people to automatically say that they would not be good for the role just because of their "reputation" outside of that role. It's stupid and judgmental. I think they ought to have an equal shot at it, just like everyone else.

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It's not fair...and I try not to be judgemental with cast announcements and give whoever gets the role a fair trial to impress me. GDT and all involved in making the movie are not morons. They'll pick who is right for the role, just like they did all those years ago.

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I don't think it's fair that you are calling people stupid and judgemental. Everyone here is just expressing their own opinion, there's no need to call those which you don't agree with 'stupid' or anything like that. It gives a negative tone in the discussion and I find it quite disturbing. So please respect everyone's opinion. Thanks.

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O children, lift up your voice, lift up your voice,
Children, rejoice, rejoice..



It doesn't matter you don't believe in God, He believes in you.

I'm kind of getting the vibe that "Jedward" is to the UK what the Jonas Brothers are to America. I'm a far cry from a JoBros fan, and I would be a little freaked if they got roles in the movie of one of my favorite books, but then again, who knows whether they could really act or not? So far I've only seen them acting in silly shows where the script was written for them and performing silly songs that probably had the lyrics written for them, too. Just because someone is a pop star doesn't mean that they're horrible actors; at least with the media here, it seems like a lot of them get shoved into the sugary-bubblegum-Disney-pop thing, but a lot of them have broken out of that mold and gone on to more...eh, adult things. Maybe Jedward wants to leave the dubious-singing-talent-ness behind them, and pursue a career in serious acting. Maybe they're actually good at it.

Also, it's only an audition. Not the end of the world. No need to worry until we find out who actually gets the parts - and then their probably won't be much reason to worry anyways.

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