In a behind-the-scenes interview included in the extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, actor Ian McKellen spoke about how he came very close to quitting acting while shooting the film in New Zealand.

Director Peter Jackson's visual effects demanded that the actor work in isolation for long stretches, leaving him feeling "pretty miserable." McKellen's struggle actually made him reconsider his profession.

"Has the time come for me to stop acting altogether if I can't cope with these difficulties?" he recalled asking himself.

The loneliness seems to have really gotten to the 74-year-old actor, who had to be filmed seperately so that character was a towering figure and the other relatively shorter characters could be edited into the frame.

"It was so distressing and off-putting and difficult that I thought 'I don't want to make this film if this is what I'm going to have to do'," McKellen added. "It's not what I do for a living. I act with other people, I don't act on my own."

New character posters and movie stills for The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug were also recently revealed.

In Desolation of Smaug, Bilbo and his troop of dwarfs head toward the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their homeland while Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) encourages them to fight Smaug the Dragon (Benedict Cumberbatch). Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) plays a key role in the film and the character will be reprised in the next installment, There and Back Again. Legolas will also feature in the last film of the trilogy but the nature of his role, which could also just be a cameo, has not been confirmed.

The film also features Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt), who can shift between the form of a man and bear.

Filming for The Hobbit: There and Back Again is already underway.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug hits theaters Dec. 13. The Hobbit: There and Back Again is scheduled for release on July 18, 2014.

Watch a trailer for the The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug:

Tags
The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug