'The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Smaug' News: Benedict Cumberbatch Talks Embodying His Dragon & Studying Lizards for Role [TRAILER]
Benedict Cumberbatch not only voiced a fictional dragon in the upcoming The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Smaug, but tried to embody the character as well.
The actor told Vulture that he asked director Peter Jackson if he could be involved in motion-capture, where he could simulate the dragon's movements during filming and have it mimiked on screen rather than merely providing a voice-over for the deadly creature.
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Cumberbatch studied lizards to properly nail some reptilian action, but found some complications he encountered while trying to embody what he observed.
"I spent a lot of time studying iguanas and Komodo dragons and other reptiles at the London Zoo, to get that reptilian movement in my body. But Christ! It's pretty hard to articulate that," he said. "In fact, it just has to be an ideal or a reference to it. They used a lot with my face and my hands, as the claws. "
"But obviously I don't have a tail, can't breathe fire, don't fly, and I'm not made of scales or cold-blooded. If you try and [move] horizontally, squeezing your legs together, with your shoulders hunched, and crawling on your hands, it syncs up with what you can do with your voice, which obviously with Smaug is very awesome. It got to the point where it was killing my voice."
In the Desolation of Smaug, Bilbo and his troop of dwarfs head toward the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their homeland while Oakenshield encourages them to fight Smaug the Dragon. 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 be featured in the last film of the trilogy but the nature of his role, which could also just be a cameo, has not been confirmed. Filming for The Hobbit: There and Back Again is already underway.
Desolation of Smaug also features Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt), who can shift between the form of a man and bear.
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 Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug:
