You're welcome.
Several months ago I reported that "Lost" star Evangeline Lilly (most recently seen in Reel Steel) would play an elf named Tauriel in the upcoming Hobbit films from director Peter Jackson. Little was known about her role as her character does not appear in the novel. However, recently Lilly sat down with "Entertainment Weekly" and talked about her role in the two part fantasy fest.
According to Lilly, Tauriel will be the head of the Elven guard and is skilled in weaponry--both knife fighting and archery. Lilly refers to her character as "lethal and deadly." Lilly goes on to say that the role is much more demanding that she originally intended as her character development expands in the second film.
I'd like to say bravo to Mr. Jackson for making a female Elf the head of the Elven guard and (it sounds like) a badass to boot.* One criticism I always had against Tolkien (as many do) is that he doesn't have very strong women characters in The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Chalk that up to the era he grew up in I suppose. In any case it's nice to know this won't be a male dominated film.
In addition to discussing her role, Lilly also (intentional or not) mentioned something that I'd been wondering about since the announcement the film would be split into two, namely at what point in the first film would the story end? Of her character's involvement in the films Lilly stated, "She's not in the first film very much. She comes into the first film near the end, and has a very small part to play.**"
As an avid reader of the novel I can tell you that the band of dwarves and hobbit do not encounter the Elves of Mirkwood until after a furious battle with large spiders. This indicates to me that the first film will end at a point that is almost 3/4 of the way through the novel. I can only predict that a lot of the second film will focus on the attack on the Necromancer's fortress at Dol Guldur (not depicted in the books but only described in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings), the confrontation between Smaug the dragon and the dwarves, and the ultimate Battle of Five Armies. In any event it's nice to know approximately where the stopping point for the first film will be.***
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey releases this December 13th and The Hobbit: There and Back Again releases December 14th, 2013.
*I'd like to point out that Peter Jackson did the same thing in the Lord of the Rings films, making Arwen a female Elven warrior which was not the case in the novels.
**Lilly also happened to mention that there are still FIVE MORE MONTHS OF SHOOTING LEFT. That's insane considering that production began on March 21st of last year. That means that principal photography won't actually end until June. That's longer than it took to film The Lord of the Rings trilogy which was three films and only a 13 month shoot.
***Personally I would love the end of the first film to be Bilbo seeing The Lonely Mountain for the first while floating on his barrel. Ominous music plays and then there is fade to black. AWESOME.
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