In a recent interview with Empire Magazine Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch talk about the Dragon Smaug, who plays a big role in the next chapter of The Hobbit trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug. We got a fun teasing look at the character at the end of An Unexpected Journey, and now we have a little insight into what we can expect from the character in the next movie! Here's what Freeman had to say about playing in gold,
I'm Scrooge McBaggins. It's about a million pieces. It's the biggest pile of gold I've ever seen! Well, obviously - I'm not used to hanging out in big piles of gold! They're all fake, obviously, but it was a big eff-off pile of gold made it very hard to walk on.
As you know that gold is guarded by Smaug the Terrible, and he's played by Cumberbatch who says he never got to work with his Sherlock co-star on the set. He also talks a little bit about when Bilbo interacts with Smaug,
We weren't in the same room together. If Martin had been there, I would have wanted to play off him, but there are size issues. Smaug is bigger than the hobbit - I think I can say that! This isn't the riddles scene. It's slightly different, it's intricate. Smaug doesn't engage with the Hobbit the same way as Smeagol does. Smeagol gets drawn in, whereas Smaug is on much more of an ego trip. He likes to feel dominant at all times, and because of what he's capable of, he is.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is set to be released on December 13th, 2013! I love the first Hobbit film, and I already can't wait to see the next film!