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Published On: Sat, Dec 14th, 2013

Benedict Cumberbatch discusses playing a dragon for ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’

As the titular dragon and the Necromancer, Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t appear as himself in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, but his pressence will be felt.

While promoting the film, the Sherlock star explained how he got into character to play a dragon.

For Smaug, I was on my belly and I was trying to articulate as much as humanly possible the movements of this great powerful serpent — this fire-breathing worm. It was a lot of fun, very hard work, but it fed into how the voice should evolve, and the same with the Necromancer,” Cumberbatch told MTV News.

The Sherlock star discusses channeling crocodiles to create a “harsh”-sounding voice that was “big and powerful and present” but also one that “sounded old, that sounded racked with a lot of fire and age.”

The Necromancer, meanwhile, speaks with a more “whispery and spirit-like” sound.

“I had the bold idea to increase my workload by doing it backwards, which we did and it’s in the film,” Cumberbatch says of recording the Necromancer’s lines. “It sounds — it’s horrible. There’s something very unholy about it.”

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in 2D, 3D, IMAX, and HFR on December 13th.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug:

The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues theadventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

smaugs-eye the hobbit desolation of smaug promo art

 

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About the Author

- Stephen is a contributor and writer on The Dispatch. Stephen is the founder and editor for the Steven Spielberg Fan Club website and contributes to pop culture stories on The Dispatch, especially upcoming movie news. Beginning in 2016, Stephen took the role of Managing Editor for the Tampa Dispatch.

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