Benedict Cumberbatch talks Hobbit, the complicated Smaug the dragon

During an interview with MTV, Benedict Cumberbatch talked about the sequel to “The Lord of the Rings”, “THE HOBBIT”

“I can’t wait. I hope it does fans justice,” said Cumberbatch, who is currently wrapping on another project before heading to Middle Earth.

Preparing to take on a role of that stature requires Cumberbatch to return to the original source, the book by J.R.R. Tolkien.

“Preparation for something like that is quite unique. I think it will be partly to go with going back to the book, but I sort of want to look at real life serpents and creatures of that ilk, dragons,” Cumberbatch said. “He’s a reptile, obviously, so it’s not like Andy Serkis’ work with Gollum. I’m going to be on my belly, so that’s going to take a bit of practicing.”

To Cumberbatch, Smaug is a much more complicated character than people may give him credit for.

“He’s an exceptionally beautiful, vain, devilish and also, in a lightly weird way, an innocent character. He’s fooled by an invisible midget,” he said. “It’s quite frustrating. There’s something quite exceptional about the power he has over people and the imagination of that world that is unlocked in this story.”

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