Peter Jackson has confirmed that Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) is officially cast in the upcoming LotR prequel, The Hobbit, playing The Master of Laketown. Jackson says of Fry: “In addition to his writing skills, he’s a terrific actor and will create a very memorable Master for us.”
Fry is maybe best known for narrating the games Little Big Planet and Little Big Planet 2 (at least in my house)*. The acclaimed comedian, theater actor, Twitter-scandalist, novelist, poet, playwright, media critic, intellectual, television and radio host, award-winning humanist, and best friend to Hugh Laurie (deep breath) has not yet commented publicly about his role in the film.
Jackson, meanwhile, is live-Facebooking the entire production of The Hobbit on his Facebook page. Today’s announcement also notes that actor Ryan Gage will be playing Alfrid and Conan Stephens is cast as an Orc named Azog.
*Edit: This is a joke. Of course Stephen Fry is not most famous for LBP. His accomplishments are so various and many that to choose one as a superlative is an exercise in futility. Apologies for the seeming disregard for Fry’s canon; I meant no disrespect.