Is there anyone Nicholas Hoult won’t play? With recent roles including J.D. Salinger, Nikola Tesla and now author J.R.R. Tolkien, it’s starting to be easier to count the famous people he hasn’t portrayed.
Variety reports the X-Men star’s next role will be the lead in Tolkien, a biopic focusing on the writer’s younger days and the formative experiences that would eventually fuel his fantasy.
It will follow the famed novelist as he finds love, friendship, and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts, until the horrors of World War I threaten to tear the “fellowship” apart. Tolkien served for four years in the British Army, before returning to Pembroke College in Cambridge, where he taught Anglo-Saxon literature and wrote his famous books.
Nicholas isn’t the only one of our Anglo faves to star in the film, either. Joining him is showbiz scion and The Last Tycoon star Lily Collins, who’ll play Edith Bratt, the love of Tolkien’s life and supposed inspiration behind the elven princess characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Lily confirmed the casting herself with a tweet last night (August 30) extolling the virtues of the Hobbit writer:
As a lifelong fan of Tolkien's magic, I can't wait to start this epic adventure… https://t.co/Re5BLV7hOU
— Lily Collins (@lilycollins) August 30, 2017
Anthony Boyle, most recently seen in Game of Thrones and on stage in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, will also have a role in the film.
Do you think Nicholas and Lily will make a good Tolkien and elven princess?