The one role Robin Williams always wanted to play
Robin Williams was responsible for bringing some of the all-time great characters to the screen. In terms of original creations, he portrayed John Keating in Dead Poets Society and Armand Goldman in The Birdcage. He also put his spin on a number of pre-existing figures, from the Genie in Aladdin to a grown-up Peter Pan in Hook to the title character in Mrs Doubtfire. Yes, Mrs. Doubtfire was based on a book.
Even with a career as illustrious as Williams’, no actor can ever achieve all of their dream castings. The legendary funnyman offered up a glimpse of an alternative world when, in conversation with Autograph Magazine, he was asked which fictional character he would have liked to have been. Despite the incredibly broad nature of this question, Williams had a simple answer: “Bilbo Baggins, from Lord of the Rings.”
I don’t want to be that guy, but Bilbo actually first appeared in JRR Tolkien’s 1937 novel The Hobbit. His comfortable life in The Shire is thrown into disarray when the wizard Gandalf arrives with a company of 13 dwarves looking to reclaim their lost home. The group hires Bilbo as a ‘burglar’ and is an integral to the mission. This leads him to discover the One Ring following an encounter with Gollum, setting in motion the events in Tolkien’s mammoth masterwork.
In Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Ian Holm plays the older Bilbo Baggins. His 111th birthday party (or “eleventy-first” for purists) draws Gandalf’s (Ian McKellen) attention to the Ring, and Bilbo eventually relinquishes it to his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood). In Jackson’s Hobbit film series, the younger Bilbo is portrayed by Martin Freeman, bringing the character’s earlier adventures to life.
There are also two famous animated versions of Tolkien’s work, both of which feature Bilbo. In the 1977 Rankin/Bass production of The Hobbit, he is voiced by Orson Bean, an actor and comedian perhaps best known for his many appearances on The Tonight Show through his friendship with Johnny Carson. Bean also voiced an aged version of the character in the company’s 1980 version of The Return of the King. As for the 1978 Ralph Bakshi-directed version of The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo is voiced by Norman Bird, a jobbing British actor who appeared in numerous films in the 1950s and ’60s.
Williams didn’t confirm whether he wanted to play the older or younger version of Bilbo, but his comforting presence would have been a perfect fit for the eccentric yet kindly old uncle at the start of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Interestingly, Williams’ name is often linked to the world of Tolkien through the character of Tom Bombadil. A mythical being in Middle Earth who is both extremely silly and incredibly powerful, Bombadil seems like a perfect fit for an actor who can do both comedy and drama very well. Though not in the Jackson trilogy, Bombadil remains a fan favourite character and recently appeared in The Rings of Power, played by Rory Kinnear.
Even though we never got Williams as Baggins, it’s an interesting thought exercise to picture him shrunk down to Hobbit size. It’s clear through this pick that the dearly missed actor had great taste and a real appreciation for the classics.
