Benedict Cumberbatch On Tolkien & The Hobbit’s Heroic Journey

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (opening December 17) is director Peter Jackson’s third and final installment of Bilbo Baggins’ (Martin Freeman) heroic quest against darkness and the evil dragon known as Smaug (voiced by Freeman’s Sherlock Holmes compatriot Benedict Cumberbatch).

Although J.R.R. Tolkien’s undertaking of Middle Earth towers above the fray with its sheer ambition, much of its resonance originates from the simple theme that each individual, no matter how big or small, can be the hero of their own story. In the quote below, Benedict Cumberbatch talks about Tolkien’s idea of heroism?

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“With Tolkien you get the feeling it’s about proving that you don’t have to seem heroic. Heroic actions can come from small people. It’s about levels of sacrifice and that’s what is truly heroic – the small deed or the big deed done by the small person.”

To hear Benedict Cumberbatch talk about the “epic odyssey” that surrounds The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, click on the media bar below: