Today, we at Knight Edge Media exclusively learned that a casting call has gone out this month for the role of Young Sméagol in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. The casting call appears to be for young boys ages 8 to 10 to read for young Sméagol, long before he becomes Gollum (played by Andy Serkis). We were provided with the casting script used during the process, which appears to portray Sméagol as obsessed with small objects even as a child, long before he gets The One Ring. (It should be noted that sometimes casting scripts are strictly for the casting process and are not in the final product.):
OTHER: You sure you never saw it?
Sméagol: No, never. What was it for?
OTHER: What do you mean?
Sméagol: Why’d she give it to you?
OTHER: No reason. It’s just an ordinary river pearl she found.
Sméagol: Oh. You can go find another. I’ll help. YES! YES! Let’s go to our secret place. The SOMETHING by the old willow. There’s lots of shells there.
OTHER: No. No! This ones special.
Sméagol: You said it was ordinary.
OTHER: Its special to me, Sméagol! Nevermind. You wouldn’t understand.
OTHER: Are you sure you didn’t see it?
Sméagol: Something that small would be very hard to find.
OTHER: Finny is going to be so upset I lost it.
Sméagol: Yes, yes. She will.
There is a second female child role, around 8 to 10 years old, who also went out earlier this month. The role is for another friend of young Sméagol from the same village. It should be noted that they are specifically listed as Young Stoor Child in the casting call. Stoors are ancestors of the Hobbits in Tolkien’s writings. Prime Video’s The Rings of Power introduced Stoors in the second season of their show, alongside the Harfoots, thousands of years before Hobbits roamed the Shire:
Young Stoor Child: Where have you been?
Sméagol: We’ve been checking the traps at the river, haven’t we?
Young Stoor Child: What’s in your hand, Smeagol?
Sméagol: It’s a secret, but it’s special.
Young Stoor Child: How come Smeagol got to go with you?
Sméagol: How about you come with me now to help me in the gardens? I need help with the cabbages.
Young Stoor Child: That’s not very special.
Sméagol: Come along, whoever can carry the most cabbages gets the biggest piece of honey cake.
Young Stoor Child: Yay!
Production begins in New Zealand this May.
The Hunt for Gollum is slated to hit theaters on December 17th, 2027
