Peter Jackson has reported that Rob Kazinsky, the actor cast to play the dwarf Fili in the currently shooting adaption of The Hobbit has had to leave the production due to “personal reasons.”
As Jackson stated on his Facebook page –
I am sad to report that Rob Kazinsky, who was cast in the role of Fili, is having to leave The Hobbit and return home, for personal reasons. Rob has been terrific to work with and his enthusiasm and infectious sense of humour will be missed by all of us. I should say that Rob’s departure will not affect ongoing filming of The Hobbit, nor will it impact work done to date, as we had yet to film much of Fili’s storyline. At the moment we are shooting scenes featuring Bilbo without the Dwarves, which will give us time to find a new Fili. I’ll keep everyone posted with updates as they come.
I’m sure that some folks are probably thinking “Stuart Townsend” at the first mention of this. I know that I did. Townsend was cast in Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings as Aragorn but was let go from the film the day before principal photography began, allowing Viggo Mortensen to step into what would become a star-making role for him. Townsend was also originally part of the cast of next month’s Thor, as Fandral one of the Warriors Three, but left that project right as filming was set to commence. While Townsend may be showing a history of leaving projects for whatever reason, I don’t think it is fair to transplant that on to Kazinsky. I’m willing to accept Jackson’s word on this until we hear differently.
Although not known much in the United States, Kazinsky is known in England for a year and a half stint on the popular British soap EastEnders.
