Thomas Sangster Cast as TinTin in Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s Tintin?
According to the Daily Mail, rather accomplished 17-year-old British actor Thomas Sangster, whose credits include Love Actually, Nanny McPhee and appearances on the UK’s Doctor Who, is nearly a lock for the lead title role in the 3D motion-capture trilogy Tintin from Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. Kid’s last name is pretty cool and, if the rumor proves true, will compliment the oncoming fame and boatloads of dough.
Earlier this month, actor Andy Serkis, who will portray Captain Haddock in the films, dished that Spielberg’s installment will go first in September for a 2009 release, presumably followed by Jackson’s and then another sequel presumably from a top tier and still unchosen director.
Based on the decades old children’s comic created by the late, singular-named Belgian artist Hergé, the title character is a young, somewhat aloof investigative reporter whose sidekicks are an affable, liquor-loving terrier named Snowy and one very pronounced wave of a cowlick. Together they solve mysteries and avoid close calls. Tintin’s friend, Captain Haddock, is a brawny sailor with a penchant for alcohol and wisecracks.
Is Thomas Sangster Tintin?
Andy Serkis said recently that he was off to New Zealand to start work on Steven Spielberg’s first Tintin movie. Serkis will be playing Captain Haddock in the trilogy, but we haven’t heard about any other actors being cast. With filming beginning soon, there is a good chance that they have got a cast together, or are in the process of getting people on board. The biggest question at this current time is who will be playing Tintin? There were rumours of Kirsten Myburgh landing the role, but they were debunked. Now, the Daily Mail are saying that Thomas Sangster is ‘about to sign up’ to play Tintin. Sangster is a young English actor who has been in a number of films, such as Nanny McPhee, Love Actually and The Last Legion. The Mail say that he has already been to Los Angeles to work on preproduction test sequences with both directors.
Sangster is currently 17, which is probably why is was cast. He is a good actor, he looks the part, and he will most likely grow into his role. The trilogy will take a number of years to make, so there is no point hiring an actor in his mid 20’s, if by the end of the trilogy he will be in his late 30’s. But then again the film will be using performance capture technology, so how much of the real actors we will see is unknown.
If Sangster has indeed landed the role of Tintin, his career will no doubt sky rocket. Spielberg took a rather young and annoying Shia LaBeouf, and put him in movies such as Transformers and the upcoming Indiana Jones movie. Now Shia is one of the coolest actors around.