“Dwalin is an absolute, kick-ass warrior. He’s a veteran, professional soldier who lives for fighting and has no illusions about what it’s going to be like. Aggressive by nature, he never backs down and he’s not big on the jokes. Hes not one for cracking the gags around the campfire. Somebody will be telling a great story, but Dwalin’s got his axes out and getting those blades nice and sharp.”
QUICK BIO
BIOGRAPHY
Graham McTavish has had many leading roles in British Theatre.
He then chose to move to Los Angeles to chase the American dream and have a go at making a name for himself in Hollywood. He even turned down an 18-month run with the West End smash hit, Lord of the Rings. He says “"I was just about to start rehearsals for Lord of the Rings when I had a sort of epiphany. Before I was offered the role of Saruman in the musical, I had been laying the ground work for a move to America for about 18 months.”. "I was all ready to take the step when Lord of the Rings came up.” "It was a fantastic job and my wife had just had a baby so it was obviously a good financial thing to do but then, with three weeks to go before rehearsals, I decided I wanted to give America a go."
He had only been in America a matter of days when he was asked to read for a lead role in Rambo. It was his first audition since arriving in the States. He must have impressed the casting directors, and even Sylvestor Stallone himself, as he got a phone call that afternoon offering him the role.
The Hobbit Boot Camp wasn’t McTavish’s first boot camp, as when he got the role in Rambo, as Lewis, he had to endure boot camp for that also. After it all, he says it was an absolute ball to film and Stallone was fantastic!
He then chose to move to Los Angeles to chase the American dream and have a go at making a name for himself in Hollywood. He even turned down an 18-month run with the West End smash hit, Lord of the Rings. He says “"I was just about to start rehearsals for Lord of the Rings when I had a sort of epiphany. Before I was offered the role of Saruman in the musical, I had been laying the ground work for a move to America for about 18 months.”. "I was all ready to take the step when Lord of the Rings came up.” "It was a fantastic job and my wife had just had a baby so it was obviously a good financial thing to do but then, with three weeks to go before rehearsals, I decided I wanted to give America a go."
He had only been in America a matter of days when he was asked to read for a lead role in Rambo. It was his first audition since arriving in the States. He must have impressed the casting directors, and even Sylvestor Stallone himself, as he got a phone call that afternoon offering him the role.
The Hobbit Boot Camp wasn’t McTavish’s first boot camp, as when he got the role in Rambo, as Lewis, he had to endure boot camp for that also. After it all, he says it was an absolute ball to film and Stallone was fantastic!
McTavish’s voiceography includes some big gaming hits such as Assassin’s Creed III (2012), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2009), Dante’s Inferno (2010) as Dante Alighieri, Dragon Age: Origins (2009) The Saboteur (2009), Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011), Transformers: War for Cybertron (2010), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009) and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, both voicing Zoran Lazarevic.
He has also voice some pretty impressive animated television series and films including The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2010) as Loki, Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010) as Dante Alighieri, Dead Space: Aftermath (2011) as Captain Campbell, Hulk Vs (2009) as Loki and Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) as Sebastian Shaw.
He is also no stranger to television, putting aside the animation, as he did five episodes in season eight of Red Dwarf, as Warden Ackerman.
He has also voice some pretty impressive animated television series and films including The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2010) as Loki, Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010) as Dante Alighieri, Dead Space: Aftermath (2011) as Captain Campbell, Hulk Vs (2009) as Loki and Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) as Sebastian Shaw.
He is also no stranger to television, putting aside the animation, as he did five episodes in season eight of Red Dwarf, as Warden Ackerman.
McTavish has also been in other various television shows such as Taggart, Lost, Prison Break, NCIS, Casualty and the final episode of 24, playing the Russian diplomat, Mikhail Novakovich.
He has starred in many films including Middle Men, Secretariat, Colombiana and The Wicker Tree.
When he was offered the role on The Hobbit, his reaction was nothing but pure joy, because he knew it would be an extraordinary career opportunity and it’s turned out to be an extraordinary life opportunity.
He refers to Thorin’s Company as ‘The Dirty Baker’s Dozen’, which is a huge fan of, after the classic 1967 war film, in which a motley bunch of convicts are turned into a crack commando squad and sent on a virtual suicide mission.
He has starred in many films including Middle Men, Secretariat, Colombiana and The Wicker Tree.
When he was offered the role on The Hobbit, his reaction was nothing but pure joy, because he knew it would be an extraordinary career opportunity and it’s turned out to be an extraordinary life opportunity.
He refers to Thorin’s Company as ‘The Dirty Baker’s Dozen’, which is a huge fan of, after the classic 1967 war film, in which a motley bunch of convicts are turned into a crack commando squad and sent on a virtual suicide mission.
McTavish put himself through some rigorous training for the role of Dwalin on The Hobbit. He refers to Dwalin as a kind of Hell’s Angel of the Dwarf World.
He believes that there’s a level of Scottishness in Dwalin. While living in Glasgow, he believes there’s been many people who he could refer to as Dwalin – dour, serious folk whom nothing fazes, who are not easily impressed and who tend to keep everyone at arm’s length and in their place.
He says that the actors have been given so much involvement, like being encouraged to contribute ideas to the design of the characters’ weaponry. He named Dwalins sword Grasper and Keeper “A nice part for me was that Dwalin would name his axes. It's not Tolkien, but I always remembered Emily Bronte had two hounds that she called Grasper and Keeper. She was a tiny little woman, but she had these enormous dogs and they struck me as great names. It was just for me to imagine, but I mentioned it to Peter and he said, 'Yeah, yeah, this'll be great. We can engrave them with their names and they'll look really cool!' and now there they are, Emily's axes!”
Graham McTavish has appeared in other works with his co-stars from The Hobbit. Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies, James Nesbitt in Jekyll, Ken Stott in King Arthur and Martin Freeman in Ali G.
Graham McTavish is a fan of New Zealand, and says that his wife originates from there.
He believes that there’s a level of Scottishness in Dwalin. While living in Glasgow, he believes there’s been many people who he could refer to as Dwalin – dour, serious folk whom nothing fazes, who are not easily impressed and who tend to keep everyone at arm’s length and in their place.
He says that the actors have been given so much involvement, like being encouraged to contribute ideas to the design of the characters’ weaponry. He named Dwalins sword Grasper and Keeper “A nice part for me was that Dwalin would name his axes. It's not Tolkien, but I always remembered Emily Bronte had two hounds that she called Grasper and Keeper. She was a tiny little woman, but she had these enormous dogs and they struck me as great names. It was just for me to imagine, but I mentioned it to Peter and he said, 'Yeah, yeah, this'll be great. We can engrave them with their names and they'll look really cool!' and now there they are, Emily's axes!”
Graham McTavish has appeared in other works with his co-stars from The Hobbit. Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies, James Nesbitt in Jekyll, Ken Stott in King Arthur and Martin Freeman in Ali G.
Graham McTavish is a fan of New Zealand, and says that his wife originates from there.
AWARDS
Graham McTavish hasn't won any Film and TV awards, although he has been a part of the ensemble awards.
MOST NOTABLE MILESTONES
2004:
2008: 2011: 2014: |
Starred alongside Hobbit co-star, Ken Stott, in the historical action film, King Arthur.
Starred in Rambo, as Lewis, which was his first job in Los Angeles McTavish appeared in The Wicker Tree, Robin Hardy’s sequel to his 1973 film, The Wicker Man. He co-starred with Hobbit/Rings co-star, Christopher Lee, who plays Saruman. McTavish is starring in a few episodes of the TV series, Outlander He starred in the Sci-Fi, Realiti Starred in the comedy-action, Plastic |
GRAHAM MCTAVISH PORTRAYS:
DWALIN
The Hobbit Trilogy
The Hobbit Trilogy