Peter Jackson, director of The Hobbit, has announced that The Office actor Martin Freeman has won the coveted role of the title character stating that there had, "only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us."
The 39-year old who played Tim Canterbury in Ricky Gervais' cringeworthily-chucklesome sitcom The Office will begin shooting for the film in February down under in New Zealand. The Hobbit, or course, being the prequel to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy - which were also all shot in Kiwi-land.
"There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin," Peter Jackson added. "He's intelligent, funny, surprising and brave - exactly like Bilbo..."
We're not sure that being told you were born to be a hobbit is the greatest compliment that you could pay someone, but we are pretty sure that Martin Freeman will be chuffed to land the role - alongside the cash and the career boost it will give him!
Speaking of career boosts. Been wondering at all what happened to Eastenders' Sean Slater since he crawled free of that icy cold lake in the BBC1 soap? Fear not. You'll be able to see him in The Hobbit too - Rob Kazinsky who played Sean Slater has also been cast in the movie. He'll be playing a dwarf...