Ian Holm was added to the cast in April as old Bilbo Baggins. During the early stages of pre-production, former director Guillermo del Toro indicated that he was interested in having Holm reprise the role of Bilbo, but acknowledged that he might be too old to take on such a physically demanding role. On his potential casting, del Toro stated, "[Holm] certainly is the paragon we aspire to. He will be involved in some manner, I'm sure." He indicated that he was open to the possibility of Holm narrating the films. On 3 March 2011, Holm revealed that he had been in talks with the producers about reprising the role, but that he had not heard back from them yet.
