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Angela Dotchin cast in LOTR...or was that Star Wars? - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

September 09, 2000 at 05:56:22

Grab a pencil and paper and take notes, 'cause this one is as confusing as ever. Some of the Xena/Jack of all Trades fan sites have been reporting since August 13 that Angela Dotchin, co-star of Jack of All Trades, has gotten an unspecified role in Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings'.

Well, that sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But then, how did this news escape the notice of all the Tolkien movie fan sites, including Xenite.Org, which also has a vested interest in keeping up with Xena and Jack of All Trades news? Okay, we had a busy month. But it looks like something has been garbled in the rumor mill.

The most respected source of news and rumors among Xena fan sites is Whoosh!, a monthly online magazine. To say they have inside sources of information on all the televsion shows produced by Renaissance Pictures is barely giving them credit for their thoroughness.

So we dutifully checked the Whoosh! rumor archives and sure enough there in the August 2000 archive is the entry for August 2:

08-02-00. It is looking better every day that CLEOPATRA 2525 will go to an hour in January 2001. Also, its been heard that one of the episodes they have recently filmed has Creegan and Hel doing a body transfernece kind of thing. And talking of Creegan, Joel Tobeck, who plays Creegan, just got cast in LORD OF THE RINGS (Young Smeago). Also, did I mention that Angela Dotchin did get that part in LORD OF THE RINGS she tried out for? We will have to play "Catch the NZ actor" when the movies come out.

Wait, did we say this has been the buzz since August 13? Well, that's when the rumor was picked up by other sites. But what role could Angela possibly be playing? JOAT fans are betting it's an elf. Maybe. She's certainly beautiful enough to play any part in the fantasy world of Middle-earth, but there are no significant female elf parts beyond Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Arwen (Liv Tyler). So maybe she is playing a woman of Gondor or the Rohirrim.

Still, we were curious about what "that part" was. As rumor pages go, Whoosh's doesn't usually make sloppy statements, so we decided to search the previous archives, and we found this entry from July 20 in the July rumors archive.

07-20-00. Marton Csokas (Borias, Khrafstar) is the most recent XENA alum to join the cast of STAR WARS PREQUEL II. He joins Jay Laga'aia (Draco). Angela Dotchin (JACK OF ALL TRADES) read for a part in STAR WARS but there is no word yet whether she got the part or not.

Waitaminnit. Star Wars? What happened to "The Lord of the Rings"? Well, Xenite.Org also reports occasional Star Wars news and rumors, so we decided to check this out. And we did find this intriguing item on TheForce.Net from July 14.

Unfortunately, there is no confirmation of Angela's casting in Star Wars anywhere on any Star Wars fan site we can find, and she is not listed in the Episode II cast credits (although Marton Csokas, Jay Laga'aia, Temuera Morrison, and Christopher Lee are all mentioned there).

Temuera Morrison is Angela's partner (that's New Zealand-speak for someone with whom one lives, usually of the opposite sex). Csokas and Laga'aia are well-known to Hercules and Xena fans, and Csokas is also appearing in "The Lord of the Rings" along with Christopher Lee.

So, is Angela Dotchin appearing in either movie? We don't know. And the fans have no online contact with her at this time. One Dotchin fan has set up a very nice Angela Dotchin domain and he has asked Bruce Campbell, Dotchin's co-star, to help him entice Dotchin to participate in the forum there, but Campbell is very protective of his co-star's privacy (and we cannot find fault with that).

Who can read this riddle? Many fans will be overjoyed to learn the truth. Dotchin is an accomplished actress and would be a fine addition to any cast, but perhaps she hasn't gotten any parts at all. Enquiring minds want to know.