The Hobbit actor Dean O’Gorman to star alongside Bryan Cranston in Trumbo biopic

He will play Kirk Douglas, who helped out the blacklisted screenwriter

O'Gorman plays Fili the dwarf in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit adaptations (AFP/Getty)

Dean O’Gorman is to star as Kirk Douglas in a forthcoming Dalton Trumbo biopic.

The Hobbit actor, who plays Fili the dwarf in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, will take on the role alongside Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston as the lead, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Dalton Trumbo was a successful American screenwriter and one of the Hollywood 10, but he was blacklisted during Hollywood’s golden age for being a communist.

Douglas starred in the 1960 Spartacus and was also one of the film’s executive producers. He influenced the decision to hire Trumbo to write the screenplay and his praise of the writer is said to have been a key factor in alleviating the power of the Blacklist.

Trumbo is being directed by Jay Roach, who is best known for Austin Powers and Meet the Parents, with John McNamara writing the script.

The cast also includes David James Elliott as actor John Wayne, Helen Mirren as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and Elle Fanning as Trumbo’s daughter Nikola.

O’Gorman will appear in the final instalment of The Hobbit in December. He has reprised his role as Fili in The Battle of Five Armies. The actor has also played Anders in The Almighty Johnsons.