Nimoy As Voice of Smaug?

A little over a week ago Entertainment Weekly revealed that Leonard Nimoy was cast as the voice of Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. In the latest issue, on newsstands now, it seems that Nimoy may have more voice work lined up with the rumor that he is in contention as the voice of Smaug in The Hobbit. The article is reproduced below to avoid the eye strain of reading the picture with relevant part in bold.

Leonard Nimoy unretires for Transformers sequel

Leonard Nimoy knows this sounds a little illogical. After announcing his retirement last April in the wake of his Spock role in J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot and his guest turn on TV's Fringe, the 80-year-old actor has now signed on as the voice of long-lost Autobot leader Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. "I'm doing it! I'm doing it! I'm back-back after, what is it, 25 years or something?" says Nimoy, referring to his work as the voice of Galvatron in 1986's animated The Transformers: The Movie.

"I have been through many resurrections in my career," he says. "I have died and come back. I have left and come back. I've been canceled and come back. I did intend to not do any more work. And the fact is, I don't consider this work. This is great fun." Nimoy is also rumored to be the voice of the dragon Smaug in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, though he says only: "I have heard about that rumor, and that's all I know about it."

Nimoy has already recorded two sessions with Transformers director Michael Bay. "I don't think I'm very privy to any plot points, but I'm seeing some interesting footage." Asked to describe Sentinel Prime, Nimoy says, "Complex," and then "Why are you laughing?" Then he laughs too. -Anthony Breznican