As Graham Norton points out, half of the United Kingdom appears in the “Lord of the Rings” franchise — but now we know why Eddie Redmayne does not. The “Theory of Everything” actor reenacted his audition to play Bilbo Baggins in the “Hobbit” movies during a recent appearance on Norton’s show. Redmayne’s take on Bilbo apparently resulted in raising his voice a few octaves and flailing his hands about in what he assumed is an elfish fashion.

Redmayne said he studied Ian Holm portraying Bilbo in Peter Jackson’s original trilogy and tried to imitate a younger version of that, but when he got into the audition room, the casting director told him to use his own voice instead. “I never got a callback,” he said.