The Lord of the Rings (film series) compiled by "Empire", with Viggo Mortensen's portrayal of Aragorn ranking No. 15, Ian McKellen's portrayal of Gandalf ranking No. 30, Ian Holm's portrayal of Bilbo Baggins (shared with Martin Freeman for his portrayal of the same character in "The Hobbit" films) ranking No. 61, Andy Serkis' portrayal of Gollum ranking No. 66, Sean Astin's portrayal of Samwise Gamgee ranking No. 77, and Orlando Bloom's portrayal of Legolas ranking No. 94. The three films together were nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards, of which they won 17, a record for any movie trilogy (the three nominations for "" and
Middle-earth dwarf characters following 13 dwarves; their quest in "The Hobbit" is the main impetus of the plot of that story. Their quest, which occurred in , was joined by Bilbo Baggins (a hobbit) and occasionally by the wizard Gandalf. Thorin II Oakenshield ( – 2941) was the King of Durin's Folk who led the expedition to destroy Smaug in T.A. 2941 and was slain in the Battle of Five Armies. In Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" film trilogy, Thorin is portrayed by Richard Armitage. Balin ( – 2994) was one of the twelve companions of Thorin and Bilbo Baggins on the Quest of