Benedict Cumberbatch defends The Hobbit role

Benedict Cumberbatch resents reports suggesting he simply lent his voice to play the dragon Smaug in the forthcoming The Hobbit sequel because he had to put in hours of work with motion-capture technology to bring the character to life.

The Star Trek Into Darkness actor actually takes on double duty in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, portraying the titular, gold-hoarding dragon and the ruler The Necromancer, and although his physical likeness doesn't appear onscreen, his bodily movements do, thanks to the same technology his co-star Andy Serkis uses to play Gollum..

And Benedict Cumberbatch is keen to make it clear he didn't just sit in a sound booth to read his lines.

He tells New York Magazine, "It was publicized that I 'voice' Smaug, and I thought, 'F**king hell. My voice, my motions - I worked my a** off to create that dragon!'"

The Desolation of Smaug, the second installment in director Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, is due to hit theatres in December (13).