Bilbo Baggins will soon have a face.

Peter Jackson, director of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy,  revealed in an interview that casting on the highly anticipated “The Hobbit” would begin this week.

“We’re auditioning for every role,” Jackson said, adding that he believes in casting a wide net to most effectively fit actors to their respective parts.

The search will be on for every member of the cast except the mythical wizard, Gandalf, who will be reprised by Ian McKellen who played the part in “The Lord of the Rings” films.

“What we’ve done over the years is discover a lot of interesting actors, like Orlando Bloom, Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan. So if you start looking and auditioning seriously, it’s amazing what incredible talent you’ll find out there.”

Jackson also quelled a popular rumor running rampant across the Web that holds that actor James McAvoy is the front-runner to play the lead, Bilbo.

“Apart from Ian McKellen, who we obviously want to return as Gandalf, we are not really offering any roles to anybody until we’ve done a casting sweep,” Jackson said.

“[These movies] have never been a star-driven vehicle. The star is (author J.R.R.) Tolkien and the world he created. We are not under any pressure. We want to find the right people. Casting someone to portray a hobbit is not as easy as you might imagine. They have to have a particular type of physical appearance and a sensibility. And the same with an elf or a dwarf. These are fantastical characters, but you’ve got to find the right people to play them, the right humans to translate these characters.”

The J.R.R Tolkien book will be adapted and split into two separate films.  The script for the first, according to Jackson, is complete and collaborators Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro are in the process of writing the second.

Shooting is scheduled to begin as early as next spring.