While most of the Lord of the Rings cast has been adamant about being ready and willing to do just about anything Peter Jackson wants, there’s at least one castmember who won’t be involved in the two Hobbit movies he’s currently making. John Noble tells MTV that he’s got better things to do.

Noble played Denethor, the crazed Steward of Gondor in the Lord of the Rings series. This character has nothing to do with the first movie Jackson and director Guillermo del Toro are making, since it’s based on The Hobbit, and they never go anywhere near Gondor in it. But the second movie they are doing involves all sorts of ancillary material, and takes place between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. Denethor could end up playing a key figure in whatever the LOTR team is cooking. Noble though says, “If they said, ‘Would you come and play Denethor again, I would have to say, ‘No, I’m doing [new J.J. Abrams television series] ‘Fringe’! And I certainly couldn’t play a younger Denethor or even Echelion now that I’m an older John. Not even with makeup.”

I’m not sure his age is really an obstacle, he’s only a couple of years older and if they needed his character he’d only really be a couple of years younger. Hollywood effects should be able to handle that level of wizardry. And, speaking as someone who has already seen the pilot episode of Fringe… I don’t think Noble has to worry about it keeping him very busy. John Noble is fantastic in it, in fact he’s the best thing about it, but the rest of the show is a disaster and he’ll be lucky if it isn’t cancelled after the first week.