London, Nov 15 : Rumours are rife that Brian Cox may play a dwarf in "The Hobbit".

Imdb. com reports that there are 13 dwarves in "The Hobbit", travelling with Bilbo and Gandalf, and the most important of them would be Thorin Oakenshield or Balin. It is not known which dwarf Cox would be playing, but it's hard to imagine an actor of his calibre as one of the lesser cast.

To relegate Cox to a smaller role Guillermo Del Toro, Peter Jackson and company would have to have a pretty amazing cast up their sleeves.