“Elrond is a much younger character in the Hobbit and can be played by someone else”
I wouldn’t say *much* younger; he is a half-elf, after all, and sixty years to an elf is less time in its reckoning than it is for a human.
Considering that Elrond is well over 2,000 years old, I agree that 60 years is not “much older” at all.