'Hobbit' Casts 'Flight of the Conchords' Star Bret McKenzie

The New Zealand actor will play an elf in Peter Jackson's adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien novel.

7:47 PM PDT 4/4/2011 by Kimberly Nordyke

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Bret McKenzie

Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie has joined Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

McKenzie will play an elf in the New Line film, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed.

The Hobbit, which is shooting in New Zealand, follows Bilbo Baggins' (Martin Freeman) epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

New Zealand-born McKenzie is best known to U.S. audiences for his role in Conchords, which aired on HBO from 2007-09. He and fellow Conchords star Jemaine Clement created the show with James Bobin based on McKenzie and Clement's comedy/music group of the same name. The trio received multiple Emmy nominations for the series, including best comedy.