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World video travel guide
News • New Zealand • 2011-04-08
Conchords star becomes 'Hobbit' elf
Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie has swapped one funny hat for another to become an angelic-looking elf in The Hobbit movies - currently being shot in his home town of Wellington, New Zealand.
McKenzie made brief appearances in Peter Jackson’s first and third Lord of the Rings movies and as a result achieved fan fame on the internet with the nickname "Figwit".
Now he’s been cast as Lindir, an elf of Rivendell in The Hobbit - which began shooting in the New Zealand capital on 21 March.
Kiwi-born comedians and musicians Bret McKenzie and Rhys Darby formed 'Flight of the Conchords' in 1998.
Along with fellow New Zealander Jemaine Clement, the Conchords became an internationally acclaimed comedy-music duo with a huge cult following. Their HBO series won a Grammy award and was nominated for six Emmy awards.
Figwit to Lindir
McKenzie made a three-second appearance in the first Lord of the Rings film, as an elvin extra, and was nicknamed Figwit after a fan made an acronym out of his musings - "Frodo is great ... who is that".
That then spawned the tongue-in-cheek figwitlives.net website in McKenzie’s honour, and "the spunky elf" was listed as one of Who magazine's 100 sexiest people in 2008.
In the final Rings instalment, Return of the King, McKenzie also returned, this time as an elf escort to Liv Tyler, and was given a speaking role - with just one line.
He and fellow Conchords star Jemaine Clement later recorded the parody song 'Frodo, Don't Wear the Ring', which featured on their hit TV series and included the lines, "Frodo, don't wear the ring / The magical bling bling / You'll never be the lord of the rings".
Now McKenzie will have a bigger part to play in The Hobbit cast as the fresh-faced, long silky-haired elf Lindir - which means "song" in the elvish dialect of Sindarin.
Lindir listens to Bilbo Baggins recite poetry and asks him to repeat a verse.
The Hobbit cast
McKenzie joins a star-studded cast on The Hobbit, including Martin Freeman, Sir Ian McKellen, James Nesbitt, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage and Orlando Bloom.
The Hobbit is one of the biggest New Zealand movies ever to be made and cameras began rolling at Sir Peter Jackson’s Stone Street Studios in Wellington and other secret locations, on 21 March.
Sir Peter has launched The Hobbit on Facebook and has promised fans he will post regular updates from the set.
To date (6.4.11), 126,786 people have "liked" his page - with some commenting that they have been online every day since The Hobbit started production, just to get their "Middle-earth fix".
Others have expressed relief that the movies are being made in New Zealand and promise to visit for opening night.
Fans have also welcomed the setting up of The Hobbit blog where the production team posts updates with photos and videos to give people a taste of the film action.
The two movies will be released in 3D in 2012 and 2013.
