Flight of the Conchords' star Bret McKenzie has officially boarded the cast of The Hobbit, which recently began shooting March 21.

Bret McKenzie is playing Lindir, an Elf of Rivendell, in The Hobbit.

Producer-director Peter Jackson is shooting the two films in New Zealand in 3D over the next 14 months at Stone Street Studios in Wellington and on location around the country.

Based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novel, the story is set 60 years before The Lord of the Rings with Bilbo the unassuming Hobbit who becomes a hero by obtaining a powerful ring in the face of challenges by the wicked Gollum and a dragon named Smaug.