New Zealand actor Dean O'Gorman from The Almighty Johnsons will star in Sir Peter Jackson's The Hobbit as Fili the dwarf, the filmmaker says.
Sir Peter announced the casting news on his Facebook page and said O'Gorman was a "terrific Kiwi actor, who I'm thrilled to be working with".
O'Gorman replaces British actor Rob Kazinsky, who quit for personal reasons.
O'Gorman plays Anders Johnson in TV3's The Almighty Johnsons, a comedy-drama series about four brothers who descended from Norse gods.
During his career that began over 20 years ago, O'Gorman has also appeared in Go Girls, Shortland Street, and Xena: Warrior Princess.
Sir Peter said filming of The Hobbit would not conflict with The Almighty Johnsons' second season next year.
He also announced that American actor Lee Pace would be playing the Elven King Thranduil.
"Casting these Tolkien stories is very difficult, especially the Elven characters, and Lee has always been our first choice for Thranduil," he said.
