Billy Connolly Cast as Dwarf Warrior in 'Hobbit'

(NewsCore) - Sir Peter Jackson has announced that Scottish comedian Billy Connolly is headed to Middle-earth as part of the cast of "The Hobbit."

The director said that Connolly will play Dain Ironfoot, a great warrior dwarf and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield.

"We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself," Jackson said in a statement cited by the New Zealand Herald on Thursday.

"With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of 'The Hobbit' is now complete. We can't wait to see him on the Battlefield!"

Jackson is currently filming two "Hobbit" features -- "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" -- back-to-back in New Zealand. The film adaptations of JRR Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit" are the highly anticipated follow-up to Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films, which were based on the same novelist's triology.

Connolly, 69, made his name as a stand-up comedian and has previously starred in films such as "The Last Samurai", also shot in New Zealand, and "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events".