The Hobbit 'like a family reunion'

Los Angeles - Elijah Wood found filming The Hobbit movies to be like a "family reunion".

The 30-year-old star is set to reprise the role of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings prequels The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There And Back Again, and he found it "incredibly surreal" when he returned to New Zealand to record his scenes for the forthcoming movies.

He said: "Production on The Hobbit has been great, it was a treat to go back. It was like a family reunion. The movie has largely the same crew who worked on The Lord of the Rings. Many of the same actors are reprising their roles, so it's incredibly surreal, it's like a step back in time.

Flash forward

"We were in Hobbiton three weeks ago. I turned 19 when I was in Hobbiton for the first time and I'm 30 now so it just shows you how much time has passed and I think the movies are going to be incredible."

Elijah is a "really big fan" of Martin Freeman's portrayal of his onscreen uncle Bilbo Baggins - who was previously played by Ian Holm in The Lord of the Rings series - in the forthcoming movies, and he is confident people will "love" the way he is playing the character.

Speaking at the UK launch of his latest film, Warner Bros' Happy Feet Two, he added to BANG Showbiz: "Frodo is not alive during the time of The Hobbit so they've done a flash forward. I didn't get chance to work with the dwarfs, I was just hanging out with them.

"I got to do a little bit of work with Martin Freeman, who is awesome - I'm a really big fan. I think what he's doing with Bilbo is great and everyone will love it."

Happy Feet Two is set to be released in the South Africa on November 25.