Leo Woodall has described his Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum role as a "boyhood dream".
The 29-year-old actor is set to play new character Halvard, who has been created for the upcoming movie set in Middle-earth, which will see Andy Serkis reprise his role as Gollum while also directing the film.
Speaking to PEOPLE magazine, Leo said: "It means everything. It's a boyhood dream for me.
"I watched it as a kid and I've seen it a million times, so to be part of it now is incredible."
The Hunt for Gollum will see the return of Lord of the Rings veterans like Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins) and Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) alongside Jamie Dornan and Kate Winslet.
Winslet is set to play Marigold, while Dornan will replace Viggo Mortensen as Strider, AKA Aragorn.
Woodall insisted he "can't tease anything" about his involvement in the franchise, but last month Warner Bros confirmed his casting.
He's set to play Halvard, who wasn't part of J.R.R. Tolkien's iconic books.
Sir Peter Jackson, who directed the original Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, will serve as a producer on the latest fantasy epic, and he recently revealed how Todd Phillips' Joker movie served as inspiration for The Hunt For Gollum.
He told IndieWire: "We were thinking about the original Joker film, the one with Joaquin Phoenix. The way that explored the Joker's psychology while it was telling a story.
"We've got the story that's in the appendices, and we'll tell that story, but we'll tell it from an internal Gollum perspective. You're taking written things by (J.R.R.) Tolkien and filming them for a certain POV, and that means you have to get inside his head.
"I've got no particular desire to get inside Gollum's head. Andy Serkis can do that himself."
Jackson explained that The Hunt for Gollum – which is slated for release in December 2027 - originates from notes at the end of one of Tolkien's novels.
The Beatles: Get Back helmer said: "We're legally allowed to adapt anything from The Lord of the Rings books.
"Now, The Lord of the Rings has got these big appendices at the end. Fifty or 60 pages of Tolkien's notes, background on characters and stuff that's not in the actual novel but is tacked on at the end.
"Little side stories, embellishments, enlargements – and part of The Hunt for Gollum is described in that. Gollum's childhood and how he became what he was. Him trying to get to the Shire, and the Rangers tracking him down. He ends up being captured and taken to Mordor – it's all in the appendices."
As well as The Hunt For Gollum, Middle-earth fans have more to look forward to as former Late Show host Stephen Colbert is co-writing a new Lord of the Rings movie with his son Peter Colbert.
The film will focus on chapters from Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring which didn't make it into the movie adaptation.
