Bret McKenzie

Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie ONZM (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor.

In the 2000s, McKenzie was part of reggae fusion band The Black Seeds and Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, and, in the 2010s, he began performing solo material.

As an actor, he portrayed elves in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies: in the first he remained unnamed with fans naming him Figwit, a character originally cast as an extra who gained attention thanks to the trilogy's fan community.

They didn't complete their degrees but ended up living together and first were members of So You're a Man, and then later forming Flight of the Conchords.

[1] As Flight of the Conchords they have toured internationally and released four CDs: Folk the World Tour in 2002,The Distant Future (which won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album) in 2007,[1] the Grammy nominated Flight of the Conchords in 2008, and I Told You I Was Freaky in 2009.

Outside the Flight of the Conchords television adaption, he is most notable for his appearances in the first and third films in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In the late 1990s, McKenzie joined the reggae fusion group The Black Seeds; he put out four albums with band before leaving around 2007.

[1][13] In the late 2010s, he began writing and recording solo material again, and later toured New Zealand in 2018 with a collective that included musicians Age Pryor and Nigel Collins.

[19] He is married to New Zealand publicist Hannah Clarke[20][21] and currently maintains residences in Los Angeles, New York City, and Wellington.

[22] In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, McKenzie was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to music and film.

The two men sit on stools facing out to an audience with guitars and mics and glowing lighting. McKenzie is pensively looking up.
Bret McKenzie with collaborator Jemaine Clement performing as Flight of the Conchords in 2007
Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra in 2008 outside Delux Cafe in Wellington. McKenzie on the far left.