Stephen Fry joins Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit'

"The Hobbit" director Peter Jackson and Conan Stevens

Peter Jackson, as he has been wont to do since filming began on the two-part "Hobbit" film, updated fans on the latest casting news Wednesday, announcing Stephen Fry ("Bones," "V for Vendetta") will be joining the production along with two others.

"We are thrilled to confirm that Stephen Fry will be playing The Master of Laketown," Jackson posted on his Facebook page. "I've known Stephen for several years, and we're developing a DAMBUSTERS movie together. In addition to his writing skills, he's a terrific actor and will create a very memorable Master for us."

Stephen Fry

"The Master's conniving civil servant, Alfrid will be played by Ryan Gage," Jackson continued. "Ryan is a great young actor who we originally cast in a small role, but we liked him so much, we promoted him to the much larger Alfrid part."

"Last, and certainly not least, is Conan Stevens, who will be playing an Orc called Azog (Orcs are never called Roger or Dennis for some strange reason).  And yes that's his name—Conan! Isn't that cool? Azog is played by Conan!"

Jackson included a photo of Stevens (shown above), saying , "I'm pretty tall, probably at least 6'5" or 6'6" I would guess, so that gives you some clue how tall Conan is!"

In addition to the casting news, Jackson also announced filming would soon go on a brief hiatus.

"As we near the end of our first shooting block (we have a break in less than three weeks to get some editing and visual effects work done, plus prepare for very big scenes coming up), we are looking at characters featuring in sequences that take place a little later in the story," Jackson said.