A Polish backpacker with a hobbit obsession has arrived in Wellington, intent on catching Sir Peter Jackson's eye.

Maciek Osika is desperate for a bit part in The Hobbit.

"I'm too tall for a hobbit, too skinny for a dwarf, and too short for an elf."

He was, however, a dead ringer for a goblin.

With a string of Elvish dialect tattooed on his arm, Mr Osika has taken to parading around Cuba Mall in full goblin regalia. He has green boot polish on his face, and a costume including "armour" made from donations from kindly Wellington scrap metal dealers.

"I do the living-statue thing and once I see that people are watching, then maybe I give them a little fright."

Mr Osika, a tour guide from Krakow, has loved JRR Tolkien's stories since he was a child. "It all started with the books."

Nor is he the first tourist to try to land a part in The Hobbit. Last year Utah students John Storey, Jonathan Wright, and Mitch Stevens announced plans to come to New Zealand to work as extras on The Hobbit. But Jackson's spokesman, Matt Dravitzki, poured cold water on their hopes, saying the films had enough home-grown talent.

Mr Osika, meanwhile, said he loved New Zealand, though he was not overly impressed with Auckland.

"I don't know why they called it Auckland – there are no Orcs there."