Cast and crew members pose for photographers at the premiere of the film "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" in Los Angeles December 2, 2013. REUTERS/Phil McCarten

Avid Tolkien fan Stephen Colbert, American political satirist, comedian, writer, actor and TV host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," reportedly made a cameo appearance in the film "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," which was shown in Australia on Boxing Day, Dec 26, 2013. He appears in the scene with Luke Evans who plays Bard the Bowman/Girion behind him. Clad in a grey hood with his face stained with dirt, Colbert is quite hard to recognise. In fact, a lot of people who have watched "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" didn't even notice Colbert's cameo. Well, except for some observant fans including a certain imgur account r/movies uploader, who probably had elvish eyes for having the ability to spot Colbert in his cameo appearance. (Click here to see a photo of Colbert in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.")

(Credit: YouTube/Buzz60)

The imgur account r/movies uploader wrote about the picture that was posted.

"I was reading the end credits for Desolation of Smaug and saw that Stephen Colbert was one of the Laketown Spies...so I thought I'd see for myself," wrote the imgur account r/movies uploader in a Metro report.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stephen Colbert appeared as a Lake-town spy in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug."

Colbert previously hinted about his cameo in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" when he was interviewed by Playboy magazine in 2012.

"Peter Jackson invited me to the set last year. I flew out and watched them shoot some scenes and went to some locations," said Colbert in the Playboy magazine 2012 interview, as stated in the report by Metro.

"I saw a 25-minute cut, and it was amazing. Jackson knows I'm a big fan of the films," he added.

When Playboy magazine asked him if he will be in "The Hobbit" movie, he said that he "could be."

It looks like "The Hobbit" director, Peter Jackson, will have some stiff competition in the cameo appearance department because of Colbert's participation in the latest "The Hobbit" installment. Jackson has appeared in several of the films he directed including "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "The Hobbit" films. His latest cameo appearance is in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," wherein he played a man eating a carrot in Bree.

(Credit: YouTube/keepingthemhonest)

Aside from Colbert and Jackson, other notable cameo appearances in the film are Peter Jackson's daughter Katie as Betsy (Barliman Butterbur's wife), James Nesbitt's daughters Peggy and Mary as Tilda and Sigrid (Bard the Bowman's daughters), producer Zane Weiner as a Lake-town spy and editor Jabez Olssen as a fish monger.

(Credit: YouTube/MiddleOfMiddleEarth)

Read more:

Stephen Colbert to Make a Cameo Appearance in The Hobbit Trilogy (Click here)

Stephen Colbert Second Breakfast Segment Pays Homage to Lord of the Ring [VIDEO] (Click here)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Movie Review: Best and Worst Moments of the Film [WATCH] (Click here)