Oscar winner Cate Blanchett will return to Middle Earth as the noble elf, Lady Galadriel in The Hobbit.

According to Deadline, director Peter Jackson had this comment: “Cate is one of my favorite actors to work with and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have her reprise the role she so beautifully brought to life in the earlier films.”

The article also suggested it is highly possible fans will see other returning cast members including Ian McKellan as Gandalf and Andy Serkis as Gollum. The cast already counts a few key members: Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Ken Stott as Lord Balin, and Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown. As we previously noted, the film will be shot in New Zealand.