Although his elf role in
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was only a brief silent cameo, his attractive character was noticed by female fans, who made him a minor Internet celebrity, and dubbed his character "Figwit" (short for "Frodo is great...who is THAT?!?"). When this came to the attention of director
Peter Jackson, he arranged to have McKenzie reprise the (still-officially-unnamed) character in
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). In interviews and commentaries, Jackson has informally approved the name of Figwit for the character. McKenzie was also brought back to play an elf character named Lindir in
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012),
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).