For those who’d like to suspend reality for a while and escape into fantasy, Geek Expo is on this weekend (18-19 July), and The Hobbit is here to transport you to Middle Earth.

NZ actor Stephen Hunter, who played Bombur in The Hobbit trilogy, will drive down the Federal Highway this weekend with his acting mate Matthew Doran (The Matrix and Star Wars) to greet some Canberra fans.

The last time Stephen worked in Canberra was to film a low-budget sci-fi flick, Blue World Order, and blow up Telstra Tower (there were also eight Deloreans parked on a dry Lake George).

This time round, there’s no destruction of Canberra landmarks, just autographs and selfies for Tolkien and Thor fans (Stephen also played the Fur God in Thor: Love and Thunder).

“Coming from the world of Tolkien, which I was lucky enough to do, there’s a responsibility because you’re a caretaker for this amazing world,” Stephen said. “People are genuinely excited to see you.

“Some actors don’t like conventions because a lot of actors are introverts but I’m more an extrovert. People come up and have lovely things to say to you and they’re excited to see you.”

The sheer good fortune of being in two of the world’s biggest film franchises is not lost on Stephen.

“I was lucky to make the cut in Thor: Love and Thunder because I know a lot of very big names who just missed the cut because [director] Taika Waititi shot so much film,” he said. “I’ve been in the Tolkien universe and Marvel – the only one left is Star Wars.”

Hardcore fans aren’t the only ones geeking out this weekend – even seasoned actors like Stephen geek-out at conventions.

“Star Wars is what I geek out on and that’s always been my fandom,” he said. “At a Supanova comic convention I got to meet Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future and I got to meet Anthony Daniels, who voiced C-3PO. My biggest fan moment was when I got to meet [Six Million Dollar Man actor] Lee Majors.”

But back to Middle-Earth, where coincidentally Stephen grew up ((if you look from the Green Dragon to Bag End in The Hobbit, the hill in the background is the farm where Stephen lived).

During the making of The Hobbit trilogy, Stephen spent two hours in make-up (and 90 mins to remove it) to recreate Bombur, which required five separate prosthetic pieces to cover his entire head (a foam cowl with ears, a wraparound face piece, a silicone chin over the foam, and a two-piece bald cap).

“I’ve got a couple of ears and a prosthetic nose that I’ll bring with me, and I’ve got my weaponry,” he said. “I also had the very first Bombur Lego figure.

“One of the great things I love about conventions and Geek Expo is that it brings it all back and reminds you of the amazing time it was. It was extraordinary and I don’t think I’ll ever do anything like that again – particularly to that scale.

“A lot of people like the character [Bombur] and they like what I’ve done and I’m very proud of what I did in the movies. When people come up, you can tell that they’re quite moved.”

Stephen had only two or three spoken lines in The Hobbit trilogy (he was mostly used for physical comedy bar a few grunts and pants). However, he did learn how to speak Dwarvish.

“I actually learned Dwarvish so I speak Australian, Kiwi and Dwarvish,” he said. “I wouldn’t say fluent. I mean, being fluent in Kiwi is just raising your eyebrows pretty much. That’s all you need to know about New Zealand, or just say ‘sweet’ and that covers everything.”

Geek Expo is on 18-19 July at Exhibition Park. Info: events.humanitix.com/geek-expo-canberra