Did you notice The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey director Peter Jackson’s cameo in his record-breaking film? You probably didn’t because it was very subtle.

Nonetheless, Jackson does appear and the director is talking about his brief spot.

Jackson makes his grand entrance “in Erebor, dressed up as a dwarf, high-tailing it away from Smaug as the wicked wyrm blasted his particular brand of firey halitosis all upside The Lonely Mountain,” according to Empire Magazine. This photo gives you a glimpse of his cameo in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:

“I didn’t actually have a great deal of choice,” he told Empire about deciding on where to appear in the story. “There weren’t a lot of human characters in this film, and there weren’t any hobbit roles I could play… and I’m not an elf. So I had no choice but to be a dwarf.”

Jackson then explained the important learning experience he had while in costume. “It was the last couple of days before the end of filming, it was literally the second to last day, and I had to dress up as this dwarf. I was horrified at how uncomfortable it was. I really was, it was miserable. I’m just glad I didn’t do it earlier because I would’ve felt some sympathy towards the actors.”

Watch the brief video interview below:

We missed Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit cameo during our first viewing, but we’ll try again the next time.

The first film in this new trilogy from The Lord of the Rings director was a record breaker: It became the best-grossing film opening in December ever. Part 2 of the trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, will be released December 13, 2013. There and Back Again, part 3, will be released July 18, 2014. See the first Desolation of Smaug photo and There and Back Again photo.