Andy Serkis is as soon as once more making magic through Center-earth. The pioneering performance-capture star is at present engaged on the upcoming The Hunt for Gollum, considered one of many Lord of the Rings spinoffs on the way in which. And this time round, not solely is the award-winning performer set to headline because the ring-obsessed creature who modified blockbuster filmmaking, however he’s additionally directing. On that observe, Serkis just lately supplied an replace on manufacturing and commented on his relationship together with his well-known character.
Talking with Metro on the London premiere of Prime Video’s The Girlfriend, Serkis credited the longtime artistic “household” behind the franchise and acknowledged that Gollum stays among the best LOTR characters and is inseparable from his profession. On the time of the interview, he was additionally very near getting right down to his prep for the fantasy flick:
I’m very excited to return. I go away for New Zealand on Saturday. We’re taking place to start out prep and dealing on it, as a result of I’m directing. I’m thrilled to return to the household that I’ve liked working with for a few years, and a personality that I can not escape from.
Does Andy Serkis have the one ring in his pocket, or is he simply comfortable to see his outdated good friend Gollum? For Serkis, “can’t escape” isn’t a grievance however a optimistic obsevation. The position he first voiced in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring after which absolutely embodied through efficiency seize from The Two Towers onward has develop into considered one of cinema’s most indelible creations.
It’s been 13 years since Serkis’ final big-screen flip as Gollum in The Hobbit: An Sudden Journey, which makes the timing of this return really feel each nostalgic and becoming.
The actor has beforehand recounted the story of virtually passing on Gollum solely. Again in 2020, he recalled on Josh Gad’s Reunited Aside {that a} fellow performer as soon as warned him off enjoying a “digital character” whose face wouldn’t seem on display screen. Serkis, in fact, took the leap, and regardless of going through mocking for mocap, he helped push movement seize into the mainstream, even later enjoying Caesar in Planet of the Apes and Supreme Chief Snoke in Star Wars.
Now, the Venom: Let There Be Carnage director is poised so as to add one other chapter, this time from the director’s chair. Plot particulars for The Hunt for Gollum stay beneath wraps, however the Imaginarium Studios co-founder’s replace confirms the undertaking is shifting from announcement to motion, which is terrific information for LOTR followers.
The timing of manufacturing beginning on The Hunt for Gollum additionally dovetails with Serkis’s busy 2025 film slate. He’s at present an govt producer on The Girlfriend, a psychological thriller starring and directed by Robin Wright, with Olivia Cooke co-starring. Praising the solid and course, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle director referred to as the six-part sequence “an outstanding piece of labor.” The Girlfriend lands on the September TV schedule on the tenth, and all you want is a Prime Video subscription to get pleasure from it.
Gollum nonetheless looms largest, although, and Andy Serkis appears amused reasonably than weighed down. The character’s “treasured” pull has adopted him in all places, and he treats it as a privilege—one he’s comfortable to be the ring-bearer for.