Andy Serkis is the master of motion capture. He is Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Caesar in the Planet of Ape series, and Peter Jackson’s King Kong.
So, it feels kind of appropriate that our interview is happening virtually. He is speaking on a screen from New Zealand, where he is directing and starring in the next Lord of the Rings film, The Hunt for Gollum, which is scheduled to land in cinemas in time for Christmas next year.
“It sits absolutely between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies, and books in fact,” he explains handily, as it can be difficult to keep up with the ever-expanding Tolkienverse.
“It is very much a deep dive into the psychology and history of Gollum before he became Gollum, but also with a very burning question from Gandalf about what the potential origin of this ring that Bilbo Baggins has is,” he reveals.
“The hunt takes place in two different dimensions really and that’s about as far as I can say at the moment.”
Serkis also confirms that he will not be directing the second new Lord of the Rings film, Shadow of the Past, written by the US chat show host Stephen Colbert.
“I think that that post has been taken, put it that way,” says Serkis with a twinkle in his eye, before adding: “That’s going to be a fascinating story too. I know it’s something that Stephen’s very, very excited about being part of.”
Throughout his career, 62-year-old Serkis has been a campaigner for equality. In 2018, he said that being one of the few white actors in Black Panther gave him a new understanding of what it feels like to be the ethnic minority on a film set.
However, the previous Lord of the Rings films, made before colour-blind casting became common, had almost entirely white line-ups, and so far, his film looks like being the same.
Every major cast member announcement to date has been white; Jamie Dornan, Anna Taylor-Joy, Kate Winslet, Leo Woodall, as well as the returning stars including Elijah Wood and Sir Ian McKellan. The question is, why?
Serkis nods his head before answering and it is clear this is a subject he has given a lot of thought: “Tolkien himself was influenced a lot by Norse mythology, there’s a lot of that feeling.
“The Shire feels very, very much like a very, a very white, you know…”
He tails off and pauses before continuing, with greater certainty: “They’re not very concerned about what goes on beyond the borders of The Shire, but they know they don’t want people coming in.
“Yes, there have been criticisms,” he says, acknowledging arguments that are now almost a quarter of a century old.
“This particular film is somewhat acknowledging that. But we don’t think we will be doing a politically correct just-casting-for-the sake-of-casting-and-ticking-boxes version of the film. So, it’s only where relevant basically.”
Although several major stars have been cast in The Hunt For Gollum already, further casting announcements are expected in the coming months.
