Andy Serkis admits he ‘can’t escape Gollum’ ahead of Lord of the Rings return

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More than two decades ago, Andy Serkis sent shivers down the spines of Lord of the Rings fans for the first time when he brought Gollum to the big screen.

The obsessive character – who was a hobbit called Sméagol before the Ring corrupted him and turned him into a shell of a being – has since become one of the most iconic figures in cinematic history.

Now, 13 years after Serkis’ last big-screen performance as Gollum in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, he’s reprising the role yet again in the upcoming movie The Hunt for Gollum, which the acclaimed actor is also directing.

At Tuesday’s premiere of Amazon Prime’s upcoming psychological thriller TV series The Girlfriend, which Serkis is executive producing, he told Metro of his Lord of the Rings return: ‘I’m very excited to go back. I leave for New Zealand on Saturday.

‘We’re going down to start prep and working on it, because I’m directing.

‘I’m thrilled to return to the family that I’ve loved working with for many years, and a character that I cannot escape from.’

Andy Serkis voiced Gollum in the first Lord of the Rings film, and then performed as the character using motion capture from the second (Picture: New Line Cinema) The actor is jetting off to New Zealand this week to begin work on the upcoming film The Hunt for Gollum, which he’s also directing (Photo: Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images) Which is your favourite film from The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit franchises? The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers The Return of the King An Unexpected Journey The Desolation of Smaug The Battle of the Five Armies

While Serkis acknowledged that Gollum is a character that he’ll be forever tied to, he doesn’t seem to mind the connection, smiling and laughing as he joked about being unable to escape the slippery creature.

Nonetheless, in 2020 he revealed that he almost rejected the role, as a former co-star tried to deter him from accepting it.

‘I remember I was in Prague working on an adaptation of Oliver Twist actually and I said to this other actor I was working with, “I think I may be going down to New Zealand to do this digital character,”’ Serkis told Josh Gad’s web series Reunited Apart at the time.

‘He said, ‘Well, is your face going to be on screen?’ I said, ‘No, it’s not.’ He said, ‘Mate, I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.’”

Serkis’ latest project The Girlfriend sees House of Cards star Robin Wright and House of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke go head-to-head after Cooke’s character Cherry begins dating the son of Wright’s character Laura.