Andy "Gollum" Serkis Speaks

Jondor writes "The BBC has an article in which Andy Serkis answers questions about his role as Gollum. Can't wait so spend a whole 9 hours watching for the full DVD release of LOTR!"

Comments

Bad picture at the begining

[RalphBNumbers]

It seems ironic to me that they felt the need to do such a horrible job of compositing the actor over his beautifully rendered counterpart.

Come on people, you don't need this kind of photo-trickery, and when you do it that badly, it really takes away more than it adds. If you're not going to spend the resources to do it right, just don't do it.

his "roll", eh?

[gasgesgos]

What kind of roll did he have as gollum? does the character of gollum even like rolls? and what about smeagol?

I would think smeagol is more of a donut man... errr... little slinky thing...

Re:his "roll", eh?

[JudgeFurious]

"Smeagol hates rolls, nasty tricksy rolls with sesame seeds give Smeagol indigestion.....What's donuts?"

Re:his "roll", eh?

[dreamchaser]

Well, his first roll was an 18, as he landed on top of Frodo and Sam doing 1D4+1 damage to each of them. Unfortunately, he was hit in return with a Natural 20 and got himself captured...

Re:his "roll", eh?

[Nathdot]

Ahh, actually I believe in the original screenplay it was indeed a roll. It was changed because Peter Jackson thought he wasn't being faithful enough to Tolkien's book.

SNIPPET FROM ORIGINAL SCRIPT:

ELROND
We must return the roll to the bakeries of
Morrrrdorr. It is to be cast into the
firey oven of the Mount Doom "Buns N' Loaves"
where it was first baked!

A "roll"?

[Anonymous Coward]

He has a "roll" as Gollum? From what cool bakery did he get that roll?

trollbait away!

[Flak]

Come on. These questions are by 10 to 15 year olds! The questions read just like an episode of askslashdot.

Re:trollbait away!

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

Yeah, these kiddies weren't exactly hard-hitting were they? I have a quarrel with Oliver, 14 who asked, "Did you feel intimidated working with such a high profile cast?" Pardon me, but the cast of LOTR was high profile? I didn't think they had any real big names in there. Sure, Ian McKellen was quite well respected but that's different than high profile. He certainly doesn't draw the kind of attention that $CURRENT_HOLLYWOOD_STAR does or the attention that $FORMER_HOLLYWOOD_STAR and Sylvester Stallone did. Or is Oliver referring to the behavior of the cast while out and about in public? Ah, the mind of a 14 year old...a very strange place to be indeed.

Roleing about laughing

[Telex4]

Great! Golum's part was really funny - in fact it had me rofl (roleing on the floor laughing)!

Please take pity

[frankthechicken]

Yeah it's quite surprising, I didn't think I'd get recognised as much as I do but because the animators designed the facial structure of how Gollum actually looks on screen to be very close to mine

I feel truly sorry for the poor guy.

Re:Please take pity

[EverDense]

Yeah, but with eyes that size I'm sure he'd
go down a treat with the Anime crowd.

Expected..

[Metallic Matty]

As expected, throughout the interview he made several references to what he called "his precious" in a rather creepy, serpentine voice.

lol!

[fjordboy]

These questions are hilarious! What is this? A bunch of kids asking questions? Oh...

This one was probably my favorite:

Who do you think would win in a fight between Gollum and Dobby?

Andy Serkis: I think Gollum probably would, I think Dobby would probably knock himself out.

So true.

Re:lol!

[fjordboy]

Yeah right! The average slashdotter would have asked a much better question: "Who would win in a fight between Gollum and Wil Wheaton?" Or "Did they use a beowulf cluster to render your body?" etc. Trust me, no self-respecting slashdotter would have asked about Nobby.

Re:lol!

[fjordboy]

Sorry, I'll be sure to indicate my sarcasm with blinking lights next time.

in case of /.ing

[Anonymous Coward]

question: do you like fish?

Yes, usually quite raw.

question: do you hate P. Jackson for having you roll around in that cold stream for hours?

Weees will hasss our revenge.

question: what is the worst thing about being a computer generated actor?

Trying to convince people that you have to stop for a real pee and that a virtual pee doesn't cut the mustard.

question: have you read the book?

Yes, yes, I've read it about 50 times and watched the movie.

question: did you run away and join the circus?

You horrible little man take that *blam* *yeeeow*

Battle of the Comic-Relief Chars

[YokuYakuYoukai]

Gollum could definatly take Jar Jar in a fight. I don't think it would even be close.

Enough with the 'roll' jokes

[SoftwareTechie]

They're getting stale.

--

In other news...

[SWroclawski]

In other news, David Sedaris will be playing Gollum in the next movie...

Not only will he keep the ring, but he'll interspese that with witty commentary and stories about his family, being a Christmas Elf and Santa Claus around the world.

- Serge Wroclawski
(wondering if anyone will get it)

Love how he avoids spoilers.

[Sebbo]

Philip
How do you see your character developing in the Return of the King?

Andy Serkis: I don't want to give too much away actually but obviously Gollum's fate is very much bound up with that of Frodo and Sam and the Ring of course. And so you get to see them continue on their journey and it reaches an enormous climax in Mordor.

Psst, kid! I know where you can get top-secret information about what happens in Return of the King--it's called a library!

Ouch

[Anonymous Coward]

Josh, 13, Malden
Is it true that you actually had to dive into the freezing cold water in the scene by the waterfall yourself and if so what was that like?

Andy Serkis: Yeah it's absolutely true, they spent the whole morning before we actually shot that scene - the whole mountain was under cover of snow and the crew had to defrost this entire area using high pressure hoses and wind machines and all sorts of things and then - but the water was still sub-zero - and so when I went into the water it was absolutely freezing, I could hardly move, my whole body froze up and we had to repeat the scene a few times. But it is true we did do that.



Wouldn't it hurt diving into ice? :-/

Re:Don't call him Gollum!

[Anonymous Coward]

"Humperdinck! Humperdinck! Humperdinck! Humperdinck! ..."

Re:heh...roll

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, they were doing composting? That's definitely a step in the right direction; most movie sets are just left behind as garbage, and I'm glad to see Hollywood's concerned with the environment for once.

I think Chris Kattan plays a better gollum

[cylcyl]

And would save Peter Jackson Millions in special effects :)

A Scene from the Academy Debate Over Andy Serkis

[Nova Express]

S: I think Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar nomination for playing Gollum in The Two Towers.

G: No!! We hates him, hates him!

S: What are you talking about? He did a wonderful job!

G: No! He ruined the precious with all his nasty scampering about!

S: Oh come on! His was far and away one of the most interesting performances in the movie.

G: No! Not he, it. Yessss, it, horrible machine with all its nasty little bits running like ants! We hates the terrible computer eye, hates it! HATES IT! No, we keeps the precious little statue...

Think of Ross Perot after ten years on the Atkins

[use_compress]

from Anthony Lane of The New Yorker
Gollum, who guides Frodo on his quest, is white-skinned and blue-veined, like a moldering cheese, and his shrunken frame is topped by a triangular head with protruding eyes. Think of Ross Perot after ten years on the Atkins diet, and you're almost there.
http://orlijah.net/archive/article108.html

CG Hair

[PegQuin]

Does Gollum's hair look more real than Andy's, or is it just me?