February 3, 2001
Andy Serkis Talks
Gollum
Staff Reporter
"They were looking for someone who was capable of doing a creature voice but portray him as human as well," says the 36 year old actor about Gollum, the boy who kills for, then becomes utterly corrupted by, one of the fabled, lost rings.
"I think the great thing about Gollum is he is the point of human contact or what the ring does to you," said Mr Serkis, who having just returned from New Zealand and paid a flying visit to his parents. Lylie and Clement at their Westhone Gardens home, was in Manchester this week working on a new film.
On the theme of Gollum he continues: "He's very much a case of" 'There but for the grace of God."
He adds that with the need to give cinema audiences the ability to relate the creature to something recognizable, he has played him as an addict, a 'ring junkie'. complete with withdrawal symptoms.