I've been quoting Gollum's "my precious" voice for more than two decades, usually to annoy someone within earshot. Andy Serkis has spent considerably more time inside the character's head, and apparently, Middle-earth's most obsessive resident has started interfering with his sleep. Considering he is returning to play Gollum while also directing The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, I suppose there's no escaping him now.
The actor opened up to The Times about revisiting the role he first took on 26 years ago. The new film is headed for the 2027 movie schedule, and while fans have plenty of reasons to be excited to see him back in a motion-capture suit, Serkis admitted the reunion has been doing a number on his already restless mind. Here's how he described it:
I’ve just lived with Gollum for such a long period. I’m a terrible sleeper. My mind is pretty active, and it has been insane going back to the character I started playing 26 years ago, and so I’m waking up at night. Actually, I don’t know if I’m asleep or awake, but I think, Am I directing you, Gollum? Or you me? Are we arguing?’ My mind is…busy.
I'm sorry, but imagining Serkis getting into a middle-of-the-night argument with Gollum is kind of hilarious. It gets even funnier when you remember that Peter Jackson compared the movie's psychological approach to Joaquin Phoenix's Joker. Apparently, getting inside Gollum's head is proving a little more complicated than anyone anticipated. This is a character who famously argues with himself, after all. Now he's apparently taking that talent into his actor's sleep schedule. I'd have enough trouble directing a movie without one of its stars trying to conduct a meeting inside my skull at 3 a.m.
Of course, a lot is riding on this particular trip back to Middle-earth. The Star Wars veteran actor first appeared as Gollum in 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring, and his performance-capture work helped change what audiences expected from digital characters, although Peter Jackson and the crew weren't entirely sure what to make of him at first. He returned in The Hobbit movies, but The Hunt for Gollum gives him a bigger responsibility than ever. He's stepping behind the camera for a film centered on the very character he helped make famous.
That means revisiting the voice, movements and personality that have become second nature over the years. We previously covered how writer Philippa Boyens was impressed by Serkis' physical commitment when she saw him back in his motion-capture suit. He's 62 now, and getting down on all fours to play that creature sounds exhausting enough before you factor in the sleepless nights.
I actually wrote last year about Serkis admitting he "cannot escape" Gollum. At the time, I took that as a career observation. Apparently, it also applies at bedtime. While promoting his new memoir, My Pressures, he discussed how playing a role can change an actor and how hard it can be to leave a character behind. Gollum has occupied a corner of his professional life for over a quarter-century. No wonder returning to that mindset is taking some adjustment.
At least he'll have some familiar faces around. Peter Jackson is producing alongside Fran Walsh and Boyens, while Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood are returning as Gandalf and Frodo. Wood has even said he thinks Serkis is the perfect person to direct a movie about Gollum.”
I'm excited to see what the mo-cap pioneer does with Gollum now that he's calling the shots, but I hope he gets a decent night's sleep before opening weekend. After 26 years, the poor man deserves a few hours without hearing "precious" in his head.
